While the authorities at home were straining every nerve to send succour to the fast-dwindling army in the field, news came to England of another great battle, far more sanguinary than any previous encounter, in which once more the brunt had fallen on the British. The Grand Dukes Nicholas and Michael, with the whole forces in Sebastopol, reinforced by large bodies of troops newly arrived from the Danubian provinces, in all not less than 50,000 men, had attacked the right of the English lines early in the dark morning of November 5. The fighting continued till late in the afternoon, the French being engaged also; but General Canrobert (who had succeeded to the command vacated by the death of Saint-Arnaud), in his telegram to the Emperor, chivalrously attributed the victory to "the remarkable solidity with which the English army maintained the battle, supported by a portion of General Bosquet's division." The English loss in the Battle of Inkermann amounted to 2,573 killed and wounded, of which 145 were officers, including four generals; the French lost 1,800, while the Russian casualties were made out in their official returns at 11,959 killed, wounded, and prisoners.
[Illustration: _Chevalier L. W. Desanges._} { _In the Victoria Cross Gallery, Crystal Palace._
The Allies paid a heavy price for this victory, but the carnage was not in vain. The power of Russia was crippled for a moment, and time was given for the succour which busy hands and brains were preparing in London and Paris. The most heartrending spectacle of all was the state of the hospitals at Scutari. No sooner did a description of them reach London than a fund was opened to supply their wants. More than £25,000 was collected, and English women organised themselves as nurses, and placed themselves under the direction of Miss Florence Nightingale. No commander so puissant--no statesman so powerful--that his name shall out-last that of this devoted Englishwoman, whose services, in spite of the usual routine official objections, were accepted by Mr. Sidney Herbert, the Secretary at War.[F] Miss Nightingale arrived at Scutari, with thirty-seven nurses, on the morning of the Battle of Inkermann, and so clearly did this devoted band prove their usefulness, that Miss Stanley, the Dean of Westminster's sister, followed not long after with forty additional assistants. To Florence Nightingale is due the glory of having initiated a movement which has extended far beyond the limits of the Crimean Campaign. No army now moves on active service without its train of skilled nurses, and the Geneva Convention has been the direct result of this first mission of mercy.