San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-02-08

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nan coming down nom The direction q
Balaklsvs. We paid no particular at-
tention, supporting that u didn't con-
sern M, but was some message going 70
oar camp. and he did appear to be go-
ing that way when he saw our brigade
and bore down upon as. Old earl Csrii-
gan, or Jim Grow, Is he was called BY
the soldiers, was ct the front, and the
rider, who was Capt. Nolan, with orders
from The earl Of Lucan, went up and
handed Cardigan . slip Of paper Old
Jim gave queer look when he read 1t,
o. il he doubted his eyes. The Russians,
some $4,000 strong, It appeared, had
driven the Turks from the .redoubts
near Balaklava, and were now in possess
sion. The orders were to retake them.
The old earl turned around 70 .ps after
we had jumped into our saddles and
said, pointing towards the .lredoubts,
Men, we've got to have those guns over
therep and ordered an advances. We
were then about two miles of: First
we went at walk, then tho atrot was
sounded, later the trumpeter called the
cante, and in this way we moved up
the plain INTO 10 within about 1900 yards 81,
what was known as the Turkish redoubt,
Or French hill. Then the enemy open
I'd fire from there. " The charge was
now sounded, ana our $40 men moved
forward at full gallop. The first few
rounds from the Turkish redoubt,
showed that the Russians were firing Mt
random. One discharge would pillow up
the gsound inSSiront Of. US And tell
Won II made my hair stand right up up !,
md the next would go over our heads.
The Turks redoubt was on our left. As
we drew nearer the artillery on ,Sugar-
Loaf hill, to our right, opened on us,
but didn't do much damage. When we
got up to within about one thousand
yards the twelve-gun battery in the
center of the Russian position opened
ire, and the first round dismounted two
guns Of our G troop Of horse artillery.
We now began to catch it, It liter
ally was cannon to the right, cannon to
the left, and cannon in front, and the
slaughter was frightful. Whole lines of
men and horses would be moved down
like swaths of grass by the fire of those
batteries. We kept ahead just as ever
for the center, and sabred the gunners
that stuck to their guns, as many OF
them did. Some Of the Russian gun
ners crawled under their guns, where
we couldn't reach them with our sabres,
but the Seventeenth lancers, who OF
course could reach them, made it hot
for 'em. The Russians fell back, and
we held their guns.
"Just then the heavy brigade came
up from the right on the other side OF
Sugar Loaf hill, and coming around in
the rear of the batteries, they charged
the enemy with success. The
The batteries both ceased FREEING
when we took the 12-gun battery in the
center. The heavy brigade followed up
the Russians, and we formed ranks
again in front of the center battery.
There were only 14O of us left. Earl
Cardigan afterward cried like a child
over the loss of his men. Our engage
ment lasted, perhaps, twenty-five min
utes, between 9 and 10 o'clock in the
morning, and in that we lost about
500 men," 'f'
"Were you wounded in the famous
charger" .t q. ....
Eyes; was hit in nine different places
in my right leg by grape and fragments
of shells, but in the excitement of the
thing did't know it till tried to get
off my horse after the fight was over.
Then found I could't bulge my right
leg. We went back to camp, and l was
taken to Scutari, where was in the
hospital one hundred and five days. If
the attack on these batteries had been
delayed few hours longer We would
have got them without the horrible
slaughter they cost"
"The soldiers well knew the move
was blunder then?'
Certainly, but they had nothing to