The coast of the Black Sea became the seat of the war that ensued.  The Russians posted themselves strongly in the Crimea.  That peninsula was commanded by the famous fortress of Sebastopol, situated at the southwestern extremity.  On the twenty-fifth of September, 1854, the heights of Balaklava, lying south of the fortress, were seized by a British division under command of Lord Raglan.  In this way the Russians were besieged; for the allied fleets had made their way into the Black Sea, and the land side of Sebastopol was commanded by Balaklava.

The siege that ensued lasted for nearly eleven months, and was one of the most memorable of modern times.  On two occasions the Russians sallied forth and gave battle.  The first conflict of this kind was on the night of the twenty-fifth of October, 1854, at Balaklava.  The Russian attack on the English and Turks was at first successful, and four redoubts were carried by the assailants.  At the crisis of the battle, however, the British Highlanders came into action, and the Russians were repulsed.  The latter did not attempt to renew the attack, but fell back into their intrenchments.  It was at this juncture that the famous incident occurred of the Charge of the Light Brigade, which was immortalized by Tennyson in his poem.

A few days after the battle of Balaklava occurred another hard conflict at the village of Inkerman, at the head of the harbor of Sebastopol.  On the fifth of November, 1854, a strong force of Russians descended from the heights, and were met by the allies on the slope opposite the ruins of an ancient town, which occupied the site in the times of Strabo.  A severe battle ensued, in which the English and French were victorious.  Many other sorties were made from the fortress, but were designed rather to delay the siege than with any serious hope of breaking the investment.  Sometimes the conflicts, though desultory, were severe, taking the proportions of regular battles.  But nothing decisive was effected, until winter closed on the scene, and brought upon both the besiegers and the besieged the greatest hardships.

The sufferings of the allies, so far away from the source of supplies, were at times beyond description.  It is doubtful whether any other siege of modern times has entailed such cruel privations upon a civilized soldiery.  At times the combined havoc of hunger, disease and cold was seen in its worst work in the allied camps.  The genius of Elizabeth Butler has seized upon the morning “Roll Call,” in the Crimean snows of 1855, as the subject of a great painting in which to depict the excess of human suffering and devotion—­the acme of English heroism in a foreign land.