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^• jfhen the guns oa ithe flanjk , of , the Redan opened on Ithem as they moved up rapidly to the salient , in which there were , of course , no cannon , as the nature of such a . ' work does not permit of their being placed in that particular position . In a few seconds , Brigadier Shirley wastemporarily blinded by the" dust and by earth knocked into his ey ®? Py ¦*¦ shot . He -was obliged to retire , and his place was taken by Lieutenant-Colonel jjunbury , of the 23 rd . Regiment . . . . Many offixers and men-were hit and fell ; and of the commanders of parties only acting Brigadier-General Windham , Captain Fyers , Captain Lewes , and Captain Maude , got untouched into the . Redan , and escaped scathless from the volleys of grape and rifle balls which swept the ' ijanks of the work towards the salient . v V ^' It was a lew minutes after twelve when our men left the fifth parallel . The musketry commenced at once , < and in less than five minutes , during which the troops had to pass over about thirty yards from the nearest approach to the parapet of the Redan , they had lost a large proportion of their officers , and been deprived of the aid of their leaders , with the exceptions I have stated . The Riflemen advanced admirably , but from their position they could not do much to reduce the fire of the guns on the flanks and below the re-entering angles . The bravery and coolness of that experienced , deserving , and much-neglected officer , Captain Fyers , were never more brilliantly displayed , or urgently called for . . . . As the storming party came nearer , the enemy ' s fire became less fatal . They crossed the abattis without diffi-. culty ; it was torn to pieces and destroyed by our shot ,, and the men stepped over and through it wi ^ h . ease . The Light Division made straight for the salient . and projecting angle of the Redan , and came to the ditch , which is here about fifteen feet deep . The party ; detailed for the purpose placed the ladders , but they were found to be too short . However , had there been enough of them that would not have mattered much , but some had been left behind in the hands of dead or wounded men , and others had been . broken , so that if one can credit the statements made by those who were present , there were not more than six or seven ladders at the salient ! The men , led by their officers , leaped into the ditch and scrambled up the other side , whence they got /• U B ^ e parapet , almost without opposition , for the few ^ Russians who were m front ran back and got behind their traverses and breastworks as soon as they saw our men on the top , and . opened fire upon them . To show what different impressions the same object can make on ¦ different people , let me remark that one officer of rank told ine the Russians in the Redan did not exceed 150 men -when he got into it , and that the men could have . car-TOdthe breastwork , with the greatest ease if they had ^ On ly ma ^ ea rashfor it , and he expressed an opinion that they had no ^ eld-piece ' s inside the breastwork . - A y irejginiental officer , ' ' oh the" " other tawwlj . positively assured ' | m $ , maj 5 when he got on the top of the parapet of the . salient he saw at about one hundred yards in advance of *" nimi a breastwork with gaps in it , through which were xun the muzzlesI of field-pieces , and that in the rear of it were compact masses of Russian infantry , the front ' Tank kneeling with fixed bayonets , ias if prepared to re' ceive a charge of cavalry , while the two rear ranks over them kept up a sharp and destructive fire on our men . The only way to reconcile thesediscrepancies is to suppose that the first spoke of the earliest stage of the . assault , and that the'latter referred to a'later' period , ' ' when the Russians may have opened embrasures in the breastwork , ' and ' had been reinforced by the' fugitives from the Malakhoff , and by the troops behind the barracks in its rear . Lamentable as it no doubt is , and incredible ,. almost to those who know how the British soldier generally behaves before the enemy , ' the men , when they got on the parapet , were seized by somo strange infatuation , and began firing , instead of following their officers , who . how began to fall as fast as they rushed on in front and tried to stimulate their soldiers toy their example . The small party of the 90 th , much > diminished , -went on gallantly towards the breastwork , but they were too weak to force it , and they had to retire and get behind the traverses , where men of dif-I'fererit regiments had already' congregated , and wore keeping up a brisk fire on the Russians , whose heads Were juat visible above the breastwork . Simultaneously ¦ with the head of the storming party of the Light Division , * Colonel Windham had got inside the Redan on their right , below the salient , on the proper left face of the Sedan , but , in Bpito of all his exertions , could do little more than the gallant officers of the 90 th and 97 th , ., and of the supporting regiments . •< As the Light Division rushed out in the front they were swept by the guns of the Barrack Battery and by / several pieces on the proper right of the Redan , loaded heavily with grape ,, which caused them considerable loss before they reached the salient or apex ' of the work whioh they were to assault . The storming columns of the Qecond Division issuing out of the fifth parallel rushed up immediately after the Light Division , but when they came up qlose to the apex Brigadier Windham very ju-5 dldously brought them by a slight detour on the right I flank of the Light Division , so as to oomo a little down , on [ the slope of the proper loft face of tho Redan . The u . flrajfc embrasure to which they came was in flames , but , moving , on to the next , tho men leaped into tho ditoh ,
