Spring 1855, the Expedition to Kertch & the Assault of the 18th of June

Notwithstanding this check, the French still persevered in pushing towards the Mamelon, on which the Russians continued to labour in constructing a formidable work, which hourly advanced to its completion, in spite of the interruptions caused by a heavy artillery fire from the wellserved batteries of the Allies. On the morning of the 22nd of March, the French once more renewed the struggle for the rifle-pits, and succeeded in driving the enemy out of those in their immediate front; but nothing further of importance occurred during the day. At night, however, the Russians, who could no longer view without uneasiness the Allies constantly gaining ground in the direction of the Mamelon, made a sortie of a more comprehensive character and on a grander scale than any on which they had hitherto ventured. Their troops, to the number it is stated of 15,000, attacked en masse and with fearful yells the head of the sap which the French were carrying on towards the Mamelon, and then bore to the left of their new parallel of which we Lave already spoken above, into which they succeeded in penetrating, and of which, spite of the gallant resistance opposed to them, they obtained temporary possession. Having broken through, they then threw themselves upon the right of the English parallel, succeeded in crossing the works, and took up a position in the rear of the French left, which for a moment was exposed to a murderous crossfire. General D'Autemarre, the French General on duty in the trenches, distinguished himself in this emergency by his coolness and presence of mind, and a battalion of the Chasseurs-a-pied, coming up in support, charged the enemy in the ravine and di'ove him back from this point with considerable loss. Meanwhile the body of Russians which had reached our parallel were met by the guard of the trenches, consisting of detachments of the 77th and 97th regiments, who, although thus taken suddenly both in flank and rear, exhibited the utmost coolness and resolution. Captain Vicars, who commanded the detachment of the 97th, was the first to come in contact with the enemy; making his men lie down, he waited till the Russians were within twenty paces, when, springing to their feet, the redcoats, after pouring in one murderous volley, closed, and with the unfailing bayonet quickly drove the Russians out of the trench. Vicars himself fell, as he was encouraging his men by his voice and by his example. He had struck down two Russians and was in the act of cutting down a third, when a ball, fired by a man so close to him that his coat was singed by the fire, entered his uplifted arm near its junction with the shoulder, and stretched him lifeless on the earth. "Nothing," says an artillery officer, in narrating the fate of this heroic soldier, " could have been more noble, devoted, and glorious than his conduct in this, his first and last engagement." A testimony, it may be added, which was amply confirmed by Lord Eaglan. The detachment of the 77th rivalled the courage of their comrades of the Light Division. Major Gordon, of the Engineers, who was in command of the whole party, and was conspicuous no less for his skilful arrangements than for his personal valour, was wounded in two places on this occasion, in which officers and men vied with each other in bravery and devotedness.