The attack on the Redan was to be directed by General Codrington. His
division, and the Second, under General Markham, were to supply the
column of attack, of which the covering party, the ladder party, the
working party (to fill up the ditch and convert what works we might gain
to our own purpose), and the main body were to number seventeen hundred,
and the supports fifteen hundred. The remainder of these two divisions,
numbering three thousand, was to be in reserve in the third parallel.
Also, in the last reserve, were the Third and Fourth Divisions.
No attack on the Redan would have been undertaken by the English as an
isolated operation. Our compulsory distance from that work, the want of
a place of arms (that is to say, a covered space in the advanced
trenches of sufficient extent to harbor large bodies of troops), the
construction of which was forbidden by the rocky soil, and the still
unsubdued fire from the ramparts, all condemned an assault. But it was
deemed necessary as a distraction in aid of the French, and it fulfilled
the purpose.
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