One of the Six Hundred: A Novel
to procure provisions and carriages, for that officer, beyond any other,
had seen from the first the necessity of procuring supplies and means of
transport. On one of these occasions, by his orders, I had the good
fortune to capture twenty-five _kibitkas_, or waggons, in a village near
our line of march. On the same day I think it was that his
aide-de-camp, the gallant Nolan, when exploring for water, came upon a
Russian government convoy of eighty waggons laden with flour, and seized
them all, routing the escort. In all we obtained three hundred and
fifty waggons, with their teams and Tartar drivers.
The chief proprietor of the _kibitkas_ I had taken was the patriarch or
leading man of the village--a Tartar of venerable aspect, wearing a
pelisse or long robe of blue stuff, with a small black lambskin cap, not
unlike an Egyptian tarboosh, from under which his white hair flowed upon
his shoulders.
Accustomed only to the lawless and brutal military tyranny of the
Muscovites and Cossacks, nothing could equal the good man's astonishment
when I informed him, by means of an interpreter, that we merely required
the loan of the carts, and that he would be duly paid. Allah, ho
Ackbar!--think of that--actually paid, for any inconvenience or loss the
villagers might suffer by their detention.
On the morning of the 19th we quitted our miserable bivouac, and
commenced our march in search of the enemy, for we were on perilous
ground, and had the Russians come suddenly upon us, we might have been
compelled to risk a battle with our rear to the cliffs which overhung
the Euxine (where the sea-calves basked on the beach a hundred feet
below), and on a field where defeat would have been certain ruin and
death to all. But, as the French had assumed to themselves the honour
of the right wing, they had thus a greater risk than we British, who had
quietly taken the left flank, as the allies advanced along the coast.
The 11th Hussars and 13th Light Dragoons, under Lord Cardigan, formed an
advanced guard; and in their rear marched a detachment of rifles, in
extended or skirmishing order. We knew that the enemy was somewhere in
front; but in what force, or where or how posted, we were in perfect
ignorance. Occasionally an excited voice in the ranks would exclaim
that a Russian vedette was in sight on the distant hills.
The atmosphere was calm, the sky almost cloudless, and high into its
azure ascended the smoke of the allied fleet, which kept moving under
steam far away on the right flank of the French army, which rested on
the shore. The sun shone hot and brightly; but at times there came
pleasantly a light, fresh breeze from the shining Euxine.
The colours were all uncased and flying; the bands of the cavalry and
infantry, with the merry bugles of the rifles, filled the air with
music; and I could hear the pipes of the Highlanders, under the Duke of
Cambridge, alternately swelling up or dying away upon the ambient air,
as the first division traversed the undulating country in front.
As we proceeded, I could not resist letting my horse's reins drop upon
his neck, and soaring into dreamland, my thoughts went far away to our
distant home beyond the sea. Sometimes I imagined how my name would
look in the list of killed or wounded, and of what Louisa Loftus would
think then. And with this morbid fancy came always another idea--was it
a conviction?--that such an announcement would cause a deeper and more
lasting grief in Calderwood Glen than at Chillingham Park; and I thought
of my good uncle reading the heavy news to his two faithful old
henchmen, Binns, the butler, and Pitblado, the keeper.
Louisa's lock of raven hair which I had received at Calderwood, the
miniature which she had sent to me afterwards at the barracks, were with
me now; and with me, too, was the memory of those delicious words she
had whispered in my ear in the library at Chillingham--
"Till we are both in our graves, dear Newton, you will never, never know
how much I love you, and the agony which Berkeley's cunning cost me."
This was strong language: yet it would seem now that, amid the whirl of
fashionable life at Chillingham Park, balls, routs, dinners, suppers,
and reviews, the race, and the hunting-field dotted with red coats, she
had been compelled, or had allowed herself, to forget me--I, who thought
of her only. And amid that more brilliant vortex, the world of London
life, the Queen's Court, the royal drawing-rooms, the crowded parks, the
gaieties of Rotten Row and the Lady's Mile, the splendours of the opera,
and the wonders of the Derby, it seemed likely enough that a poor devil
of a lancer serving in the East was to be forgotten, and for ever too!
From such a reverie I would be roused by Jocelyn, Sir Harry Scarlett, or
some other of ours, exclaiming--
"Look out! By Jove! there's a Russian vedette!"
Then through my field-glass I might discern, between me and the sky, a
Cossack in a fur cap, riding along the green ridge in the distance, with
his knees up to his girdle, his back bent, his lance-head glinting in
the sunshine, and the snub nose of his Calmuck visage planted almost
between the drooping ears of his shaggy little horse, as he uttered a
shrill whoop and galloped away.
"We seem to be coming closer and closer to those fellows," said the
colonel. "Every moment I expect to see Cardigan with the advanced guard
draw the cover, and receive a dose of grape from flying artillery."
"And those vedettes seem to be thrown forward from a large force,
colonel," said Studhome. "I have already detected five or six different
uniforms."
"Yes, Jack. So I would advise you to write a dutiful letter to your
friends."
"Why, colonel?" said our adjutant, laughing.
"Because we shall certainly be under fire to-morrow."
To-morrow proved to be the day of the Alma--an eventful day for many.
