Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/296

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252 THE BATTLE OF INKEKMAN. CHAP, ground they had reached when making the unwel- VI . L_. come discovery; whilst others — a few Coldstream 8d Period, jjjgjj yj^jer Townsheud Wilson, and Carmichael of the 95th with his following — were afterwards able to find opportunities for reascending to the heights they had abandoned ; but, except Captain Burna- by with about thirty of his company, no collected body of men climbed back to the heights in time to anticipate the enemy ; and the great bulk of the troops which had gone down the hill in pur- suit chose the same course of action as the one we saw Percy adopt. Without means of inter- commvinicatiou, they took plain counsel from circumstances, and comprehending that a soldiery dispersed far and wide in thick copsewood could not even do so much as collect themselves for an effort to reconquer the heights, they resolved to turn the flank of the position which the enemy had newly gained on the crest by keeping at a sufficient distance below him, and so making their way through the brake to the right rear of Penne- father's position. This they accordingly did. Amongst the men of the Guards thus meeting the exigencies of the moment Colonel Cadogan was the senior officer. The fractions of the 46th and 68th were drawn off together by a staff officer of the 4th division, and in other parts of the hillside the remains of companies, and many small chance-gathered bodies, moved southward under the guidance of officers; but elsewhere, soldiers worked their way individually or in knots. To say nothing of shot and shell from