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sheltered from all winds, and as at this time it was not considered that the siege would prove a lengthy operation, I am unable to see that the choice of Balaclava was a bad one.^[1]

The arrival of the army at the head of Balaclava Harbour and the entry of our ships took place simultaneously on the 26th of September. To this no resistance was offered by the enemy, and the siege train was landed next day. By the act of the Russians in sinking most of their largest ships across the entrance to Sebastopol our naval force was freed from any thought of having to meet the enemy at sea. What a blow to those gallant Russian sailors, who afterwards took such

1. Sir Edward Hamley, in his interesting volume The War in the Crimea, states that the choice of Balaclava as a base brought untold miseries upon the army, and speaks strongly of the influence Sir Edmund Lyons had with Lord Raglan. But the point the admiral had to consider was, whether Balaclava was suitable to receive transports and store ships, and whether the harbour offered facilities for discharging cargo? He could assure the general that no delay should take place in these respects. The proof of this lies in the fact that the siege train was landed the day after the harbour was entered. As to the distance of the harbour from our camp, that was a matter which the general would weigh in deciding whether to accept or reject the admiral's recommendation. It did not affect the suitability of the port for getting the stores on shore; their prompt transport to the camp rested with the Military Department. If the land transport arrangements were faulty, and want of men prevented good roads from the base to the camp being made until after the battle of Inkerman, the difficulties that resulted are not attributable to any deficiency of Balaclava as a naval port. I regret that the gallant author of this work should speak of Sir Edmund Lyons as Lord Raglan's evil genius. The mind of the admiral was wholly absorbed by the desire to render every assistance to his comrades on shore, and he brought to this work an energy, ability, and single-mindedness which, hardly realised in the past, will some day, I am sure, receive ample recognition.