Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/468

 424 THE BATTLE 0¥ INKKKMAN. IV. CHAP. Excepting the small tract of ground at its ' southern extremity, the enemy still held all 6th Period JVfouut Inkci'man ; and from the moment — 11 iiouinow o'clock — when his French adversaries abandoned only to ^e 1 pp. ., . , challenged the ofiensive arrainst him, the only forces remam- l.ySOOO. . English and ins to challenge his dominion were the 3000 Eng- t)ie 18- . ° ° . _ ° pounders. Hsh soldicry we saw on Home Ridge or in front of it, supported by the two 1 8-pound ors. And even that last power was now for a time in abey- ance, for Dickson's ammunition had begun to fall short ; * and, pending the arrival of a fresh supply, he suffered his artillerymen to share the repose which enwrapped the eastern part of the battle-field.t Of course, this suspension of a hitherto overmastering fire contributed to deepen the lull. state of the The troops uudcr Haines at the Barrier, and field on a, . -n/r- • ^ t> large part of aioug the whole 'Mam -picket Ime, were too the ground , ., i ■ i i i -i i occupied by busily engaged with the enemy to be capable the Allies. n n -,■ ^ ^ i i- of finding repose ; but elsewhere, speaking gene- rally, the Allies at this hour had rest — rest not shot for each. + Captain Chennside was the very able officer chosen for the task of brini^in;^ up fre.sh ammunition. The physical difficul- ties of the task were so great (as compared with the scanty means available) that niucli energy and resource were needed in order to overcome them. Captain Chermsido succeeded in bringing up another hundred shot for each gun. In the second period of his activity Dickson seems to have consumed even more am- munition than during the first one, for when he ceased tiring there only remained, out of all the 400 broiight up, about 25 shot.
 * The two guns had come into action with a supply of 100