1 1 CHAPTER VII. Position of the Allies, Oct. 25th, Balaklava — Eastern heights- Shewell Head-quarters before Sevastopol, It is with sorrow that I sit down to write to you, as I shall have to tell of the deaths cf so many brother officers who fell in the action of the 25th before Balaklava-for the most part uselessly sacrificed, as the results do not at all make up for our loss. But I should first endeavour to give you some sort of idea of the position occupied by the Allies on the morning that the battle took place. Ever since the occupation of Balaklava we have been strengthening the position-already strong by nature, but still quite open to the attack of an enterprising enemy. As I before mentioned, the harbour is almost surrounded by hills of great height, the sides of which rise with perpendicular abruptness from its quiet waters. The hills on the west of the harbour continue in succession until they merge, near the monastery of St. George, into the high plateau before Sevastopol. On the east of the harbour the heights are the commencement of a long range of hillsindeed one may call them mountains-that extend all along the southern coast of the Crimea. Fortunately for the strength of our position, the first hill is almost cut off from the remainder by a deep ravine which runs up from the plain before Balaklava towards the sea, and is only connected by a narrow ridge a few yards in breadth. One of the first works done after our arrival was to construct a battery that would sweep this ridge, and thus render it impracticable for any body of the enemy to force, except at an enormous sacrifice of life. From this point all the way down to the plain a parapet, with occasional small batteries, had been constructed. In these works are several 32-pounder iron howitzers, which for the most part are manned by marine artillery, as the entire heights have up to this time been occupied by 1100 of the Royal Marines from the fleet-as fine a body of men as you could wish to see. In front of Balaklava, at the distance of rather more than a mile, near the village of Kadikoi, a considerable work has been constructed, armed with several guns of position, but being unconnected with the heights on either side is not of any great strength, as it is liable to be turned on both flanks. In a short time these defects will be remedied, but up to the present moment our men have been overworked; indeed I think it is quite wonderful the amount of labour that they have accomplished during the short time we have been here. To the west from the lastmentioned work (in front of the head of the harbour) are two small batteries on elevated ground on the road to Sevastopol, and after following this for a mile you come to the base of the great plateau on which the allied armies are encamped. The edge of this plateau forms the northern side of the valley. of Balaklava, and continues in a north-easterly direction till it reaches the valley of the Tchernaya, when, turning sharply round to the west, it passes the heights of Inkermann, and terminates at the head of |