Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 2.djvu/400

 370 THE FIRST day's MARCH. CHAP. Itussiaii General should act in anything like con- ^^^' formity to the principles of the art of war, the whole weight of his attacks would have to be met, in the first instance, by the English alone ; and although the French would have an oppor- tunity of acting as a reserve, they would do so under circumstances rendering it very difficult for them to retrieve any check sustained by their Tieir trust- Allies. In short, the French could not but know good sense, that, if the enemy shoukl direct his enterprises against the open left flank of the invaders, the least weakness on the part of the English might enable him to roll up the whole Allied force, involving French and English alike in one com- mon disaster. Yet so steadfast was the trust which the French reposed in the English, so un- shaken the courage and good sense with which they committed themselves to the prowess of their ancient foe, that they never for an instant sought to meddle with the duty of covering the march from an attack on the left Hank. They planned that the English should be there. The advance On the morning of the lOtli of September the ^^^' Allied armies began their advance towards the south. On the riglit, and nearest the sea, the French army marched in a formation adopted by Marslial Bugeaud at the battle of Isly. The out- line of the ground covered by their troops took the shape of a lozenge — a lozenge, whereof the Tbe order of forcmost apcx was fomicd by the 1st Division, the angles on either flank by the 2d and 3d, and the rearmost point by the 4th Division. "Within