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    te joy of all the army it is ascertained that he is ; well on board ship . After the charge , Captain Ion . Arthur Hardinge came galloping up to Lord m with the news of what the cavalry had done , ad been sent with , orders to Lord Lucan , and at loment of the charge he had joined the Greys and ; d with them into the Russian columns . He was ) ject of envy to all his friends on the staff while he ibed in animated language the glorious events of ' . brilliant five minutes . 10 o'clock the Guards and Highlanders of the 1 st ion were seen moving towards the plains from their The Duke of Cambridge came lip to Lord an for orders , and his Lordship , ready to give the

    ur of the day to Sir Colin Campbell , -who com-Is at Balaklava , told his Royal Highness to place ; lf under the direction of the Brigadier . At 10 40 th division also took up their position in advance daklava . The cavalry were then on the left front lr position , facing the enemy ; the light cavalry de was on the left flank forward ; the heavy Iry brigade en echelon in reserve , with guns on the ; the 4 th Dragoons and 5 th Dragoons and Greys he left of the brigade , the Enniskillens and 3 rd oons on the right . The 4 th division took tip id in the centre ; the GuaTds and Highlanders filed iwards the extreme right , and faced the redoubts , which the Russians opened on them with such guns id not "been spiked .

    10 50 General Canrobert , attended by his staff , Brigadier-General Rose , rode up to Lord Raglan , the staffs of the two generals and their escorts led together in praise of the magnificent charge of avalry , while the chiefs apart conversed over the itions " of the day , which promised to be one of e . The Russian cavalry , followed , by our shot , had id in confusion , leaving the ground covered with is and men . In carrying an order early in the day , Blunt , Lord Lucan's interpreter , and son of our ul in Thessaly , had a harrow escape . His horse tilled ; he seized a Russian charger as it galloped riderless , but the horse carried him almost into tile ian ca-valry , and he only saved himself by leaping into a redoubt among a number of frightened : s who were praying to Allah on their bellies . I

    Id mention here that the Turks who had been cted oil the flanks of the 93 rd , fled at the approach e Russians without firing a shot . At 10 55 a body valry , the Chasseurs d'Afrique , passed down to the i , and were loudly cheered by our men . They took round in advance of the ridges on our left . ad now occurred the melancholy catastrophe which us all with sorrow . It appears that the Quarterer-General , Brigadier Airey , thinking that the light lry had not gone far enough in front when the ly ' s horse had fled , gave an order in writing to , ain Nolan , 15 th Hussars , to take to Lord Lucan , : tinghis lordship "to advance" his cavalry nearer te enemy . A braver soldier tlian Captain Nolan irmy did not possess . He was known to all his of the service for his entire devotion , to his profesand his name must be familiar to all who take

    int in our cavalry for his excellent work , published a ago , on our drill and system of remount and breaklorses . I had the pleasure of his acquaintance , and iow he entertained the most exalted opinions reting the capabilities of the English horse soldier . > erly led , the British Hussar and Dragoon could , in nind , break square , take batteries , ride over columns lfantry , and pierce anj r other cavalry in the world ' they were made of straw . Ho thought they had had the opportunity of doing all that was in their ir , and that they had missed even such chances as had offered to them , —that , in fact , thoy were in 3 measure disgraced . A matchless horsemnn and a -rate swordsman , he held in contempt , I am afraid ,

    grape and canister . He rode off with Ins orders to I Liucaii . He is now doad and gone . God forbid I Id cast a shude on the brightness of his honour , but a bound to stato what I am told occurred when he hed his lordship . I should premise that as the nan cavalry retired , their infantry fell back towards liead of the valley , leaving man in three of the ubts thoy had tnken , and abandoning tho fourth . y had also placed aome guns on tho heights their position , on the left of tho gorge . ir cavalry joined tho reserves , and drew up six solid divisions , in an obliquo lino , across entrance to tho gorge . Six battalions of inry wore pined behind them , mid about 30 guns

    o drawn up along their line , while masses of . ntry wore nlno collected on tho hills behind redoubts on our right . Our cavalry hud moved up jo rldgo across tho valloy , on our loft , us tho ground broken iu front , and had luiltod in tho order I have ndy mentioned . When Lord Lucan received the r ( torn Captain Nolan mid had rend it , he asked , wo told , " Whore uro avo to advanco to V" Captain in pointed with his linger to th « lino of tho Kiisaiaiis , said , " There am tho onomy , and thoro aro tho guns , before thorn ; it ia your duty to take them , " or words liat effect , according to tho statement . ** made wince doath . Lord Luoan , -with reluctance , gave tho order , ord Cardigan to advance upon tho guns , conceiving

    that his orders compelled him to do so . The noble Earl , though he did not shrink , also saw the fearful odds against him . Don Quixote in his tilt against the windmill was not near so rash and reckless as the gallant felloes who prepared without a thought to rush on almost certain death . It is the maxim of war , that " cavalry never act without a support , " that " infantry should be close at hand when cavalry carry guns , as the effect is only instantaneous , " and that it is necessary to

    have on the flank of a line of cavalry some squadrons in column , the attack on the Hank being most dangerous . The only support our light cavalry had was the reserve of heavy cavalry at a great distance behind them , the infantry and guns being far in the reaT . There -were no squadrons in column at all , and there was a plain to charge over , before the enemy's guns were reached , of a mile and a half in length . At 11 10 our light cavalr 3 ' brigade rushed to the front . They numbered as follows , as well as I can ascertain : —

