noon
Comforts of every sort were sent out to the soldiers -- food , and clothes , and books ; and missionaries and other ministers of religion came out and preached to those in health , and comforted the sick and dying ; but besides this , hospitals were established in the more healthy parts of the country belonging to our allies , the Turks , to which our sick and wounded were sent . What also won the hearts of our wounded men was the gentle care with which they were tended , not by hired nurses , but by many ladies who came out from England on purpose to assist them . Those who had been cured , and came back to the Crimea , told how they had been treated ; and I do not believe that there is a soldier of that army but who blesses the ladies of England for the sake of those who acted as nurses in the military hospitals in the East . On the 5th of September the whole of our batteries again opened on the town , and went on firing night and day , till , on the 8th at noon , the French , who were to attack the Malakoff , made the signal to advance . They rushed on , as they always do , very quickly ; and before the Russians , who were at dinner , had time to defend the place , they were in it , and their flag was flying on the ramparts . Now came the turn of the British , who had to attack the Redan . On they went ; but the Russians were ready for them , and they were met by a hot fire of musketry and artillery .