Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/289

 A RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE. 259 Lord Kaplan's reconnaissances of the enemy's chap. . . . x. coast, and his choice of the landing-ground; '. , The embarkation ; the protest in writing of French officers; divided counsels at sea; Lord Eaglan on board the Caradoc obeying his Govern- ment, and (with Lyons) forcing on the invasion ; the Armada off Eupatoria and the coast further south ; The landing ; the Cholera with all its fell com- pany of maladies still pursuing our army ; the march, grand to see, but performed by troops still more or less suffering from bodily weakness, and not indeed regarded as strong enough to be charged with the weight of their knapsacks; The Alma, with at first for the Chief troubled, anxious, and harassing messages from French commanders ; but then the strange inspiration which gave him — and within a few minutes — his sudden control of the battle ; The wounded, the dead, the too plenteous sor- rows that gather in even the hour of victory ; The Heights overlooking the Belbec, overlook- ing the North or Star Fort, and beyond, nothing less than Sebastopol ; The valley of the Belbec, alluring to the eyes of the weary, with its gardens and vineyards, and groves, but unhappily there, and in numbers ap- pallingly great, our troops falling stricken by Cholera ; The French army brought to a halt with the Star Fort before it, and, owing to St Arnaud'a illness, left palsied for want of a chief ;