    Men . 4 th Lin ; ht Dragoons . . . . . 118 8 th Irish Hussars . .... 104 lltli Prince Albert's Hussars . . . 110 13 th Light Dragoons .... 130 17 th Lancers . . . . . . 145 Total . . . 607 sabres . The whole brigade scarcely made one effective regiment , according to the numbers of continental armies ; and yet it was more than we could spare . As they passed towards the front , the Russians opened on them from the guns in the redoubt on the right , with volleys of musketry and rifles . They swept proudly past , glittering in the morning ; sun in all the pride and splendour of war .

    We could scarcely believe the evidence of our senses Surely that handful of men are not going to charge an army in position ? Alas ! it was but too true—their desperate valour knew no bounds , and far indeed was it removed from its so-called better part—discretion . They advanced in two lines , quickening their pace as they closed towards the enemy . A more fearful spectacle was never witnessed than by those who , without the power to aid , beheld their heroic countrymen rushing to the arms of death . At the distance of 1 , 200 yards the whole line of the enemy belched forth , from . 30 iron mouths , a flood of smoke and ilame , through which hissed the deadly balls . Their flight was marked by instant gaps in our ranks , by dead men and horses , by

    steeds flying wounded or riderless across the plain . The first line is broken , it is joined by the second , they , never halt nor check their speed ah instant ; with diminished ranks , tMnned by those 30 guns , which the Russians had laid -with the most deadly accuracy , with a halo of flashing steel above their heads , and with a cheer which was many a noble fellow ' s death-cry , they flew into the smoke of the batteries , but ere they were lost from view the plain was strewed with their bodies and with the carcasses of horses . They were exposed to an oblique fire from the batteries on the hills on both sides , as well as to a direct fire of musketry . Through the clouds of smoke we could see their sabres flashing as they rode up to the guns and dashed between

    them , cutting down the gunners as they stood . We saw them riding through the guns , as I have said ; to our delight we saw them returning , after breaking through a column of Russian infantry , and scattering them like chaff , when the flank fire of the battery on the hill swept them down , scattered and broken as they were . "Wounded men and dismounted troopers flying towards us told the sad talc—demi-goda could not have done what we had failed to do . At the very moment when they were about to retreat , an enormous mass of Lancers was hurled on their flunk . Colonel Shewell , of the 8 th Hussars , saw tho danger , and rode his few men straight at them , cutting his way through with fearful loss . The other regiments turned and engaged iu a desperate encounter . With courage too great almost for credence , they were breaking their way through tho columns which enveloped them , when there

    took place an act of atrocity without parallel in the modern warfare of civilised nations . The Rutwiaii gunners , -when the storm of cavalry passed , returned to their guns . They anvv their own cavalry minglod with tho troopers who had just ridden over them , and , to tho eternal disgrace of tho Russian name , the miscreants poured a murderous volley of grapo and canistor on tho mass of struggling men and homos , mingling friond and foo in one common ruin . It was an much na our heavy cavalry brigade could do to cover the retreat of tho miserable remnants of that band of heroes an they returned to tho place thoy had no Iutoly quitted in all tho pride of life . At 11 » C not a British soldier , except tho dead and dying , wan loft in front of thono bloody Muscovite , guns . Our Iohs , us far an it could bo anocrtuined , in killed , bounded , and missing at . two o ' clock to day , wan us foil own : —¦ Went into Returned Action . froin I , ( > sn , . . . . . . T , . Strong . Action . 4 t . h Light Dragoons ... JJ 8 .,, n >) 70 8 fch Hussars KM ... »« "'" ( jjj 1 lth IltiHsnrN 110 ... 2 /} "" h ") Kith Li ^ ht DnigwuH ... i ;{() ' . " <; i "" (; ' y 17 th I , iii > c ( ts MT > ... » ft \[\ uf | M 7 1 'jb 401 )

