the English, if not an utter lie, inasmuch as the Russians had done the same thing at Alma, long before the French ever got to Cherson. So much for that — I only hope it will be repeated all over Europe. The French and English are so exasperated that my only fear is that the officers may not be able to restrain their men from revenging themselves in a similar manner on the next occasion; still, I do not think our fellows will ever be such brutes. We have had uninterrupted wet weather for five weeks, and our camp is become a mass of mud and filth. You can have no conception of the state it is in; this continuous wet has made sad havoc among the troops, and we have lost many men in consequence. It has, moreover, prevented us bringing up from Balaclava our new siege guns, so the siege has been at a standstill in consequence. To-day, however, the wind has changed to the N.E.; we have a bright sun and a drying wind, moreover, the enemy in our rear have been washed out of their camp, and retired yesterday to a range of hills a mile and a half farther from us, and this has opened to us another and a better road for the guns to come up by, and no time is being lost in profiting by it, and as reinforcements are arriving daily, both French and English, I still hope that before Christmas Day we shall be in possession of the north side of the harbour. I have been wonderfully well throughout all this trying weather, in fact, I have never been better in my life. We manage somehow or other to live pretty well, and that is a great secret, although one would think that sleeping on the ground every night was not a healthy practice this time of year.... — Your affectionate son,
Fredk. Stephenson.
To his Brother Before Sebastopol, December 12, 1854.
My dear William, —.,. The affection which all your expressions of anxiety show me are ample recompense for the little annoyances and privations one endures
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out here.... The siege has been at a complete standstill on our side ever since the battle of Inkerman, and we shall not now reopen fire for another fourteen days.... During the whole of last month the weather has been so fearfully bad that it has been impossible to bring the heavy guns up from Balaclava, but for the last four or five days we have had the most lovely warm spring weather imaginable; the consequence is, they have been working hard during this change of weather in bringing the guns up, and to-morrow the French will have 150, and the English 60 pieces in position, but then we shall require twelve days more to bring up sufficient ammunition to keep up a continuous fire. I leave you to judge what kind of work this will be when I tell you that one single 131inch shell weighs 2 cwt. I hope, however, we shall get into this place before the year is out — and what shall we do then?... the future seems too obscure to be looked into. We have suffered sadly from sickness during the inclemency of the past month, and officers and men are literally worked to death.... If we can only take this town and then get a little rest we shall do very well.... My mother mentions a parcel she has sent me. I have not yet received it, and probably never shall; unless parcels are sent by land and delivered personally, there is little or no chance of their being received.... — Ever your affectionate brother,
Fredk. Stephenson.
To Mrs. Melvil Wilson
Before Sebastopol, December 21, 1854.
My dearest Lou, —... I began a letter to you yesterday, when I was on outpost duty with my company, but was interrupted just as I had begun it by observing some movement in the enemy's camp, and as our business when on this duty is to observe every movement of the enemy, however minute, and report it at once if necessary, I was obliged to leave off the conversation I was having with you, and devote my attention
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