The Crimean Expedition, to the Capture Of Sebastopol Vol. II

Chronicles of the War in the East, from its Commencement to the Signing of the Treaty of Peace, Vol. II

Baron César de Bazancourt

• Publisher: Normanby Press
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781787203419
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

This important historical account is the first in a series of two volumes, first published in 1856—the same year as the original French edition.
The author, Baron de Bazancourt, was appointed official historiographer by Napoleon III, and charged with the responsibility of producing a history of the French part in the war in the Crimea. On arriving there in January 1855, he was warmly welcomed by the principal officers of the Army and, in writing his two volumes, he has drawn from "these living sources, the valuable and authentic documents which have guided [him] through the labyrinth of this complicated work." Bazancourt was privy to the original journals of the various Divisions, as well as those of all the military operations of the campaign and the siege:
"It is upon the very spot where the greater part of these events had passed, that those who had directed them have recounted to me their most striking episodes. I inquired, —I listened, —and I wrote. Not a day passed, but had its labour and its allotted task."
An invaluable addition to every personal, professional or educational British Military History library.

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{1} Journal of the Siege Corps.

Batteries 1 and 2 (naval) are repaired. The breast-works are increased in thickness and height, and the embrasures partly reconstructed.

Battery 3—restored.

Battery 4.—This battery, which has suffered greatly from the explosion of a powder-magazine, is repaired. The platforms, magazines and embrasures are reconstructed, and the deteriorated matériel changed. By daylight, it is ready to fire, with 5 guns and 2 mortars; but the sixth platform cannot be restored.

Battery 5—is brought into condition to receive 3 pieces of 24 ;2 against the breast-work on the left, and 1 behind the first traverse.

Battery 6—is restored as far as possible, with the help of gunners furnished by the batteries of the 4th Division.

Battery 7—finished and armed.

Battery 8—damages repaired.

{2} The Lieutenant of Artillery, Polignac, had been charged with the repairs of this battery, during the night of the 17th to the 18th.

{3} The shells are thus called which scatter a shower of bullets as they burst.

{4} An order of the day brought to the knowledge of the Army the conduct of the Commandant Penhoat.

The enemy’s fire against the battery of the Genoese Fort was of such extreme precision, that it came to be supposed, that this battery had been constructed upon the former site of their polygon. (Practice-target.) This assertion was rendered probable by the fact, that the small bay, near the Genoese Fort, is called “The firing (or shooting) Bay.”—(la Baie du Tir).

{5} CAPTAIN TODLEBEN (OF THE ENGINEERS).

Francis Todleben, whose name the siege of Sebastopol was to render illustrious, was at the commencement of his military career when the War in the East broke out. It is to this war, and to the genius which he displayed in his indefatigable defence of Sebastopol, that he owes the high lank which he now holds.

Son of a merchant of Mittau, Todleben was born on the 26th May, 1818. After having finished his studies in the Schools of Riga, he entered the College of Engineers at Saint Petersburg. At the commencement of the present war he was only a Second-Captain in the Engineers. He distinguished himself under the orders of General Schilders, and was afterward sent to the Crimea. What he has done before Sebastopol belongs henceforth to history, which will blend his name with the remembrance of that gigantic siege.

In less than one year, he passed successively through the grades of Captain, Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, Adjutant-Colonel, Brigadier-General, and Adjutant-General, and received from his sovereign the highest marks of esteem and consideration.

{6} Aide-de-Camp General Prince Menschikoff thus renders an account, in his report, of this movement of his troops:—

18th.—“The fire of the English batteries has sensibly diminished since midday; probably because, by my order, Major-General Sémiakine advanced, with his detachment, from the village of Tchorgoun upon the heights of Balaklava; and that, upon showing himself in the rear of the English camp, he had occasioned some uneasiness, so that the army hastened to form and put itself in motion in the direction of Balaklava. By this demonstration of a detached corps, the intended result was attained—that of drawing the attention of the enemy from the fortress.” (Invalide Russe.)

{7} Lieutenant Vernot received two serious wounds in this combat; the one in the arm, the other in the leg; which last was obliged to be amputated.

The Journal of the 74th mentions that the soldier named Audié had killed a Russian soldier, who was in ambuscade near to the powder magazine.

There is an episode on this subject, which deserves to be mentioned, and the details of which are given by Colonel Breton, who then commanded the 74th.

The bravery and daring of Audié during the combat, caused his name to be placed in the order of the day of his regiment on the 21st October. At the moment of giving the rewards, the Colonel examined this soldier’s papers, and found that he had been condemned, before entering the service, to two months’ imprisonment, for “nightly disturbance and breaking an enclosure.”

When distributing the rewards accorded to the regiment, Colonel Breton said to the soldier:—

“Audié, your gallant conduct has been reported to me; I owe you the praise which your bravery deserves; and if I have not asked for you, as for your comrades, a reward, you know why; but I must openly, before your comrades, bear testimony to your gallant conduct.”

“That is just, Colonel,” replied Audié; “therefore I do not complain; but I will do so much, that I shall make you forget my past.”

“I take note of your promise, Audié,” said the Colonel; “keep it, like a brave soldier as you are, and I will destroy this memorandum.”

Audi kept his word, and did honour to this engagement contracted in front of his company. In the night of the 16th of January, he again, by his valiant conduct, attracted the attention of his comrades; but he was seriously wounded by two shots. The Colonel hastened to make known to the General-in-Chief the answer of the soldier Audié, and how he had kept his word by fighting like a lion, and refusing to quit the trenches after his first wound. The paper was destroyed, and the military medal conferred upon the brave soldier.

Unhappily, Audié’s wound necessitated the disarticulation of the shoulder; and he died at Constantinople, in consequence of the amputation.

{8} This officer was pierced with five bayonet thrusts, in the midst of the cannon, against which he continued, with heroic persistence, to lead his soldiers. He was transported, still living, to the ambulance of the trenches.

“The next day,” says a very interesting correspondence which we have before us, “this Russian officer, who had drawn upon himself all our sympathies by his intrepidity, died very bravely, without having consented to give any information; except that he allowed it to escape, that our artillery, the mortars above all, did them a great deal of harm, and that he and the men who accompanied him, had sacrificed themselves in order to spike our guns.”

“This sortie,” says the Russian report, “cost the lives of 2 officers, Lieutenant Troïtsky and the Marine officer Prince Pontiatine. The other detachments” (adds Prince Menschikoff in his report) “everywhere met with an active vigilance on the part of the enemy, and re-entered the town, after having had 12 men wounded.

“In all, during the bombardment of the 20th, we have had 60 men killed, of which 9 were officers; and 197 wounded, of which 5 were officers.”

{9} The report of the ambulance of the trenches, of the 21st October, showed (the losses of the day included) 4 officers wounded; troops killed 14; wounded 78.

{10} At the same date, a superior officer, attached to the General Staff, wrote (in a letter) the following paragraph;—which proves that everyone placed his finger upon the vulnerable point of the situation:—“This place is in an exceptional condition. It has been impossible to intercept all their communications. Augmentation and renewal can go on without obstacle. The immense resources ac...

Table of contents

• Title page
• TABLE OF CONTENTS.
• BOOK FIRST.
• BOOK SECOND.
• NOTE.
• DOCUMENTS IN AUTHENTICATION.
• REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER.