Disheartened by these repeated reverses, and hopeless of making any impression on the stubborn valour of the Turks, the Russians, after four hours and a half of hard fighting, were compelled to beat a sullen retreat, with a loss in killed and wounded estimated at over 2000 men; whilst that of the Turks and of the few French who were engaged amounted to only 101 killed and 286 wounded.
Pursuit in the face of a crushing artillery fire sustained with energy until the retreat was effected, and with an inferiority of cavalry in the proportion of one to twenty, would have been madness; and the Russians were once more permitted to retire unmolested — broken and discomfited, but not destroyed. The lesson, however, which they had received was so severe as to secure Eupatoria from any future attack, and the success of the gallant defenders of the place, though to a certain extent barren, if judged by the light of subsequent events, was of inestimable value in strengthening the morale of the Turkish army, and in confirming its well-placed confidence in its chief. Assailed by a vastly superior force, and defended only by works in an imperfect state of completion, the stout-hearted defenders of Kalafat and Silistria once more presented an obstinate barrier to the overwhelming tide which has so often vainly menaced them with annihilation, and proved themselves the worthy allies rather than the helpless dependants of their Western brotlierg-in-arms. The Turkish infantry rivalled our own soldiers in coolness and concentrated energy; lining the parapets of their works, they reserved their fire until the enemy were so close that every volley told with withering effect; and when their turn for attacking arrived they sallied out with a vigour and impetuosity which carried everything before them.
The guns of the artillery were served with a steadiness, and directed with an accuracy, which were the admiration of British officers, whose Indian training rendered them no mean judges of the question; and the mere handful of cavalry showed a dash and intrepidity which, had their numbers been larger, would have rendered the event still more decisive. The superior officers of the army were found at all points animating the men by their presence and example, and manifesting a contempt of danger which led them to expose themselves wherever the strife was most deadly, or the fate of the day most dubious.
This self-devotion cost the life of an officer whose loss was deeply deplored, no less by Omar Pasha than by the whole army. Selim Pasha, the Lieutenant-General commanding the Egyptian troops, who thus met a soldier's death, is the same bold officer whose name will be for ever associated with a deed of heroism which rivals the most widely-celebrated feats of the ancient Paladins. At the time of the fearful massacre of the Mamelukes by order of Mehemed Ali in 1811, this gallant trooper leaped his horse from the walls of the citadel of Cairo, and alone escaped a fate intended to have been universal. The noble horse perished on the spot; but so deep was the impression produced in the minds of his enemies by this unparalleled deed, that the Mameluke, though made prisoner, was spared to prove his gratitude by a life of services and a death of glory. He was succeeded in the command of the Egyptians by Suleiman Pasha, who had been wounded during the battle.
For some time after the 17th the Russians continued to receive reinforcements from Simpheropol, and maintain a threatening attitude at about five miles distance from Eupatoria; but the defences of the town were strengthened with such rapidity and vigour, that as early as the 20th, Colonel Simmons reported to Sir Edmund Lyons that the position was already doubly as strong as on the former day, and that there were nearly twice as many guns mounted; and this fact, no doubt, was not unperceived by the enemy.
Eupatoria thus remained in the hands of the Allies, who lost no time in