We have now reached the point in the drama where the main action begins to which all that had passed was merely'preliminary. The armies thenceforward assumed that position towards the enemy which they were to keep up to the final act of the war. Above them stood the broad Upland of the Chersonese, on which for nearly a year their lives were to be passed, and for the most part ended, and to which, after a time, they were chained by necessity until their task should be accomplished. It becomes necessary, therefore, to describe the conditions in which the forces opposed were operating.
The outer harbour or roadstead of Sebastopol is a creek about four miles long from the point where it breaks, nearly at right angles, the coast line to its extremity where the Tchernaya flows into it. It main-
Features of the South Side. 81
tains a great depth throughout, even close to the shore. On the points which mark the entrance stood two stone forts, that on the north named Constantine, on the south Alexander. Outside Alexander, looking out to sea was the Quarantine Fort. After entering the roadstead, the Artillery Fort was passed on the south ; and about a mile from the entrance the Inner or Man-of-War harbour ran for a mile and a half into the southern shore. On the two points which marked this inlet stood two other forts, Nicholas and Paul. On the western shore of this inner creek stood the city of Sebastopol ; on its eastern shore, indented by the inlet on which the dockyards were built, was the Karabelnaia suburb, where stood the extensive barracks for the garrison. Nearly half way between this inner harbour and the head of the roadstead was another much smaller inlet, the Careenage Creek.
The ground south of the roadstead was marked by very singular features. The plateau or plain, the ancient Chersonese (which, following Kinglake's more descriptive phraseology, will in future be called the Upland), where the Allied Armies stood was marked off from the valley of the Tchernaya by a wall of cliff, which, following up that stream southward for about a mile from its mouth, turns round south-west and defines the valley of Balaklava, passing about a mile north of that place, and joining the sea-cliffs. This plateau is channelled by many chasms or ravines, which, beginning with slight depressions in its midst descend between rocky walls to the shore, and
82 Positions of the Allies.
between these rose elevated points, lying all round the town and suburb, which, crowned by such works as the Malakoff, the Redan, the Flagstaff Bastion, and others, afterwards acquired each a fame of its own. Another feature of first-rate importance was the conformation of the coast line at Cape Cherson, where the northern side of its angle was indented by twin inlets, Kazatch and Kamiesch Bays, having a common entrance, which throughout the siege constituted the French base, being most conveniently adapted for the purpose ; a road, paved afterwards by the French, and thus placed beyond the vicissitudes of weather, passed from these creeks along the rear of their Divisions as they faced Sebastopol.
The largest of the ravines, dividing the plain from south to north, descends to the head of the inner harbour. It was at first the line of separation between the French and English. Two French Divisions, under General Forey, the Third and Fourth, forming the siege corps, encamped between it and the coast. Kamiesch Bay was immediately filled with their shipping, whose masts looked like a forest ; and a wharf was made for landing the multitude of stores which crowded the beach and the environs of a small city of tents. The First and Second French Divisions, and some battalions of Turks, under General Bosquet, were posted on the eastern and south-eastern cliffs of the Upland, to cover the siege against an attack from the Russian field army.
On the right of the great ravine were the Third and Fourth English Divisions ; beyond them the Light Divi-
Allied Outposts before Balaklava. 83