and , with the aid , of la , dder ^ aad of each other ' s hands , scrambled up on the othpr side , climbed the parapet ,, or poured in through the embrasure which was undefended . Colonel Windham was the first , or one of the very first men in on this side , and with him entered Daniel Mahoney , a great Grenadier of the 41 st , and Kilkenny and Cornells , of the same regiment . As Mahoney entered with a cheer he was shpt through the head , by a Russian rifleman , and fell dead across Colonel Windham , and at the same moment Kilkenny ; and Cornells were both wounded . The hitter claims the reward of 51 . offered by Colonel Herbert to the first man of his division who entered the Redan . Running parallel to the faces of the Redan there is , I have described , an inner parapet , intended to shield the gunners at the embrasures from the fleets of any shell which might fall into the body of the work , and strike them down if this high bank were not there to protect them from the splinters . Several cuts in the rear of the em brasures permitted the men to retire in case of need inside , and very strong and high traverses ran all along the sides of the work itself to afford them additional shelter . r "At the base of the Redan , before the re-entering angles , is a breastwork , or rather a parapet , with an irregular berme , up to a man ' s neck , which runs in front of the body of the place . As our men . entered through the embrasures , the few Russians who were between the salient and this breastwork retreated behind the latter , and got from the traverses to its protection . From it they poured in a quick fire on the parapet of the salient , which was crowded hy . the men of the Light Division , and on the gaps through the inner parapet of the Redan , and our men , with an infatuation which all officers deplore , but cannot always remedy on ^ such occasions , began to return the fire of the enemy without advancing or crowding behin-d the traverses , loaded and fired as ,, quickly as they could , but did but little execution , as the Russians were well covered by the breastwork . There were also groups of Russian riflemen behind the lower traverses near the base of the Redan , who kept up a galling fire on our men . As the alarm of an assault was spread , tbe enemy came rushing up from the barracks in the rear of the Redan , and increased the force and intensity of their fire , while our soldiers dropped fast and encouraged the Russians by their immobility and the weakness of their fusillade , from which the enemy Were well protected . In vain the officers , by voice and act , by example and daring , tried to urge our soldiers on . They had an impression . that the ^ Redan was mined , and that if they advanced they , would all be blown up ; but ^ many - # f . them acted as became the men of Aim »> and "tnke ' rman , and , rushing to the front , were swept down , by the enemy ' s fire . The officers fell oil all sides , singled out for the enemy ' s fire by their courage . The men of the different regiments became mingled together in inextricable confusion . The 19 th men did not care for the orders of the , o ^ cer of the , 88 th , nor did the soldier of the 2 3 rd heed the commands of an officer who did not . belong to ; hte regitnent . The officers could ilot find their men—the ' m , en had lost sight < jf their own officers . All the Brigadiers ; save C ° l <> Windham , were wounded or rendered unfit for the guidance of the attack- , That gallant officer did all that man could do to form his men for the atifiajc , and to lead them against the enemy . Proceeding from traverse to traverse , he coaxed the men to come out , and succeeded several times in forming a few of them , hut they melted away as fast as he laid hold of them , and either fell in their little ranks or retired to cover , to keep up their fusillade . Many of them crowded to lower ; parts of the inner parapet and kept up a . smart fire on the enemy , but nothing could induce them to come out into the open space and charge the breastwork . This was- all going on at the proper left face of the Redan , while nearly the same scene was being repeated at the salient . Every moment our men were diminishing in numbers , while the Russians came up in swarms from the town , and rushed down from the Malakhoff , wMch had now been occupied by the French . Thrice did Colonel Windham send officers to Sir E . Codrington , who was in the fifth parallel , begging of him to send up supports in some order of formation ; but all these three officers were wounded as they passed from the ditch of the Redan to the rear , and the Colonel ' s own aide-de-camp , Lieutenant Swire , of the 17 th , a gallant young officer , was hit dangerously in the hip as ho went on his perilous errand . Supports were , indeed , sent up , but they came in disorder , from tho flre to which they were exposed on their way , and arrived in driblets , only to increase tho confusion of tho carnage . " Finding that ho could not collect any men on tho loft face , Colonel Windham passed through one of tho cuts of tho inner parapet and walked over to tho right face , at tho distance of thirty yards from tho Russian breastwork , to which ho moved in a parallel lino , oxposed to a close flro , but , wonderful to say , without being touched . When ho got behind the inner parapet at tho right face , ho found the same state of things as that whioh existed at the loft . Tho men wore behind tho traverses , firing away at tho Russians or blazing at thorn from tho broken parts of tho front , and tho soldiers who came down from tho salient in front only got behind thoso works for cover while thoy loaded and fired at tho enemy . Tho Colonel got somo ' rlfldmon and a few men of tho 88 th together , but no
