Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/378

 348 THE LANDING. CHAP. XXII. Its com- l»letion ; liy the Bnglisli ; by the Trench ; of weather which were, upon the whole, favour- able, and with the advantage of encountering no opposition from the enemy, an English force of some 26,000 infantry and artillerymen, with more than a thousand mounted cavalry, and sixty guns, had been landed in the course of five September days ; and, although the force thus put ashore was without those vast means of land-transport which would be needed for regular operations in the in- terior, and was obliged to rely upon the attendant fleet for the continuance of its supplies, it was nevertheless so provided as to be able to move along the coast carrying with it its first reserve of ammunition, and food enough for three days. The operation was conducted with an almost faultless skill, and (until a firm lodgment had been gained), it proceeded in the way that was thought to be the right one for landing in the face of the enemy. Though the surf was at times somewhat lieavy, not a man was lost. For Marslial St Ainaud, who had brought no cavalry with him, the task of effecting his descent on the shore was one of comparative ease ; and he might have placed himself in a condition to march long before the English were ready ; but knowing that the disembarkation of a large num- ber of horses must needs cost a good deal of time, he had no strong motive for hurrying; and ac- cordingly, during the whole of the five days which our people consumed in the process, there was always work going on at the landing-ground used by the French.