Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/316

 272 THE BATTLE OF INKEIIMAN. c fi A P. fending off, i f they could, the weight of two llus- J sian battalions. Of some such measure as this there was soon crying need ; for whilst the small clumps of our people round the colours still wrestled with the lakoutsk battalion in front, and fended it off their right flank, the two Okhotsk battalions came on past the Sandbag Battery — one moving along in front of its parapet, the other along its gorge. They were both pressing eagerly forward, the officers vehement with their swords in the air, the men shouting and rabidly yelling. For once, there was an absence of that air of doubt and hesitation, and that looking about for guidance, which elsewhere had characterised the Russian masses when brought into the close presence of our people ; and indeed the mere sight of English standards in retreat with only a small band around them, might well give assurance and purpose to troops pressing on in pursuit. The foremost of the Okhotsk battalions was at length within pistol-shot of our people ; and, if it should close, all hope of saving the colours must seemingly come to an end. In this strait, Burnaby remembered what he had been able to achieve on the Ledgeway by striking there at a column with only a small knot of men, and perceiving that now mere defensive resistance was hopeless, he judged that by com- parison with so l)lank a resource as that, an attack which would ho. wild niulor other condi- tions, might be in icnlity ])rudent. ITis men at