Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/486

 442 THE BATTLE OF INKERMAN. CHAP, arrest the retreat, .sayiug, 'Stop the troops here." ' ' Highness,' said Daimenberg, ' to stop the troops ith Period. < |-^(3j.Q would be to let them be destroyed tu the ' last man. If your Highness thinks otherwise, ' have the goodness to give the orders yourself, Prince ' and take from me the command.' f To this the koYfdeliber Priuce did not answer one word, but at once Qoughtby turned his horse's head, and rode off in the Dauuenberg. . ,. r-. i i ± direction oi Sebastopol.j General Danneuberg's language was either that of an officer deliberately taking upon himself the Urosoff (Prince Meutschikoff's aide-de-camp), the part of Mount Inkerman on which the Prince wished to stop the re- treat was ground selected by him on account of its ' being in a ' line with ' [qy. covered by the fire of] the MalakofF. + Tchaplinsky. The version of Urosoff (though he writes in a spirit antagonistic to Daiineuberg), is closely similar. According to him Dannenberg answered : ' I do not take on ' myself the execution of your order. Will your Excellency ' please to execute it yourself, I surrender my command.' + The occurrence of this scene between Mentschikoff and Dannenberg at an hour considerably past one o'clock, atlbrds a decisive contradiction to the assertions of the French, wlio would have it believed that the battle virtually ended at eleven in the forenoon. The incident also sti'engtliens the inference, see ante, p. 435, which would connect Dannenberg's determina- tion to retreat immediately, with that ' last ounce ' of adversity that was laid upon him when one of his batteries retreated under Acton's a.ssault. For if the determination to retreat had not resulted from the stress of some fresh occurrence, it is liard to believe that Dannenberg would have omitted to go through the form of conferring with his ostensible chief before comini^ to so momentous a resolve as that of abandoning Mount Inker- man. A five-minutes' canter would have brouglit the two generals together at any time, and yet Mentschikoif had plainly remained unapprised of the detornii nation to retreat until li« ^av the operation going on.
 * Tchaplinsky, Danueuberg's aide-de-camp. According to