Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/286

 2 5 6 ORDERS AND PREPARATIONS CHAP, ever, Lord lia<ilan opened the letter, and in a XVI . '__ few moments he was able to give M. Trochu the means of inferring the niatter contained in the illegible part of his despatch. Apparently it was the desire of both the Home Governments that the Allied commanders should prepare to make a descent upon the Crimea and lay siege to Sebastopol. On the 16th of July the despatch of the 29th of June was received at the English headquarters; and a despatch forwarded from Paris at nearly the same time reached the hands of Marshal St Arnaud. The men Siucc tliG proposcd expedition involved the em- determiiie ploymcut of both land and sea forces, the duty efiect to he of determining upon the effect to be given to the gh-en to the. • /< i i t i ±^ i insii-uciions. lustructions Irom home devolved upon those who had the command of the Anglo-rrench armies and lleets. These were three: Marshal St Arnaud (having Admiral Hamelin under his orders), Lord Juiglan, and Vice-Admiral Dundas. Marsii.'ii St Marshal St Arnaud had not weight propor- lioned to the magnitude oi las connnand. Ke- puted at first to be daring even to the verge of rashness, we have seen him so cautioned and schooled into strategic prudence as to have deter- mined to place hundreds of miles of territory, and even the great range of the Balkan, between the French and the Kussians ; and now, within the last week, he had been almost reproved by his Covcrnment for want of enterprise. Colonel Trochu, admitted into consultation upon the most