One Last Throw?
The Sevastopol Garrison had hoped that their June victory marked the turning of the tide. As June turned to July, they were feeling restless that despite the arrival of copious reinforcements, there had been no follow up offensive, nor was there any sign of preparation for one.
As if incensed by the setbacks of 18th June, the allies daily bombardments redoubled in ferocious intensity. As casualties among the defenders rose to an average 250 per day, so their morale dropped proportionately from the euphoria of June success to the gloom of July realisation that in the longer term their defence of the south side of Sevastopol was doomed. It was as if the optimism that Admiral Nabukhov had constantly inspired had abruptly died with him. At the same time, the project for a floating bridge between Fort Nicholas on the South side and Fort Mikhail on the North, was implemented, and construction began on 26th July.
Defenders and besiegers alike pondered on the potential purpose of the bridge - it might be to ease the problems of supplying a greatly increased army presence on the south side by boat - or to allow swift passage of combat troops from the north side for a major surprise breakout from the bastions. But the smart money was on the provision of a quick method of evacuation - it is no surprise that Nabukhov had been firmly opposed to the project. 'I would not cross the bridge dead or alive' he said.
The bridge was constructed by connecting pre-assembled rafts, and the distance of nearly 1000 metres was completed in 33 days. To this day the Russian Army are undisputed world leaders at bouncing across water obstacles, as soon as their advancing troops arrive at them; a large part of their ascendancy is due to their phenomonally fast floating bridge building capability, which saw its origins here in Sevastopol. Today, Russian sappers would bridge the gap in a few hours!
For the allies, the appalling slaughter of June 18th for no gain had also created a general feeling of desperation that they were farther away than ever from taking South Sevastopol, and they uneasily started to face the nightmare prospect of having to spend another winter on the Heights. Captain Clifford of the 1st Rifle Brigade was in sober mood when writing home to his father on 29th July. "Our casualties are now seldom under thirty killed and wounded in the trenches in twenty four hours. We shall never be able to hold the advance trenches throughout the winter." Capt Dallas of the 46th was as usual perceptive and critical "I foresee, (& it is merely the prophesy of anyone not an idiot looking around him) that if we have to stop the winter here, that with some very few alleviations, our suffering will be a sad repetition of last year's.......We have made and are making no sort of road to Balaklava, no intermediate depots or stations for provisions. The railway is just laid on the surface of the baked ground, & the bad weather will find us much as it found us last year....I look forward to such an outcry in England when the Winter comes, and again catches us unprepared, as will astonish those who are so grossly to blame."
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