Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/275

 VI. 2d Period THE MAIN FIGHT. 231 anotlioi- moment Pennefather did the like, but Sir chap. George clung fast to bis plan. Still, Catbcart as yet bad been only resisting entreaties and argu- ments. He was now to receive an order. When Lord Kaglan had ascertained that the Lord only remaining body of inl'antry he well could orTcrto' On.t'lic&rt despatch to the Gap was the one of 400 men under Brigadier Torrens, he sent General Airey to Catbcart, the divisional general, with orders which will be presently stated. General Airey (who was accompanied by Captain Hardinge) found Sir George on a part of the crest which was only a little farther south than the extreme right of our troops engaged on the Kitspur ; but observ- ing that Cathcart's troops had begun to lire shots into the copsewood below, and desiring that the message he brought should not be robbed of its weight by the semblance of a combat, he first re- quested Sir George to cease firing, and then delivered the order. Catbcart, strangely en- amoured of his own idea, still sought to urge its advantages, but General Airey in decisive lan- guage conveyed the will of his chief, saying that Lord Raglan wished Sir George 'to move to the ' left and support the brigade of Guards, and not ' to descend or leave the plateau ; ' and he added — That Catbcart at the moment of receiving these orders could have harboured an intention to set them at nought, few or none will believe ; for if such a thought had then seized him, he at least would have given to his commander the impor-
 * Those are Lord Eaglan's orders.'