ast, and therefore
the Allies made a dash at the great arsenal and fort of Sebastopol. It
did not enter into their reckoning that there might be a protracted
siege. What they anticipated was a swift march, a sudden attack, and the
capture of the stronghold by bombardment. The allied forces--25,000
English soldiers, 23,000 French, and about 5,000 Turks--landed in the
Crimea in September, 1854, and stormed the heights of the Alma on the
20th of that month. Then they hesitated, and their chance of reducing
Sebastopol that autumn was lost. 'I have been very slow to enter into
this war,' said Lord Aberdeen to an alderman at a banquet in the City.
'Yes,' was the brusque retort, 'and you will be equally slow to get out
of it.'

[Sidenote: BALACLAVA AND INKERMAN]

Divided counsels prevailed in the camp as well as in the Cabinet.
Cholera attacked the troops, and stores began to fail. Prince
Menschikoff, defeated at Alma, seized the opportunity which the delay
gave him to render the harbour of Sebastopol impassable to hostile
ships; and General Todleben brought his skill as an engineer to the task
of strengthening by earthworks the fortifications of the Russian
stronghold. The Allies made the blunder of marching on Sebastopol from
the southern instead of the northern side of the harbour, and this gave
time to the enemy to receive strong reinforcements, with the result that
120,000 men were massed behind the Russian fortifications. Meanwhile a
rumour that Sebastopol had fallen awakened short-lived rejoicings in
England and France. The tidings were contradicted in twenty-four hours,
but most people thought, on that exciting 3rd of October, that the war
was virtually at an end. The Emperor Napoleon announced the imaginary
victory of their comrades in arms to his assembled troops. Even Mr.
Gladstone was deceived for the moment, and there is a letter of his in
existence to one of the most prominent of his colleagues, full of
congratulation at such a result. The chagrin of the nation was great
when it learnt that the Russians were not merely holding their own, but
were acting on the aggressive; whilst the disappointment was quickened
by the lack of vigour displayed by the Cabinet. The Allies fought, on
October 25, the glorious yet indecisive battle of Balaclava, which was
for ever rendered memorable by the useless but superb charge of the
Light Brigade. Less than a fortnight later, on November 5, the Russians
renewed the attack, an