172 THE COUNSELS OF TlIK ALLIES. ciiAP. lot nl' iiiaiikiiul if) be Ijliiid to the future; and, ^"- unless J.yons errs, Burgoyne supported Iiis opin- ion by urguing that an immediate assault would cost the Allies a loss of 500 men.* Another of the arguments used was founded upon a sugges- tion that the assaulting forces would he exposed to slaughter from the tire of the enemy's men-of- war lying moored in the harbour beneatli. To uhat Lyons replied by proposing to seize the position of the Malakoff — the knoll was then like an ant-hill, all creeping with busy labour — and there establishing a battery which must soon drive off all the ships.f 27U.sci.t. Lord Kaglan agreed with Lyons in approving gdlsumffor the plan of an immediate assault ; and, notwith- standing the objections of Sir John Burgoyne, he proceeded to bring it under the consideration of the French ; % but he apparently did this in words which carried with them no disclosure of his own wishes ; § and accordingly the step he thus took was one calculated to elicit the opinion of our
- Ibid.
t Ibi(L TIio proposal was to seize the position of ' The "White ' Tower,' the then name of the lilahakoff amonj:;st the Allies. J In allusion, as it would seem, to this su<r^'estion, the narra- tive of one of the French Generals of division says : — ' On etait
- si loin d'attcndre aux didiculti^s que Ton allait rencontrer,
' qxi'il fut question dc ne pas cUharqucr ce maUricl, et qiCon ' parut disposi a tenter mie attaque de vive force contra S6basto- • pol.' But see Canrobcrt's letter quoted post, Appendi.x. § Lord Kaglan's reasons for such resen^e are amply shown ir other pages. See post, p. 208 et seq. The suggestion having been really made by Lyons, Lord Raglan could simply and na- turally refer to him as its originator, without placing himself in a state of evident disagi-ecracnt with the French Commander. an ass.uilt :
