"
Through all this the 18-pounders kept up a ceaseless and effective
fire. They were clearly of a heavier calibre than any the Russians
owned, and soon the weight of their metal and our gunners' unerring
aim began to tell upon the enemy's ranks.
The Russian guns were frequently shifted from spot to spot, but they
could not escape the murderous fire.
At last, in truth, the Russian hold on Inkerman hill was shaken to the
core.
Victory at last was in our grasp, and, but for the old and fatal
drawback of insufficient numbers, the battle must have ended in a
complete disaster for the Russian arms. A vigorous offensive,
undertaken by fresh troops, must have ended in the speedy overthrow,
possibly annihilation, of the enemy.
But the only troops available for the purpose were the French. Bosquet
had now come up with his brigade, and D'Autemarre, released by
Gortschakoff's retreat, had followed with a second. There were thus
some seven or eight thousand French available. Still Canrobert was
disinclined to move.
He was now with Lord Raglan on the Ridge, with his arm in a sling, for
he had just been struck by a shrapnel-shell.
He was downcast and dejected, for Bosquet had gone off on a wild-goose
chase after two errant battalions, and had shared in their repulse.
Just now, indeed, so far from proving the saviours of the hard-pressed
English, our French allies were themselves in retreat.
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