hich would have relieved Balaklava of his vicinity. Such was
the opinion of various officers of authority, and Sir De Lacy Evans,
who had as good opportunities as any general to form a judgment upon
the occasion, and was as competent as any officer in Europe to do so,
expressed, in conversation with the author of this History, the same
opinion.

The men and horses of the British army were now suffering severely from
the climate, and from various privations, which the bad commissariat
arrangements, and the want of energy and capacity on the part of the
commanderin-chief, entailed upon them. November opened gloomily in every
way upon the besiegers. Its first event of importance was the battle of
the Little Inkerman, as it was called among the soldiers. The Russians
attempted a surprise upon the dangerous and exposed post of the second
division, which was fortunately commanded by Sir De Lacy Evans. The
result was the most scientifically-fought battle of the war. General
Evans, not hampered by the interference of a commander-in-chief, whose
only title to command him was that conferred by his social rank and
favour with the ministry, had full scope for his own superior powers.
The Russians were repulsed with great slaughter and with little loss to
their victors. The French offered assistance tardily, but their aid
was declined--good generalship won the battle. The men of the second
division knew how to obey the commands of a general whom they trusted,
and to follow a leader himself the bravest of the brave.

The battle of the Little Inkerman was soon followed by that called, _par
excellence_, the battle of Inkerman. The morning of the 5th of November
dawned mistily and dimly over the plateau before Sebastopol, and along
the dark course of the Tchernaya. The Russians ascended stealthily
against the flank of the British. A terrible battle ensued. The English,
surprised, fought in their great-coats; although otherwise imperfectly
dressed, and some without shoes or shakos. Evans, who would have been at
the head of his second division, was ill on board ship at Balaklava, and
his place was nobly filled by General Pennefather. At the sound of the
cannon booming heavily over the plateau of Balaklava, Evans rose from
his sick bed and hurried to the front of battle, where he remained
during the terrible morning of conflict which opened that eventful
day. The English were all but overpowered, although they fought as
Englishmen--as pro