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Updated: June 18, 2025
"Yesterday, Mr. McKay, of the quartermaster-general's staff, ventured through the enemy's lines in the direction of the Tchernaya to make a special reconnaissance. He unfortunately was captured. I sent a flag of truce into Sebastopol, asking that he might be exchanged, but have been peremptorily refused. Gortschakoff asserts that he is a Russian subject and was taken red-handed as a spy.
Nearly three months were to elapse before the capture of the fortress that had resisted so long, and the only incident of marked importance during that period was the battle of the Tchernaya, in which the officers in the trenches had no part.
Seeing how desperate was the condition of the fortress, Prince Gortschakoff had resolved, after the Battle of the Tchernaya, to abandon Sebastopol. In letters to the Minister of War, of August 18 and 24, 1855, he expressed this intention, saying there was not a man in the army who would not call it folly to continue the defence longer.
The Cossack officer made his way to a large barrack occupying a central elevated position, and dismounted at the principal doorway. "Is it thou, Stoschberg?" cried a friend who came out to meet him. "Here, in Sebastopol?" "To my sorrow. Where is the general? I have news for him. The enemy are moving in force upon the Tchernaya." "Ha! is it so? And that has brought you here?"
"In the direction of the Tchernaya, sir?" "Precisely. Now that the Sardinian troops have all arrived, Lord Raglan thinks we are strong enough to extend our position as far as the river." "I had heard nothing of it, sir?" "If this news be true, the Russians appear to be better informed than you are, McKay." "And are preparing to oppose our movement?"
Ample supplies and reinforcements were despatched to the troops, and the Allies, under the command of General Simpson and General Pélissier, pushed forward the campaign with renewed vigour. Sardinia and Sweden had joined the alliance, and on August 16 the troops of the former, acting in concert with the French, drove back the Russians, who had made a sortie along the valley of the Tchernaya.
"I have told you of his pretensions, Excellency," interposed the Cossack officer. "Yes, yes! this is mere waste of time. What is the meaning of this movement in the Tchernaya, I repeat? Tell me, and I may save your life." "You have no right to ask me that question, and I decline to answer it, whatever the risk." "An obstinate fellow, truly!" said the general, half to himself.
The siege of Sebastopol began in October, and during its progress important battles occurred that of Balaklava, that of Inkerman, November 5th, in which the Russians were defeated by the English and the French; that of Tchernaya, August 16, 1855, a victory for the Russians; and the storming of the Malakoff, described below.
This personage, an officer of rank evidently, looked up sharply, and addressed McKay in French. "What is the meaning of this movement in the Tchernaya?" he asked. "You understand French of course? People of your trade speak all tongues." "I speak French," replied McKay, "but English is my native tongue. I am a British officer "
It was a slight one, the ball having passed through the calf, missing the bone. He was, however, unable to walk. A litter was formed of two muskets with a great-coat laid between them, and Dick, being seated on this, was taken up by four men, and Jack taking his place beside him, the procession started. They halted some four miles off at a village in a valley beyond the Tchernaya.
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