BATTLE OF THE ALMA. 6 the other, a low and uneven but almost conlinu- CHAP. ous embauknieut, running from east to west, and '. — parallel with the river. Tiie natural rampart thus formed controls the entrance to the Pass from the north ; for it not only overlooks the bridge, but also commands the ground far and wide on both sides of the river, and on both sides of the great road. Behind, the ground falls and then rises again, till it mingles with the slopes and the many knolls and hillocks which connect it with the receding flanks of the Telegraph Height on the one side, and the Kourgane Hill on the other. Still higher up the river, but receding from it in a south - easterly direction, the ground rises gradually to a commanding height, and terminates in a peak. This hill is the key of the position.* It is called the Kourgan^ Hill. Around its slopes, at a distance of about three hundred yards from the river, the oround so swells out as to form a strong rib — a rib which bends round the front
- This assertion was denied by a commentator in the 'Qunr-
' terly Review,' wlio professed to write with military knowledge. It may therefore be well to give here the following extract from Lord Raglan's j)nblished despatch : ' The high pinnacle and ' ridge before alluded to was the key of the position, and, con- ' seijuentl}-, there the greatest preparations had been made for 'defence.' — Published Desjmtch of the 2Zd Septcmhcr 18.54. Probably no living man is a better judge of wiuit is the true ' key ' of a position than Sir John Burgoyne. Now, I have be- fore me a manuscript in his handwriting, which he wrote at the time, and whilst he was still on the banks of the Alma. In that paper he says: 'The high pinnacle and ridge on the ' right' [he is speaking of the Russian right, and of the Kourgan^ IHIl] ' was the key of the yoiiiion if attacked in front.' — A'oi« W 4iA Edition.