The approach of danger made all who were in health grow high in spirit
and hilarity.
"Rather different work this from the gravelled yards at Canterbury and
Maidstone," said Wilford, joining us at a canter, to share a little
conversation.
"Ay, Fred," said the colonel; "and very different from our daily service
of a year or so ago."
"At Allahabad and Agra--eh?"
"Yes. Lying half the day on an easy _fauteuil_, in a silk shirt and
cotton drawers, fanned by an Indian girl; or cooled by a punkah, and
guarded by mosquito-curtains, making up our books on the Meerut race
meeting; calculating the rising or falling of the thermometer, and
studying the 'Army List?'"
(Another year or two was to see very different work cut out at Cawnpore
and Delhi for our Indian comrades.)
Five nights spent amid the mud of our bivouac had somewhat tarnished the
finery of our lancer uniforms. Already the bullion of our large
epaulettes was crushed and torn, our gorgeous lace defaced and frayed;
but our horses were all in high condition, and our arms and appointments
bright enough to have satisfied even Count Tilly himself.
On this short day's march we lost one lancer of Wilford's troop.
Passing where a Coldstream guardsman lay by the wayside, black in
visage, and dying of weakness, thirst, and heat, he gave him the entire
contents of his wooden canteen, and falling from his saddle soon after,
died himself for lack of that which he had so generously given another,
as there was not a drop of water with the regiment; for, in the Crimea,
by the end of August, all springs, rivulets, and fountains are alike
dried up; verdure disappears, and the thermometer, even in the shade,
rises to 98 or 100 degrees.
Twice on this march I saw a sister of charity kneeling beside the sick
or dying, and rode on to learn whether she might prove to be
Mademoiselle Chaverondier, or, as I preferred to call her, my dear
sister Archange, but on both occasions I was disappointed. All were
high in courage, and full of ardour; but their spirit changed and sunk
as the hot and breathless day wore on, and our poor men's strength
became worn out. The music ceased, as band after band gave in, and the
drummers slung their drums wearily on their backs. Even the Scotch
bagpipes died away, and the massed columns, each some five thousand
strong, trod silently over the undulating steppes, with all their sloped
arms, and the glazed tops of their shakos, glittering in the sun. But
long ere the noon of that first day of toil, many had begun to fall out,
in all the agonies of cholera. At one place my horse had actually to
pick his way among them. All looked black in the face, and choking; the
heavy bearskin caps and thick leather stocks were cast aside, and their
jackets were torn open. Some were writhing in agony, and others,
weakened by toil and thirst, lay still and voiceless. On we marched, on
and on, and the sufferers were left to the Cossack lances, or a more
lingering death, while the wolves from the groves of the Alma, and the
Alpine vulture and kite from the rocks of Kamishlu, hung on our skirts,
and waited for their prey. Our thirst was intense and indescribable,
when a shout of joy announced that the advanced guard, under Lord
Cardigan, had reached that long-wished-for river the Bulganak, where we
were to bivouac for the night. The moment a division came in sight of
the cool stream that rippled between its green banks, and groves of wild
olive and pomegranate trees, the men burst with a shout from the ranks,
and rushed forward to slake their burning and agonizing thirst.[*]
[*] In one brigade a stronger governance was maintained. Sir Colin
Campbell would not allow that even the rage of thirst should loosen the
discipline of his splendid Highland regiments. He halted them a little
before they reached the stream, and so ordered it that, by being saved
from the confusion that would have been wrought by their own wild haste,
they gained in comfort, and knew that they were gainers. When men toil
in organized masses, they owe what well-being they have to wise and firm
commanders."--Kinglake's "Invasion of the Crimea," vol. ii.
The infantry were speedily bivouacked along the bank of the stream; but
we--the cavalry--were fated to have a little passage at arms with the
Russians before the sun set.
*CHAPTER XXXV*
Sword at my left side gleaming!
Why is thy keen glance beaming,
So fondly bent on mine?
Thanks for that smile of thine. Hurrah!
Borne by a trooper daring,
My looks his fire-glance wearing,
I arm a freeman's hand,
That well delights thy brand! Hurrah!
THEODORE KOeRNER.
Physical endurance is not a more necessary quality to the soldier than
mental elasticity. There seemed to be no want of the latter among our
fellows, when we unbitted our horses and sat down to a meal which was
improvised by our servants near a grove of turpentine and caper trees.
It was a lovely evening now, and many a wreath of purple and golden
cloud lay cradled in the amber sunset. The infantry had piled their
arms by regiments, brigades, and divisions, and the thousands of our
host lay panting on the sward, or preparing to cook their rations in
such a fashion as suited the emergency or their fancy. In the distance
were flocks of bustards crossing the now arid plain, which in summer had
been covered by a profusion of aromatic herbs. Our accoutrements were
cast on the grass, our uniforms were unbuttoned, cigar-cases went from,
hand to hand, freely interchanged, and even the last copies of _Punch_
were conned over and laughed at.
Thanks to me, and the use of a _kabitka_ I procured, we had plenty of
provisions. A ham, some cold fowls, Bass's pale ale, sherry, even
champagne, were produced by some of ours; and these, with a few