Wellington had the renowned scout, Major Colquhoun Grant (whose adventures in the Peninsula teem with romance), doing wonderful “intelligence” work for him; and to come to more recent times, we may call to mind Lord Kitchener’s daring journey through the Soudan in 1884, disguised as an Arab, for the purpose of learning what were the intentions of the various tribes with regard to Egypt.
In the Crimea such men as Lieutenants Day, Buckley, Burgoyne, and Commerell acted as the eyes and ears of their commanders, and volunteered for those little jobs that so infuriated the Russians when the red glow in the midnight sky showed them where stacks of forage and other stores blazed merrily.
Day’s V.C. was awarded him for a most valuable piece of work. His ship was stationed off Genitchesk (frequently spelt Genitchi), in the north-eastern corner of the Crimea, and it was deemed necessary to reconnoitre the enemy’s lines to ascertain the full strength of the Russians. For this dangerous service the young lieutenant volunteered.
Accordingly, one night he was landed alone on the Tongue, or Spit, of Arabat, at the spot he had chosen whence to start. Cossacks, singly or in small companies, policed the marshy wastes, but Day wriggled his way between their posts and eventually got close to the Russian gunboats. The dead silence that prevailed misled him as to the numbers thereon, and convinced that the vessels were deserted he returned to report the facts to his captain.
The next day circumstances induced him to suppose that he had been mistaken. He decided to make a second journey without loss of time, and one night very soon afterwards saw him again on the Spit. Day soon discovered that large reinforcements had arrived on the mainland, and at once made haste to return to his ship.
The long detours he was now obliged to make, to avoid contact with the Cossack sentries, led him through quagmires and over sandy stretches that severely tried his endurance. When he reached the shore at last, well-nigh exhausted, nearly ten hours had elapsed since his start, and it is not surprising that, having heard shots fired, his comrades had given him up for lost. He got back after a most providential escape, however, and made his report. But for his discoveries an attempt would certainly have been made to seize the Russian boats, in which case the result must have been disastrous.