same juncture, the Russian army, under Prince Menschikoff, attempted
another flank march from the south to the north. The wings of the
hostile armies came into collision; many Russians were slain or made
prisoners. Neither army had any idea of the strategy of the other, and
both were surprised at the partial rencontre. Arriving at the south
side, Balaklava was made the basis of the allied operations: the British
occupying the right, and facing, of course, the left defence. The
Honourable General Cathcart advised an immediate assault upon the place,
which was very indifferently defended in that direction; but
General Burgoyne, the chief officer of British engineers, and the
commanderin-chief, were alike opposed to it. General Evans, and other
officers of high authority, were against the plan of General Cathcart as
rash. Those officers still retain the opinions which then influenced the
decision arrived at. It was determined to besiege the place, and conquer
it by regular approaches. The Russians, who were so dispirited that it
is questionable whether they would have resisted an immediate assault
with any vigour, took heart and threw up defences. A young officer of
engineers, named Todtleben, conceived the idea of vast erections of
earthworks, and the Russians were set to defend the place with pick and
mattock more strenuously than by artillery or musketry. The result was
a protracted defence. The Russians plied the spade and shovel with
astonishing vigour and perseverance, and Todtleben proved himself equal
in genius to the exigency. The Russians were reinforced; confidence took
the place of despair, and the city was defended with desperate hardihood
and energy. Besides the garrison, there was a Russian army in the field
upon the Tchernaya, and the heights by which it was commanded. Such was
the state of affairs, with occasional skirmishing and gunnery, up to the
26th of October, when the too celebrated battle of Balaklava was fought,
and the British generals incurred the imputation of folly, such as
seldom has been laid to the account of military chiefs, and the British
army gained a reputation for chivalrous valour which will live when even
the stupidity which made the occasion of its display is forgotten. It
would be impossible, within the limits of this work, to give the details
of such a battle. There were redoubts thrown up in the plain beyond the
heights of Balaklava, which were garrisoned by Turks. The worst possibl