Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/52

 8 THE 15ATTLK OF INKKKMAN. CUA1 assigned to liim ; for whilst furiiisliing a quota ^- of men for Gordon's ' Attack,' he was not divided from the enemy by any continuous line of siege- works, and accordingly stood charged with the outpost and other duties that are incident to war in the Open.* He had to defend his part of the ground against any attempted invasion, and we shall hear of a Russian despatch which, if duly obeyed, would bring upon his 1200 men an attack by full 20,000 ; f but in the event of an enterprise being directed against Mount Inkerman, General Codrington's duty would be simply to hold fast his own ridge without attempting to cast himself into the thick of the fight by crossing to the eastern side of the ravine.J The Naval Brigade under Cai)tain Lushington was engaged in the siege -batteries, but the re- serve of the force was stationed near the head of this Victoria liidge, and its camp-guard had been lately supplied with 300 rifles. All the divisions and brigades hitherto spoken of contributed to carry on, in the trenches, the attack against the lines of Sebastopol; whilst- the primary task of the troops whose positions must front, but it had been nearly dismantled, having now only one gun left in it, and being far in rear — right rear — of Gordon's and Chapman's foremost trenches, it could hardly be consid- ered as a part of the ' siege- works.' + For General Codrington's strength, see Ajipendix, Note I. J The two brigades I'ommauded respectively by Codrington and R)iller constituted the Liglit Division, of which Sir George Brown was the Cliief.
 * The right Lancaster battery was, no doubt, in Codrington'a