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Bridge. The Russians arranged for a combined attack on the ridge above-mentioned by part of Menshikov's army (16,oco) and a corps (19,000) that was to issue from Sevastopol. This attack was to have, beside its own See also:

field See also:

ARTILLERY (the O. Fr. artiller, to equip with engines of war, probably comes from Late Lat. articulum, dim. of ars, art, cf. " engine " from ingenium, or of artus, joint)

artillery, the support of fifty-four heavy guns, and the See also:

RUSSIAN

Russian See also:

LEFT

left wing on the Balaklava battleground was to keep Bosquet occupied. If successful, the attack on the ridge was to be the See also:

SIGNAL

signal for a general attack all along the See also:

LINE

line. It was apparently intended by Menshikov-th.at the See also:

COLUMN (Lat. columna)

column from the field army should attack the position from the See also:

north, and that the Sevastopol column should advance along the See also:

west See also:

side of the Careenage Ravine. But he only appointed a See also:

COMMANDER

commander to take See also:

charge of both columns at the last moment, and the want of a clear understanding as to what was to be done militated against success from the first. General Soimonov, with the Sevastopol column, after assembling his troops before See also:

DAWN (the 16th-century form of the earlier " Jawing " or " dawning," from an old verb " daw," O. Eng. dagian, to become day; cf. Dutch dagen, and Ger. tagen)

dawn on the 5th, led them on to the upland See also:

east of Careenage Ravine; while the field army column, under General Pavlov, crossed the Tchernaya near its mouth, almost at right angles to Soimonov's line of advance, The British troops on or near the ground were the 2nd See also:

DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

Division, 3000, encamped on the ridge; See also:

Codrington's See also:

BRIGADE (Fr. and Ger. brigade, Ital. brigata, Span. brigada; the English use of the word dates from the early 17th century)

brigade of the See also:

LIGHT

Light Division, 1400, on the slopes west of the Careenage Ravine; and the See also:

GUARDS, AND HOUSEHOLD TROOPS

Guards' brigade, 1350, about 4 m. in rear of the znd Division See also:

CAMP (from Lat. campus, field)

camp. No other forces, French or British, were within 2 M. except another part of See also:

Sir See also:

George See also:

Brown's Light Division. A mist overhung the field and the hillsides were slippery with mud. Soimonov, with his whole force deployed in a normal attack formation (three lines of See also:

BATTALION

battalion columns covered by a few See also:

HUNDRED

hundred skirmishers) pushed forward along the ridge (6 A.M.) without waiting for Pavlov or for Dannenberg, the officer appointed to command the whole force.

See also:

Shell See also:

Hill, guarded only by a picquet, was seized at once. The heavy guns that had been brought from the fortress were placed in position on this hill, and opened See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire (7 A.M.) on the knoll, 1400 yds. to the S., behind which the 2nd Division was encamped. The Russian See also:

INFANTRY

infantry halted for the guns to prepare the way, and the heavy projectiles both swept the See also:

crest of the British knoll and destroyed the camp in rear. But already General Pennefather, commanding the division, had pushed forward one See also:

BODY

body of his infantry after another down the forward slope, near the See also:

FOOT

foot of which they encountered the Russians in See also:

GREAT

great force. On his side, Soimonov had been compelled to break up his See also:

REGULAR

regular lines of columns at the narrowest part of the ridge and to push his battalions forward a few at a See also:

time. This and the broken See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of the ground made the battle even in the beginning a melee. The obscurity of the mist, which had at first allowed the big battalions to approach unobserved, now favoured the weaker side. Soimonov himself, however, formed up some 9000 men, who drove back the British left wing—for the whole of Pennefather's force at the time was no more than 3600 men. But the right wing, not as yet attacked, either by Soimonov or by Pavlov, held on to its positions on the forward slope, and a column of Russian sailors and See also:

MARINES (from Lat. mare, sea)

marines, who had been placed under Soimonov's command and had moved up the Careenage Ravine to turn the British left, were caught, just as they emerged on to the See also:

plateau in rear of Pennefather's line, between two bodies of British troops hurrying to the See also:

SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene of See also:

ACTION

action. On the front, too, the Russian attack came to a standstill and ebbed, for Soimonov's overcrowded battalions jostled one another and dissolved on the narrow and broken plateau. Soimonov himself was killed, and the disciplined confidence and steady volleys of the defenders dominated the chaotic elan of the Russians. Thus 3300 defenders were able to repulse and even to " expunge from the battlefield " the whole of the Sevastopol column, except that portion of it which drifted away to its left and joined Pavlov.

