seven
o'clock in the morning
At four o'clock the whole camp was shaken by a tremendous explosion behind the Redan , and a little later the magazines of the Flagstaff and Garden batteries were blown up , and the whole of the Russian fleet , with the exception of the steamers , had disappeared under the water , scuttled by their late owners . At half-past five two of the great southern forts , the Quarantine and Alexander , were blown up , and soon flames began to ascend from Fort Nicholas . The Russian steamers were all night busy towing boats laden with stores , from the south to the north side , and when their work was done , dense columns of smoke were seen rising from the decks . At seven o'clock in the morning the whole of the Russian troops were safely across the bridge , which was then dismembered and the boats which composed it taken over to the north side . By this time Sebastopol was , from end to end , a mass of flames , and by nightfall nothing save a heap of smoking ruins , surrounded by shattered batteries , remained of the city which had , for so many months , kept at bay the armies of England and France . All through the night Jack Archer had travelled backwards and forwards between the crest of the hill and the hospital ; for so great was the interest of the wounded in what was taking place that he could not resist their entreaties , especially as he could do nothing for his brother , who was lying in a quiet , half-dreamy state . The delight of the English army at the fall of the south side of Sebastopol was greatly tempered by the knowledge that it was due to the capture of the Malakoff by the French .