to him by an officer from Paris. According to it, Pelissier was to be left in charge of the siege, Canrobert was to command the field army, and a joint force of French and Turks, taking up the whole business of the siege, was to set free the British Divisions for the operations in the field. When the three commanders-in-chief came together to confer on this plan, Lord Raglan, objecting to the separation of the two field armies by the distance, and the difficulties of country between Aloushta and Baidar, proposed that both should assemble at Baidar, and to this Canrobert was induced to agree. But on another point an insuperable difficulty arose. Both Canrobert and Omar Pasha declared that they could not take charge of the English trenches. On the other hand, Lord Raglan could not leave the task of guarding his siege material and his port of supply to a part only of his own troops, and therefore, though he had looked forward with great satisfaction to exchanging the monotony and perplexity of the siege operations for the proposed command in the field, he could see no course possible except to remain where he was. Neither could Canrobert see a way out of the dilemma, and he wrote to tell the Minister of War of the new difficulty. But he did more than this : the countermand of the Kertch expedition, and his failure to give effect to the Emperor's plan, broke down what of strength still rested in his overwrought spirit, and on the i6th May he sent his resignation to the War Minister by telegraph, requesting to be again placed in command of the Division that had been
Canrobert resigns the Command. 229
his at the beginning of the campaign, and strongly urging that Pelissier should replace him, as fitter than himself to deal with the difficulties of the situation. Though this step was quite unexpected, his resignation was accepted by the Emperor, and with the appointment of Pelissier to the chief command (for which he had already been designated in case of need), a new epoch in the war began.
CHAPTER XI.
THE NEW GENERAL.
Errors in the Emperor's Theory — Pelissier' s View of the Problem — 'His Previous Action in May — He declares His Determination — Niel remonstrates in vain — Displeasure of the Emperor — Course taken by Vaillant — -New Russian Work — The French attack It — And capture It — Expedition to Kertch — Its complete Success — The Extended Position — Ancient Remains — Valley of Baidar.
THE officer who now took command of the French Army was of a singularly strong and marked character. Its distinguishing element was hardihood : hardihood in thought, in dealing with others, and in the execution of his projects. His comrades had formed an extraordinary estimate of his determination. Marshal Vaillant, comparing him with Canrobert, said, " Pelissier will lose 14.000 men for a great result at once, while Canrobert would lose the same number by driblets, without obtaining any advantage." General Changarnier bore stronger testimony : " If there was an insurrection, I should not hesitate to burn one of the quarters of Paris. Pelissier would not shrink from burning the whole." But it would do him great injustice to imagine that he was merely a man of dogged resolution. He was not only a soldier of great experience and distinction in Algerian warfare, but took strong, clear views of strategical problems, and expressed them in a correspondingly strong, clear style, indicative of great sagacity. And
Errors in the Emperors Theory. 231
there lay before him, when he assumed the command, a problem not easy to solve, yet demanding immediate solution, and of vast importance. It was whether to put in execution the project of the Emperor and Niel, or to devote all his forces to pushing the siege.