The Allies had marched on the Port of Balaklava which they had captured as a base of supplies. They took up a position on the south side of the city, while by the bridges over the great harbor on the north side the beleaguered place communicated freely with the Russian field army, from which it could constantly receive supplies and reinforcements. It was, in fact, less a city besieged by an army than two armies entrenched opposite each other and keeping all their communications open. Several times the Allies were interrupted in their siege operations by the Russian field army and they had to give battle at Balaklava in October, at Inkermann in November, and at Europatia the following February.
While the Allies dug trenches, sapped and mined, gradually boring their way into the Russian possession, their industrious enemy also strengthened the fortifications and built new ones. The Allies were obliged to undergo the hardships of a severe winter, but they established themselves more and more strongly in this little corner of the Crimea where they faced all the forces of the Russian Empire.
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From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
