MacMahon allowed two sections to pass him, and then, followed by his staff, climbed over the parapet, following the advanced guard.  It placed one ladder, by which the General descended into the ditch, and was, it is said, the first up the escarp of the work.  A friend of mine described to me how he watched the tricolor on the parapet being carried slowly along, thus indicating exactly how our allies in the body of the work were gaining ground.  The zouaves who crossed the ditch on the proper left of the Malakoff had some difficulty in climbing up, from the height and steepness of the escarp.

MacMahon’s leading brigade crossed the short intervening space without a shot being fired.  The enemy’s working parties and gunners who were repairing damages fought bravely with picks, shovels, and hand-spikes, but were eventually driven back.  The very few Russians in the salient were completely surprised, so much so that some of the superior officers were found at dinner in an underground chamber of the Malakoff, and the French without difficulty obtained absolute possession of the south end of the work.  Although the enclosure covered an area of about four hundred yards by one hundred fifty, there was but very little open space within it, for behind the remnants of the stone tower were rows of traverses stretching from side to side of the work.  Behind these the Russians took post as they came up from their bombproof shelters.  Every separate parapet was fought for, hand to hand, and it was not till Vinoy’s brigade, which, entering by the Gervais battery, got behind the traverses, turning out the regiment Grand Duke Michel, that the enemy was finally driven from this part of the work.

The leading brigades of Motterouge’s and Dulac’s divisions, headed by their chiefs, seized the curtain and the Little Redan, the latter falling first, as St. Pol’s brigade was nearer to it than Bourbaki’s brigade was to the curtain.  Once inside these works from which the Russians were easily driven, the French pressed on to the intrenchment then being built across the rear.  General PELISSIER now gave General Simpson the signal to attack the Redan.  At the same time the French attacked the Malakoff, and there the fate of Sebastopol was really decided.

The possession of this fort was strongly contested, the Russians bringing up field-batteries; the French were also fired on heavily by three steamers, which, circling round, fired broadsides into them, and batteries sent shells from the north side of the harbor into the French support.  Eventually after a prolonged struggle, in which the French captured four field-guns, St. Pol’s brigade was beaten back, losing its brigadier, and with him fell the chief staff officer of the division and two colonels.  The Russians followed up closely, and Bisson’s brigade, which for want of space in the trenches had been stationed in the Careenage Ravine, was too far behind to afford effective aid.  Bourbaki’s right being thus uncovered, he also was driven back, although supported by Motterouge’s other brigade.