On the 15th of Jvdy, thei'e was a conference of the allied generals at General Pelissier's, to consider the position of the Turks in Asia Minor, and the proposition of the Tux'kish Generalissimo; and it was with much difficulty that he succeeded in persuading them that 25,000 Turks operating in Asia were much better employed than if they were doing nothing at Komara. However, it was long' ere he could obtain the means of carrying out his plans; and there is no doubt but that his assistance in operating from Eupatoria would have been of the utmost importance during the time he was compelled to maintain an attitude of hopeless inactivity. At this period of the siege I Avas relieved for a short time by a colleague, and I proceeded to enjoy my holidays at Therapia in the society of my wife, but I was attacked by Crimean fever soon after my arrival, and was not able to return to the camp till the beginning of August.
During the time I was at Therapia, the Hotel d'Angleterre presented a melancholy aspect from the number of sick and wounded officers at the table-d'hote. Colonel Gordon, of the Engineers, was there on his way home, after a long and anxious charge in the Crimea — Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar and Lord George Paget were also there; Major Erowne of the Royal Engineers, wounded on the 18th June; Captain Browne, 88th, who lost his arm on the same occasion, and many others, some of whom have since fallen or have been badly wounded. The Turkish Contingent, encamped at Buyukdereh, under General Vivian, was in the course of being organized, but the eilbrts of its Commander and of General Cunynghame toget it into shape, were for some time frustrated by tlii> outbreak of an epidemic among the troops.
I\Ieantime, wo heard of the advance of the Eussians in Asia Minor, and of our owii inactivity, and I am bound to say, that the feeling among the English residents at Therapia was one of despondency for some time after the defeat on the 18th June— old officers shook their heads, and there was a great desire among young and old to get away from the Crimea on any pretence, in order to escape for a time from the sanguinary monotony of trench duties, the harassing sounds of cannon and rifle, which beat on the ear day and night, and the contagious influence of gloomj' thoughts. MajorGeneral Dacres came down about this time from the Crimea, to see his wife, and his presence was a sure proof that the artillery were not likely to be called upon for some time to come, inasmuch as he was not the kind of man who would willingly run the chance of losing any ofiicial mention tending to his i)romotion.
The attack on the Redan was tlie one subject of conversation — the arrival of news from the Crimea, the one great event to be looked forwai'd to daily. No one at that time appeared to think that we ought not to have attacked the Redan — that isadoctrine which was propounded much later, — but it seemed to be imagined that even if we took it, the French would not be able to maintain themselves inside any other part of the enemy's lines, and that we should consequently be exposed to the whole brunt of their concentrated attacks in a very difficult position. The first great phase in the siege had been passed— we found that the Russians could resist the allied forces with vigour, and that they were capable of acting on the defensive with greater energy than we gave them credit for, from their conduct at the Alma.
The constant passage up the Bosphorus of vessels M'ith troops on board from France, and artillerj' and material from England, evinced the preparations made by the Allies for the renewal of the struggle; but there were many who thought that the siege would not be over till the following year, and that the Allies would have to undergo the miseries of another winter in the open trenches. Sir George Brown, who had ever entertained a most gloomy view of our position, the falseness and danger of which, in a military sense, he rather exaggerated than undervalued, left the army on sick certificate two days after Lord Raglan's death, and the generals in command were new and untried men, in comparison with those who fii'st led our army to the Crimean campaign.