Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/360

 330 THE LANDING. CHAP. xxir. This de- Btroj-s the whole plan of the landing. Sir Edmund Lyons. from sheer mistake on the part of our allies, or from their over - greediness for space, or from a scheme more profoundly designed, it plainly went straight towards the end desired by those French officers who had been labouring to bring the en- terprise to a stop. For what was to be done ? If the English, disregarding the altered position of the buoy, were to persist in keeping to their as- signed landing-ground, their whole ilotilla, their boats and their troops, when landed, would be hopelessly mixed up with the French ; and what might be expected to follow would be ruinous confusion — nay even, perhaps, angry and violent conflict between the forces of the Allies. To pro- pose to move the buoy, or to get into controversy with the French at such a time, would be to delay and imperil the whole undertaking; and yet the boundary, as it stood, extruded the Eng- lish from all share in the chosen landing-ground. It might seem that the whole enterprise was again in danger of failure, but again a strong will interposed. From the moment when Lord Eaglan consented to undertake the invasion, he seems to have acted as though he felt that the belief which he enter- tained of its hazardousncss was a reason why he should be the more steadfast in his determina- tion to force it on. Nor was he without the very counsel that was needed for overcoming this last obstacle. Lyons, commanding the in-shore squad- ron of the British fleet, was entrusted with the direction of our transports and the whole man-