The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-14 00:00:00

THE ORDER TO CHARGE.

When Lord Lucan received the erder from Captain
Nolan and had read it, he asked, we are told, " Where
are ive to advance to ?" Captain Nolan pointed with his
finger to the line of the Russians, and said, "There are
the enemy, and there are the guns, sir, before them ; it
is your duty to take them," or words to that effect, ac-
cording to the statements made since his death. Lord
Lucan, with reluctance, gave the order to Lord
Cardigan to advance upon the guns, conceiving that
his orders compelled him to do so. The noble Earl,

though he did not shrink, also eaw the fearful odds
against him. Don Quixote in his tilt against. the
windmill was not near so rash and reckless as the
gallant fellows who prepared without a thought to rush
on almost certain death. It is a 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 flank being most danger-
ous. 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 rear. There
were no squadrons in columns 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.
THE CHARGE.

At 11.10 our Light Cavalry Brigade rushed to the
front. They numbered as follows, as well as I can
ascertain : Men.
4th Light Dragoons
Bth Irish Hussars
11th Prince Albert's Hussars
13th Light Dragoons
17th Lancers 145

Total 607 sabres.
The whole brigade scarcely made one effective regiment,
according to the numbers of continental armie9 ; and
yet it is more than we could spare. As they passed
towards the front, the Russians opened on them from
the guns on 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 evi-
dence of our senses ! Surely that handful of men are
net going to charge an army in position l 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, quicken-
ing 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 coun-
trymen rushing to the arms of death. At the dis-
tance of 1,200 yards the whole line of the enemy
belched forth, from thirty iron mouths, a flood of
smoke and flame, 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 or check their
speed an instant ; with undiminished ranks, thinned 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
felloo death:cry, they flew into the awoke of the bat-