Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/330

 286 THE BATTLE OF INKERMAN. CHAP, which fought so hard on the Elitspur. By means ' of comparison with other numbers, we shall by- id Period, and-by see the full import of this ugly deduction from the present strength of the English. The Eussians, it is true, and especially the Okhotsk battalions, sustained heavy losses in both offi- cers and men ; but it is evident that the enemy with his great numerical preponderance over the English could bear deductions from strength much better than they, and that, even though losing very many more men, he might still be a gainer in relative power. XVII. But meanwhile, our centre — and there, the ground was of vital worth — had been undergoing incessant attacks. At the very moment when this Second Period began, and thenceforth, again and again, the enemy moved up in strength to The centre, assault our liucs ou Homo Ridge, and was every time met before gaining the crest by some little band of our infantry thrown forward to dispute his advance. To encounter the enemy thus in advance of Home Ridge was, indeed, to forego all advantage afforded by the natural strength of the ground, and to neutralise the power of our artillery by combating in front of the guns ; but Pennefather still clung to his plan of making the Russians fight hard for every foot of ground they might gain ; and accordingly he ahnost always ojjposed