march of Balaclava, intending to attack it at break of day. Our little force was assembled accordingly at four o'clock in the morning, but no enemy appeared. These alarms have been so frequent that I felt pretty certain nothing would come of it, and so turned into bed again after walking up to the front to see what was going on — and nothing did come of it. We are all very anxious to hear the result of the Congress at Vienna; some think it will lead to peace, butthemajority laugh at the idea.... Our railway here from Balaclava to the heights is getting on capitally — in three weeks they say it will be finished. Fancy the astonishment of the Cossacks on the opposite hills when they discover some fine morning a train suddenly whizzing across the plain I It seems to everyone very late to commence such an undertaking, for surely this siege is not doomed to last for ever. The winter seems now to be entirely at an end, and for the last few days we have had charming spring weather, in consequence of which men and horses have picked up wonderfully and seem to be different beings. I hope the worst is over as far as the weather is concerned. Lord Rokeby " has joined the army and taken command of our Brigade. He was sadly shaken at the sight of the men, their appearance and the smallness of their numbers, and was so affected that he was unable to address the officers, which he assembled them for, the day after his arrival, but completely broke down. He said that people in England had not the least idea of the state the army was really in, in spite of all that had been written on the subject.... You ask me what I think of Mr. Roger's book. I think it an excessively stupid one, with nothing whatever in it, and certainly not worth being mentioned in the Times or anywhere else. He seems to have been treated with the same consideration and attention with which the Russians have, from all accounts, behaved towards all their prisoners, and their conduct in this respect seems a curious anomaly when compared with the way they behave in the field.... — Ever your affectionate son, Fredk. Stephenson,
[fragment illegible in the scan of the first edition]
To his Brother
Camp Balaclava, March 5, 1855.
My dear William, — Accept my best thanks for your letter of the 12th of February. It was the kind of letter I most like, giving plenty of political news. Peace, as you say, seems quite out of the question, and I see now that we are in for a long and serious war, as Prussia will now apparently side with Russia, and so render her assistance which will enable her to prosecute the war for years. The Sardinians will arrive here shortly, and when our spring draughts and new cavalry and artillery have joined us we shall be in a position to take the field probably about the middle of April. I cannot, however, exactly make out where we shall commence operations. The country all around us will be extremely difficult to force our way through; mountains on all sides, every pass through which is strongly fortified, and of roads there are scarcely any. Simpheropol or Batchki-Serai would, I should think, be our first object, and I think we shall make for one or other of those towns by forcing the enemy's position at Tcherguna, which we can see he has fortified very strongly. We might get at Simpheropol by another expedition at sea, landing at Yalta or Eupatoria, from either of which places we could, I believe, make a comparatively easy march to the capital; but such a move would be almost impossible to conceal from the enemy; and though, as far as Eupatoria is concerned, it would not much matter his knowing it, as she is in our own possession, as regards Yalta it would enable him effectually to oppose our landing there. However, all future plans are kept strictly secret, and the more so the better, for I believe our camp to be full of spies. We have, however, on our side, organised our spies very well, and the information we now get is very full and accurate. Our Brigade is now moved down to Balaclava, and we are occupying a charming range of heights just outside the town with fine air and a most
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