sooner had . he brought them out than , they were killed , wounded , or dispersed by ' a . concentrated ¦ Jpxe- ''" The . officers / with the noblest devotion , aided Cornel Windham , and became the special marks of the enemy ' s riflemen . The narrow neck of the salient was jfoo clo £ e to allow of any kind of formation , and the more the men crowded into it the more they got out ; of order , atid the more they suffered from the enemy ' s fire . . .. V , . ' \ " This miserable work lasted for an hour . ' The ^ Russians were now in dense masses behind . the breastwork , and Colonel Windham walked back , again abross the open space to the left to make one more attempt to retrieve tfie day . The men on the parapet of the salient , who were firing at the Russians , sent their shot about him , and the latter , who were pouring volley after yolley on all points of the head of the work , likewise directed their muskets against him , but he passed through this cross fire in safety , and got within the inner parapet on the left , where the men were becoming thinner and thinner . A Russian officer now stepped over the breastwork , and tore down a gabion with his own hands ; it was to make room for a field-piece . Colonel Windham exclaimed to several soldiers who were firing over the parapet , 1 Well , as you are so fond of firing , why don't you shoot that Russian ? ' They fired a volley and missed him , and soon afterwards the field-piece began to play on the head of the salient with grape . Colonel Windham saw there was no time to be lost . He had sent three officers for reinforcements , and above all for men iti formation , and he now resolved to go to General Cbdrlngton himself ! Seeing Captain Crealock , of the 90 th , near him , busy in encouraging his men , and exertiflg himself with great courage and energy to get them into order , he said , ' I must go to the General for supports . Now , mind , let it be known , in case I am killed , why I went away . ' He crossed the parapet and ditch , and succeeded in gaining the fifth parallel through a storm of grape and rifle bullets in safety . Sir Edward Codrington asked him if he thought he really thought he could . do anything with such supports as he could afford , and said hemight take the Royals , who were then in the parallel . ' Let the officers come out in front—let us advance in order—and , if the men keep their formation , the Redan is ours , ' was the Colonel ' s reply ; but he spoke too late , for at that Very moment our men Were fieipto leaping into the ditch , or running down the parapet of the salient , and through the embrasures out of the work into the ditch , while the Russians followed them with th 6 bayonet arid'With ' 'Heavy musketry , and even' tfti-ew Stones and gfapeshot at them bs they lay in the ditcju . / The fact Was , that 'the'Russians , havnig ^ Bctojtmlated several thousands of men behind the breastwork / ' and seeing bur men all scattered arid confused behind the inner parapet and the traverse , crossed the breastwork ; ^ through which several field-pieces were now playing yith' grape on the inner face of the Redan ^ arid charged bur broken ^ groups with the bayonet , at the same time' that the rear ranks , getting On the breastwork , poured a'heavy" hail of bullets on' them over the heads ' of the advancing ^ column . ¦ " The ' struggle that took place was short , desperate , and bloody . Our soldiers , taken at ' every' disadvantage , met the enemy with the bayonet too ; arid- isolated combats took place , in which the brave fellows who stood their ground had to defend themselves" against three or four 1 adversaries at once . In this me /< fe , the officers , armed only with their swords , had little chance ; nor had those who carried pistols much opportunity of using them in such a rapid contest . They fell like heroes , and many a gallant soldier with them . But the solid weight 1 of ( the advancing mass , urged on and fed each moment from the rear by company after company and battalion ' after battalion , prevailed at last against the isolated and disjointed band , who had abandoned the protection of unanimity , and had lost the advantages of discipline ( and obedience . As though some giant rock had advanced into the sea and forced back the waters that I buffeted it , so did the Russian columns press down I against the spray of soldiery which fretted their edge j with fire and steel and contended in vain against their weight . The struggling band was forced back by tho enemy , who moved on , crushing friend and foe beneath I their stolid tramp , and , bleeding , panting , and exhausted , - our men lay in heaps in the ditch beneath the parapet , I sheltered themsolves behind stones and in bomb-craters , I in the slope of tho work , or tried to pass back to our ad- I vanced parallel and sap , and had to run the gauntlet of L a tremendous fire . " The writer adds that somo of the Russians brought I water to our wounded ; which to somo extent wipes I out the stain of their former cruelties . Touching the 'J rawness of our soldiers , Mr . Russell relates that one I man confessed ho had never fired off his piece be- I cause ho could not , and that several men who came I out to regiments in tho Fourth Division had only boen enlisted a few days , and had never fired a rifle in their lives 1 It must bo borne in mind , however , that all accounts do not agreo in imputing blame to the conduct of tho troops while in tho Redan . Marshal Pelissier , indeed , speaks with great praise of tho attempt , unsuccessful though it waa . Ho writes : — " The English had to go over 200 metres , under a terrible fire of grapO ' This Bpaco was now covered with deud . Nevertheless ! those losses did not impede the progress of tho attacking column , which camo up directing its course towards tho principal work . It descended into tho trench , which i »
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• ¦ . oftft TiHrE ' - / MB ^ A- I ) E R . . :. f&m 28 & * i %£ mm& * > '
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 29, 1855, page 928, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2108/page/4/
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