This See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage of the battle had lasted about See also:

FORTY

forty minutes. But, brilliant as was this See also:

OVERTURE (Fr. ouverture, opening)

overture, it is the second stage of the battle that gives it its epic See also:

INTEREST

interest. The first attack made by Pavlov's advanced guard, aided by parts of Soimonov's corps, was relatively slight, but General Dannenberg now arrived on the field, and arranged for an See also:

ASSAULT (from Lat. ad, to or on, and saltare, to leap)

assault on the British centre and right, to be delivered by ro,000 men (See also:

HALF

half his intact forces) chiefly by way of the See also:

QUARRY

Quarry Ravine, the attack to be prepared by the guns on Shell Hill. Pennefather had been reinforced by the Guards' brigade and a few smaller See also:

units. Not the least extraordinary feature of the battle that followed is the part played by a sangar of stones at the See also:

head of Quarry Ravine and a small See also:

BATTERY (Fr. batterie, from battles, to beat)

battery, called the Sandbag Battery, made as a temporary emplacement for two heavy guns a few days before. The guns had done their See also:

WORK

work and been sent back whence they came. Nevertheless these two insignificant works, as points to hold and lines to defend on an otherwise featureless battlefield, became the centres of gravity of the battle. The sangar at first See also:

fell into the hands of the Russians, but they were soon ejected, and small British detachments reoccupied and held it, while the various Russian attacks flowed up and past it and ebbed back into the Quarry Ravine. See also:

Possession of the Sandbag Battery was far more fiercely contested. The right wing was defended by some 700 men of the 2nd Division, who were reinforced by r ;oo of the Guards. The line of See also:

defence adjacentto the battery looked downhill for about 300 yds., giving a clear field of fire for the new See also:

ENFIELD

Enfield See also:

RIFLE

rifle the English carried; but a See also:

sharp break in the slope beyond that range gave the assailants plenty of " dead ground " on which to See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form up. For a time, therefore, the battle was a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of attacks, delivered with great fierceness by the See also:

main body of Pavlov's corps, the repulse of each being followed by the disappearance of the assailants.

But the arrival of part of the British 4th Division under Sir George See also:

Cathcart gave the impulse for a See also:

COUNTER

counter-attack. Most of the division indeed had to be used to patch up the weaker parts of the line, but Cathcart himself with about 400 men worked his way along the See also:

LOWER

lower and steeper part of the eastern slope so as to take the assailants of the battery in flank. He had not proceeded far, however, when a body of Russians moving higher up descended upon the small British corps and scattered it, Cathcart himself being killed. Other counter-strokes that his arrival had inspired were at the same time made from different parts of the defensive front, and had the effect of breaking up what was a solid line into a number of disconnected bands, each fighting for its See also:

LIFE

life in the midst of the enemy. The crest of the position was laid open and parts of the Russian right wing seized it. But they were flung back to the lower slopes of the Quarry Ravine by the leading French See also:

REGIMENT (from Late Latin regimentum, rule, regere, to rule, govern, direct)

regiment sent by Bosquet. This regiment was quickly followed by others. The last great assault was delivered with more precision, if with less fury than the others, and had Dannenberg chosen to employ the 9000 bayonets of his reserve, who stood idle throughout the See also:

day, to support the 6000 half-spent troops who made the attack, it would probably have been successful. As it was, supported by the heavy guns on Shell Hill, the assailants, though no longer more than slightly See also:

SUPERIOR

superior in See also:

numbers, carried not only the sangar, but part of the crest line of the allied position. But they were driven back into the Quarry Ravine, and, relieving the exhausted British, the French took up the defence along the edge of the ravine, which, though still not without severe fighting, they maintained till the See also:

close of the battle. Inkerman, however, was not a See also:

DRAWN

drawn battle. The allied field artillery, reinforced by two See also:

long r8-pr. guns of the British siege See also:

TRAIN (M. Eng. trayn or trayne, derived through Fr. from Late Lat. trahinare, to drag, draw, Lat. trahere, cf. trail, trace, ultimately from the same source)

train and assisted by the bold advance of two French 'See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

horse-artillery batteries which galloped down the forward slope and engaged the Russians at close range, gained the upper See also:

hand.

Last of all, the dominant guns on Shell Hill thus silenced, the resolute advance of a handful of British infantry decided the day, and the Russians retreated. The final shots were fired about 1.30 P.M. The See also:

TOTAL

total British force engaged was 8500, of whom 2357 were killed and wounded. The French lost 939 out of about 7000 who came on to the field, though not all these were engaged. The Russians are said to have lost i i,000 out of about 42,000 See also:

PRESENT

present. The percentage (27.7) of loss sustained by the British is sufficient See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence of the intensity of the conflict, and provides a convincing See also:

ANSWER (derived from and, against, and the same root as swear)

answer to certain writers who have represented the battle as chiefy a French affair. On the other hand, the reproaches addressed by some British writers to General Bosquet for not promptly supporting the troops at Inkerman with his whole strength are equally unjustifiable, for apparently Sir George Brown and Sir George Cathcart both declined his first offers of support, and he had Prince See also:

GORCHAKOV, or GORTCHAKOEF

Gorchakov with at least 20,000 Russians in his own immediate front. He would therefore have risked the failure of his own See also:

MISSION

mission in See also:

order to take part in a battle where his intervention was not, so far as he could tell, of vital importance. When See also:

Lord See also:

RAGLAN, FITZROY JAMES HENRY SOMERSET, 1ST BARON (1788-1855)

Raglan definitely asked him for support, he gave it willingly and eagerly, sending his troops up at the See also:

double, and it must be remembered that several British divisions took no part in the action for the same See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason that actuated Bosquet. But, in spite of the seemingly inevitable controversies attendant on an " allied " battle, it is now generally admitted that, as a " soldiers' battle," Inkerman is scarcely to be surpassed in See also:

MODERN

modern See also:

HISTORY

history.

End of Article: INKERMAN, BATTLE OF

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