An expedition was sent against Kertch.
When May closed, the allies and the Russians confronted one another, in
formidable force, upon the opposite heights of the Tchernaya.
June was an eventful month before Sebastopol. It began with a third
bombardment of the gallant city, which, like previous ones, was a
failure--the means of the allies, vast as they were, being inadequate
to the undertaking. The French made a successful attack upon the White
Works and the Mamelon; and the British were equally successful in
attacks upon the Quarries, by which the part of the Russian lines which
they opposed were protected. The Russians made desperate, but eventually
abortive, attempts to retake all these positions.
The third bombardment having failed, the allies lost no time in bringing
fresh resources of attack and storm against the defences. A fourth
bombardment produced signal havoc and extensive dilapidation. On the
18th of the month, the allies attempted to take the place. A combined
assault of a most sanguinary nature was made and defeated. This defeat
was accompanied and followed by the loss of many distinguished officers
in the British army. On the 28th the English commander-in-chief died.
Illness and anxiety, with chagrin at his failure in conducting the siege
to the satisfaction of his country, brought on his death. Cholera was
the immediate agent in his removal. General Simpson succeeded to the
command of the British army, through the instrumentality of his patron
and countryman, Lord Panmure.
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