After an heroic struggle, in which the Russians displayed the greatest gallantry, they were driven back, with terrible slaughter, the fire of those of our regiments which were armed with the Minié rifle doing fearful execution in the dense columns of the enemy. It will hardly be believed that many regiments were still armed with the Brown Bess with which we fought in the Peninsula, although the Minié rifle had in the Kaffir War three years before proved itself a most formidable weapon.
The losses of the army during the winter of 1854-55 were appalling, but the men bore them without a murmur. With the spring active operations were renewed, and on June 18, the anniversary of Waterloo, an attempt was made to carry the fortress by storm. In this disastrous attack our losses were 22 officers and 247 men killed, 78 officers and 1,207 men wounded. Ten days later the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Raglan, died, and the command was given to his Chief of the Staff, another Peninsular veteran, Sir James Simpson, an officer who did not enjoy the confidence of the army, and who practically owned that he felt himself unfitted to exercise its command.
On September 8 a second attack was made on the Redan, the outwork which had defied our attempt on June 18. Again we were driven back, after our men had made good their footing in the place. This defeat was entirely due to the neglect to support the stormers, who had shown the habitual gallantry of the British soldier.
+------------------------+-----------+-----------+ | |_Officers._| _Men._ | | _Regiments._ +-----+-----+-----+-----+ | | K. | W. | K. | W. | +------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+ |Staff | 5 | 12 | - | - | |8th Hussars | - | - | - | - | |11th Hussars | - | - | - | - | |13th Hussars | - | - | - | - | |17th Lancers | 1 | - | - | 1 | |Royal Artillery | 2 | 4 | 13 | 76 | |Grenadier Gds. | 3 | 6 | 101 | 124 | |Coldstream Gds. | 8 | 5 | 65 | 116 | |Scots Guards | 1 | 8 | 49 | 119 | |1st Royal Scots | - | - | 1 | - | |4th K.O. Lancs | - | - | - | - | |7th Royal Fus. | - | 5 | 13 | 49 | |19th Yorkshire | 1 | - | 1 | 3 | |20th Lancs Fus. | 1 | 8 | 40 | 122 | |21st R. Scots F. | 1 | 6 | 24 | 90 | |25th R. Welsh F. | 1 | 1 | 18 | 20 | |28th Gloucester | - | - | - | - | |30th E. Lancs | 2 | 5 | 29 | 101 | |33rd W. Riding | 1 | 2 | 6 | 55 | |38th S. Stafford | - | - | - | - | |41st Welsh | 5 | 6 | 55 | 101 | |44th Essex | - | - | - | - | |47th N. Lancs | - | 2 | 19 | 45 | |49th R. Berks | - | - | - | - | |50th West Kent | 1 | 1 | 8 | 21 | |55th Border | - | 5 | 18 | 58 | |57th Middlesex | 2 | 3 | 13 | 75 | |63rd M'chester | 3 | 7 | 12 | 93 | |68th Durham L.I. | 2 | 2 | 16 | 33 | |77th Middlesex | 1 | - | 20 | 37 | |88th Connaught Rangers | - | 2 | 22 | 80 | |95th Sherwood Foresters | - | 4 | 27 | 104 | |Rifle Brigade | 2 | 4 | 35 | 109 | +------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+