Then
together they met the advance. The Russian attack was now fully
developed, and his great column was well up the slopes of the ridge.
While the French, animated by the warm language of Pennefather,
stopped its head, a mad charge delivered by a small portion of the
55th broke into its flank.
The Russians halted, hesitating under this unexpected attack.
Pennefather instantly saw the check, and gave voice to a loud
"hurrah." The cry was taken up by his men, and the French drums came
to the front and sounded the _pas de charge_. With a wild burst of
enthusiasm, the allies, intermingled, raced forward, and once again
the foe was driven down the hill. At the same time his flanking
columns were met and forced back on the left by the 21st and the 63rd.
The Barrier was again re-occupied by our troops, and the third, the
chief and most destructive Russian onslaught, had also failed.
The day was still young; it was little past 9 a.m., and the battle as
yet was neither lost nor won.
The Russians had been three times discomfited and driven back, but
they still held the ground they had first seized upon the crests of
the Inkerman hill, and, seemingly, defied the allies to dislodge them.
The English were far too weak to do this. Our whole efforts were
concentrated upon keeping the enemy at bay at the Barrier, where
Blythe, now in chief command, managed with difficulty, and with a very
mixed force, to beat off assailants still pertinacious and tormenting.
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