Tsar Alexander II had ordered his commander in chief in the Crimea, Prince Michael Gorchakov to attack the besieging forces before they were reinforced further.

[9] Although the British correspondents were amazed at the courageousness and impetuosity of the Russian attack,[10] the assault was handicapped by poor organization and lack of experienced soldiers which, due to Sevastopol, forced their corps to consist mostly of militia.

His generals interpreted his words as his order to attack and they acted accordingly, although reserve forces were still en route to the battlefield.

Read's forces crossed the river near the Traktir Bridge but without cavalry and artillery support, they were easily stopped by the French on the Fedyukhin Heights (Федюхины высоты).

Read then ordered his reserve formation, the 5th Infantry Division, to attack the Heights but instead of launching a coordinated assault, he fed them piecemeal into the fray.

The Sardinian troops' valiant effort at the battle was a contributing factor to their inclusion at the negotiation tables at the end of the war; it was there that the Kingdom of Sardinia began looking for the aid of other European nations towards the Unification of Italy.

Tolstoy vented his anger by composing a satiric stanza, an approximate translation of which reads: The toppest brass Sat down to meet And pondered long; Topographers Lined paper black But all forgot The deep ravine They had to cross!

[13] This humorous song soon gained widespread popularity among the Russian soldiers, and is the only piece of verse Tolstoy is known to have written.

The stanza from Tolstoy's song "Гладко вписано в бумаге, Да забыли про овраги" ("It was smoothly written into the papers / But it was forgotten about the ravines") entered as a catch phrase, in a slightly modified form "Гладко было на бумаге..." ("It was smooth on the paper, ...").