    It is not certain that all these were killed , wounded , or missing ; many may still come in , and about SO wounded have already returned . Captain Nolan was killed by the first shot fired , as he rode in advance of the Hussars , cheering them on . Lord Lucan -was slightly wounded . Lord Cardigan received a lance thrust through his clothes . At 11 a . m . the Russians , feeling alarmed at our stead y advance and at the symptoms of our intentio . to turn or cut off their right , retired from No . 1 redoubt , which , was taken possession of by the Allies . At 11 15 they abandon-ed the redoubt No . 2 , blowing up the magazine ; and , as "we still continued to advance , they blew up and abandoned No . 3 at 11 45 , but , to our great regret , we

    were not in time nor in force to prevent their taking off seven out of nine guns in these earthworks- At 11 48 the Russian line of infantry all began to retire slowly , and a strong portion of it crept up the hills behind the 1 st redoubt , which still belongs to them , in the hope that we would attack them in that position 5 but it -was not our desire to risk a battle , and we had already found out that our position was too large to be readily defended . We made up our minds , therefore , to let the Russians have redoubts Nos . 1 , 2 , and 3 , and even 4 if they liked , and to content ourselves with keeping Balaklava and the communication with it open by the westerly and southerly heights behind our camp . The -artillery on

    the right of 1 st division fired shot and rockets at thft 1 st redoubt , but could not do much good , nor could the heavy guns of the batteries near the town carry so far as to annoy the Russians . At 12 o'clock the greater portion of the French and English moved on more rapidly , and an accession to the strength of bur artillery was made by two French batteries , who piished on towards the front of our left in support of tlieir cavalry . The first division remained still in line along the route to Balaklaya . From 12 to 12 15 not a shot was fired on either side , but the Russians gathered up their forces towards the heights over the gorge , and , still keeping their cavalry-on the plain , manoeuvred in front on our right .

    The Morning Herald publishes a letter from an officer of the light brigade , who was in the charge : We all knew that the thing was desperate before we started , and it was even worse than Aye thought . In our front , about a mile and a half off , were several lines of Russian cavalry and nine guns—to get at which we had to pass along a wide valley , with the ground a little falling , and in itself favourable enough for a charge of cavalry ; but the sloping hills on each side gave the enemy an opportunity ( which they used ) of placing guns on both out flanks as we advanced ; and not only guns , but infantry with Minie * rifles .

    However , there was no hesitation , down our fellows went at the gallop—through a fire in front and on both flanks , which emptied bur saddles and knocked over our horses by scores . I do not think that one man flinched in the whole brigade—though every one allows that so hot a fire was hardly ever seen . We went right on , cut down the gunners at their guns ( the Russians worked the guns till we were within ten yards of them )— -went on stil ] , broke a . line of cavalry in roar of the guns , and drove It back on the third line . But here our bolt was

    shot ; the Russians formed four deep , and our thin and broken ranks , and blown hor . scN , could not attempt to break through them , particularly as tho Russian cavalry had got round our flanks , and were prepared to charge our rear ( with fresh men . ) We broke back through them , however , and then had to run the gauntlet through the . cross fire of artillery and Minia * rifles lrnek to our own lines , with their cavalry hanging on our flank . The heavy brigade , which had made a good charge of its own in the morning , covered our coming out of action , and lest some men from tho artillery .

    I hero is no concealing the thing—tho light brigade was greatly damaged , and for nothing ; or though we killed the gunners and the horses of nino 12-poumlers , we could not bring them away . Is ' olan ( who brought tho order ) i . s dead . The first shell that burst hit him in the breast . Ho gave a loud cry , his liorso turned , trotted back ( with him Htill in tho saddle ) between the first and . second squadrons of tho llith , and curried him so for Homo way , when lie full dead , llo -was hit in tho heart . In tlio two loading regiments , including Lord Cardigan ( "who led in pci'Mon ) and his stuff , wo had 1 !) officers . Only three came out . of action untouched both nmn and horso ) all tho cithern wore killed , wouikUkI , or prisoners , or hud their horses hurt . The 17 th had no field officers ,

    but five captains . Thoy atma out of action commanded by tho junior captain , I believe . Morris is stivorely wounded ; Winter in supposed to bo kiJJud ; VVcLb in shot through tho thigh ; Wliito through tho log ; Thompson is nuppo-sod lo bo kilhxJ , &o . Oho of Lord Cardigan ' s aides-do-uump is wounded—JMaxso ; tho other , Lockwood , in missing , mid hiijijkimkI to Im killed . Wo have lost , about iUif > Iioi ' m-s ( cixcluiiivci of oflicers ' hoi'Hc-tt ) , out . of Ht . t . lo ntoro Hum <» 00 , which we ( tho light brigade ) had in tho fluid j bo . ilduw t / ml , n irrvut number uro wounded -with gun-shot wounds , mid about 25 have already boon dmtruywl , nml moro will . It was a bitter mom on t after we broke through tho lino of cavalry in roar ¦ of tucir # " »«« , when 1 lookod round rmd saw there was no support beyond our owu brigade , which , loading

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    STovember 18 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 1085

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 18, 1854, page 1085, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2065/page/5/