The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-14 00:00:00

THE EARL OF CARDIGAN-MR. G. S.
BUCK, M.P.

• ,
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUE.
Sir,—On my return to. Dublin, sifter an absence of
some days on duty in different parts of Ireland, I find a
letter from Mr. Buck, Whiofilib,:s'been copied into all the
newspapers of the day,. and-which better appears to me to
be a the-me of ignorance, presurnat49n,
and slander.
I consider that B;iiirs'Condiict in this matter bas
been disgraceful, and en wostby 014118 positionas a gentle'
man and a member of Parliampat--- r
I consider also that'rifles 61rerect a. gross insult to
It is, therefore, my intpappnitot held
.12(i'
me with Out the slightestp provodalieit.':
further com-
munication with him. "
9.4obet,
This individual has nowithmtifled himself
Some of Mr. Buck'a atiseritloin however, requiring to
be refuted, I must requeetyp
this letter. q good as publish
with a low
slanderer, whese statemeets—rotated no doubt by some
person much above his own position in society—were the
origin of all those falsehoods which have been launched
at me, for it is well known that not one word was ever
said on the subject in the Crimea for niany months after
the battle of Balaklava, cr until those calumnies were
invented in England and,santorit to the East. 411
These calumnies met with no encouragement from the
respectable portion of the press. it was therefore unneces-
sary for me to treat them otherwise than with silence and
contempt. But it is different when a
person in Mr. Buck's
position, and which is mutiny occupied by a gentleman,
thinks proper, at a publicrelinner, to make offensive allu-
sions highly derogatory toniy reputation as a soldier.
Thedoirfectth.e rimes
"and personal:,
er
al allus:o.soth..i. to e, made
he so art-
made by that
individual at Torrington, hew co relation to the obser-
vationsfully tries to conned' hiriiW'A -
That newspaper did not reflect, and never has re-
flected, upon my conduct in leading the charge of the
Light Cavalry at Balaklays. What the Times newspaper
alluded•to as a "falsificaticn of history" was, the praise
of Lord Raglan as the commander in chief of the army.
This is a matter of opinion ; but it would not prevent
my again'stating my respect for the memory of that dis-
tinguished commander, and the high opinion I have ever
entertained of his qualifications as a general.
Mr. Buck then refers to the loss of horses on the heights
of Inkerman, but considering that the whole of this
matter has recently been thoroughly investigated by order
of the Government, and that I and my brother officers
implicated have been relieved from all blame, I have only
to observe that Mr. Buck's opinion on the subject is an
infamous and disgusting slander.
With regard to being on board my yacht, the com-
mander in chief was well aware that I was too ill to live
in camp, and he preferred my sleeping on board to my
leaving the army. I consider, therefore, that I had
sufficient authority for my conduct. It was from sleep-
ing on board this yacht that, on the 25th of October,
1854, by order of My Superior officer on the spot, I
placed myself at the head of the Light Cavalry Brigade
to attack the Russian batteries.
Of my conduct on that occasion the following report
was made' by the General Commanding in Chief :—"The
order was obeyed in the most spirited and gallant man-
ner. - Lord. Cardigan charged with the utmost vigour,
and attacked aattery which •was firing upon the ad-
vancing squadreas, and having passed beyond it engaged
the Russian c,avaliy in the rear," &c. And by the lieu-
tenant general commanding the cavalry division :
" This attack was of a very daring and difficult nature,
and was led by Major General the Earl of Cardigan in a
most gallant and intrepid manner." •
Arid now I have to state in the most positive terms
that after entering the battery all rallying was utterly
impracticable. Cavalry cannot rally with an immensely
superior force of cavalry in their front, and two batteries
playing upon their right and left rear, in addition to the
fire of a large body of riflemen. •
In such a position troops must either advance or re-
tire. In advancing beyond a certain pointall would have
been destroyed. In my last letter to Mr. Buck I de-
scribed what occurred to myself until the period of our
entering the battery, I stated that, advancing at a
charging pace through obstacles which one horse might
pass, but a line of troops could not well follow, I came
alone upon a large force of Russian cavalry ; that I was
attacked by two Cossacks in front, slightly wounded,
and nearly unhorsed. I have now to add that an at-
tempt was made by several more Cossacks to surround
me, but I defended myself and got clear of them. Mean-
time the line that bad followed into the battery were
gallantly doing their duty by cutting down and lancing
the gunners, and in surmounting the many difficulties on
account of the guns, ammunition waggons, and other
obstacles of the advance. Many did advance imme-
diately afterwards in different directions, and gallantly
did their utmost. For myself, having to retire from the
position which I have described, I considered it my duty
to retreat at a slow pace, and I have fortunately two
witassemtwprOomthaft- 11111'0156=-41X., Major-
General Sir James -Szoiaditt and his orderly, who, being
in advance of the Heavy Brigade down the hill, would
testify to the truth of pry. statement. It is fortunate
that T should have two witnowww, if necessary, to pro-
teat me against the malignant slanders of Messrs. Buck
and Ryan.

During the time I have alluded to numbers of the
brigade were retreating, and many were shot down by
the Russian riflemen in my immediate neighbourhood,
and immediately afterwards all the brigade were retreat-
ing, after having rallied in the only way in which
troops could rally under such circumstance : viz.,
going about and retreating ; and in doing so they very
properly retired at the same pace as they had ad-
vanced. The usual manner to rally is to reform. In
this case it would have been certain destruction to all.

Mr. Buck then referred to the trial of Captain Wa-
then and its consequences, and whom, in order to
enhance the general truth of his statements, he names
a distinguished officer, although at that time never
having left the barracks of the United Kingdom.
Considering that the whole of the subject was brought
before Parliament more than 20 years since, and that
on the motion of the late Sir Wm.. Molesworth, there
was, in a full Rouse of Commons, a majority of 8 to 1
in my favour that I then went to India, and 'ganging
back the 11th Light Dragoons (afterwards Iltilsars),
commanded them for 18 years, such a reference can only
be designated as mean, paltry, and despicable.
In the course of this and other letters I have given a
full account of all that occurred in the Light Cavalry
charge at Balaklava, the subject of which is clearly the
main object of attack with such slanderers as Messrs.
Buck and Ryan.
I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
Dublin, Oct. 11, 1856. CARDIGAN.
P.S.—I wish to correct an error in my detailed re-
port of the officers engaged in, the charge of Light Ca-
valry at Balaklava, having inadvertently omitted the
name of Lieut. Chadwick, the adjutant of the 17th
Lancers. This officer went forward with some men after
entering the battery, when his horse was killed, and he
was himself wounded, taken prisoner, and kept a year
in captivity. I feel that it is not fair to leave out the
name of any officer engaged in that desperate attack.