Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/237

VICTORIOUS ATTACK. 207 that the object was worthy the sacrifice. Despite chap. the fire thinning their ranks, our troops advanced !_ with great gallantry, pulled down the stone walls, soon carried the whole position, and then pushing on, seized and occupied numbers of houses, some in front, some on the right, some under the Garden Wall Battery. The question whether all or how much of the conquest thus made should be permanently re- tained by our people was dependent at first on the course of events in other parts of the field, but afterwards on the judgment of our Engineers, the men best able to say what part of the newly won ground was likely to be of use to the be- siegers ; and therefore the commander resolved to hold all he had seized until the time when authority should be ready to determine the ques- tion. This he accordingly did, and it was only at five o'clock in the evening that he made any change. Then — unmolested by the enemy — his troops were withdrawn from that part of the conquered ground which our Engineers did not wish to retain, whilst in that other part which it seemed expedient to keep, strong posts were duly established. By this time, computing from daybreak, when the firing is believed to have opened, the action had lasted scarce less than fourteen hours. The ground General Eyre re- tained was afterwards fortified under the direc- tion of our Engineers. Erom one of the enemy's missiles in the early part of the day, General Eyre had received a blow