ebastopol. On the northern side
fortifications had been built to protect the fleet anchored in the bay.
Upon the heights overlooking the river Alma, Prince Menzikov, Governor of
the Crimea, had stationed his army of 39,000 men with 106 guns. Although
the heights overhanging the Alma are more than five miles long, the Russian
troops by which they were defended formed a front of but three miles. This
left the extreme left of the Russians open to an attack by a ford opposite
the village of Almatack. Against Menzikov, Marshal St. Arnaud and Lord
Raglan could oppose 63,000 men and 128 guns. The weakness of the undefended
left flank of the Russian army was discovered from the French ships. St.
Arnaud laid his plans accordingly. On the morning of September 20, the
attack was begun. The warships steamed up the river and opened fire on the
enemy. Bosquet, in command of a French division and a Turkish contingent,
was assigned to attack Menzikov's left. He pushed his way through the
village of Almatack and forded the river. His Zouaves nimbly climbed the
heights and reached the feebly defended plateau. Menzikov, busily engaged
in resisting the advance of the English against his right, at first refused
to believe the unwelcome tidings. He endeavored to shift a part of his
force from right to left. Meantime the English, under Lord Raglan, were
subjected to so fierce a fire from the Russian main position that they
could make no headway. They lay passive upon the ground waiting for the
French under Canrobert and Louis Napoleon to begin the attack in front, and
thus divert the attention of Menzikov. Weary of their long delay, Lord
Raglan took matters into his own hands. The English infantry rose from the
field, advanced upon the Russian main position, and, under a hot fire,
stormed the Russian redoubt with dreadful loss. Attacked on the one side by
the English and on the other by the French, Menzikov was compelled to beat
a retreat.

[Sidenote: War artists and correspondents]

The battle of the Alma was one of the first modern engagements described by
special war correspondents in the field. The news of the victory was
despatched to London with a rapidity prophetic of the feats performed by
latter-day correspondents. Besides the war correspondents, several artists
of note followed the armies of the allies. Among the French painters who
have perpetuated some of the well-known episodes of the Crimean War were
Horace Vernet, who painted a