Soledad Bazaine

As activities moved to the Crimea, Soledad was now about to provide evidence that the tough qualities developed in her youth had not been eliminated in her rebirth as a lady. When the armies became bogged down in front of Sevastopol and the terrible winter conditions took hold, she managed to make her own way across the Black Sea, to be reunited with her husband in Kamiesch and to make a home for him not far from the trenches. Of course there were many who resented and envied the presence of the wife of the newly promoted General - the Second Foreign Legion regiment had arrived, and Bazaine was now commanding the resultant Brigade. It did not help that she had become even more ravishingly beautiful in full womanhood than she had been as the girl of seventeen. A rumour did the rounds that he had spent a night at home when he should have been in the trenches, and that he had been reprimanded by General Forey and the lapse reported to General Canrobert; whatever the truth, the matter rested there. But the cat firmly arrived among the pigeons when General Pelissier burst onto the scene as Commander in Chief in mid 1855.

It was clear from the outset that the new Commander was totally captivated by Soledad. He had of course been in Oran and Tlemcen in the old days and they may even have met then - at any rate there were reminiscences to be exchanged. The general took the habit of inviting her to dine with him alone - these were occasions of great hilarity with little intimacies reported for posterity, presumably by nosey staff officers or gossippy servants. She would wear his cap, he would tickle her under her chin - a group of regimental musicians would sometimes be called to provide music for them to waltz to; further entertainment would be provided by his dog which would complete a hurdle course over obstacles they would contrive to set up. Always during these delightful distractions poor old Achille was absent on whatever duty Pelissier had contrived to keep him out of the way.

The backhand effect of the relationship was that it was beneficial to Bazaine's career. He was given a top job for the final assault on Sevastopol; it exposed him to great danger

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