, 1885-01-09

A Cavalry Charge That Amazed tbs
World Thirty Years Ago.
The Light BriGade,s Heroism De-
seribed b. one who saw Their
Attaek-tmasnfacens, hut
Not warp

Ifittsburg Dispatch-l
IL was thirty years ago on the 25th of o.
tober that the earl OF Cardigan's light
brigade made it, famous charge at Sebas,
topoL A gentleman who wns on the staff Of
an English general. and who witnessed the
charge, gives this description Of it:
@On Oct IS. 1854. our eyes turned to the
heigh hts OF Balaklaya, on the possession of
whit h depended the very existence Of the
alliet forces On that day the Russians
made a desperate attack on our lines. to be
as desperately rspulssd. Word was sent to
headquarters that the enemy, under cover OF
a heavy fire from the forts, had left Sebas-
topol in force and was massing himself so as
to threaten the safety OF the heights wns
at once sent with an order for the cavalry
and horse artillery to move and be ready to
assume the offensive. They had not to wait
long. The Turkish lines were swept as by q
whiriwind, and with our M-ohaulinedan allies
the word was sauye qui peut. The heavy
cavalry on the right and the light brigade on
the left were advanced, with the artillery In
the center playing a game at long bowls.
Meanwhile a Russian battery was ostenta-
tiously moved forward, whose well-served
guns promised to be embarrassing
Lord Raglan, who did not lfnow the full
strength Of the foe, saw that this obstacle
must DO removed; but whether or not he
also forsaw the necessity OF first looking be-
fore the leap was taken must be forever a
mystery. The commanders OF the cavalry
brigades, Lords Lucan and Cardigan, broth
ers-in-law, between whom no love was lost,
were waiting the word to engage, Lord
Lucan being the senior officer. To them sped
Capt Nolan. a dashing huzzar. Saluting
the general, he said he bore an order-un-
written-from Lord Raglan that the battery
must be silenced and the guns captured Lord
Lucan, a man so cautious as to have earned
the nickname Lord Look-on,' fearing to ex-
pose his small force to any ambushed dangers
asked for more definite orders. With q
slightly c~ontemptuous turn Of the handsome
lip, the aid-ie-cnmp pointed in the direction
Of the battery and said:
aTYou sec your enemy, my lord
Even tho earl of Cardigan, impetuous as
he was, generally speaking, looked at this COM
mnnder in doubt as to the works. But,
owing to the unhappy enmity existing be-
tween them, neither would speak his
thoughts, and once more Nolan, inipatiently
waving his sword, which he had fiorcely
drawn from its scabbard, and pointing it 70
the artillery, cried. Take the guns; these
are your ordersi'
THE crisis has arrived. Nc recourse is
left but to do as he bid A cold nod OF
assent from Lord Lucan. A profound bow
follows from Lord Cardigan. Light diyi-
sion, forward, charged breaks from his lips
An echoing chear is the reply from COZ
throats, as with clang of scabbard and
rattle OF bride and bit, and the braying of
the trumpet, and the ringing cheer Of the
Heavies,, The 4th and 18th Lights. 9th and
1fth Hussars, the latter Lord Cardigan's own
corps, conspicuous in their cherry-colored
trousers, and the 18th lancers, with
ranks closed up and squadrons dressed as
evenly as II at a march past, trot forward
down the slight ~declivity. Mt their head
ride the gallant Nolan and the dauntless
Cardigan-eyen In this supreme moment
with n reckless laugh upon his face, as he
argues some point Of war with his brother
hussar.
TT unmarked batteries are already
bslehing forth shot and she'll. The trot breaks
into a gallop, the gallop into a furious, head
long charge. Already Nolan has fallen, cut
down by grape shot, the secret Of the fatal
day dying with him. The sorried ranks show
frequent gaps as saddle after saddle is
emptied- 'Close upl Close upl Charged is
the unceasing cry, and in a shorter time
than 1t takes to tell the opening ranks Of the
foe disclosed to the doomed, but indomitable
few, cannon to the right OF them, cannon to
left Of them, cannon in front Of them-and
now cannon behind them On through the
broken Russian line pressed the noble army
Of martyrs, their orihamme. their brave
leaders flashing sabre, their support.
with a wild cheer and a wilder leap the
cherry-clad heroes fly over the guns as
lightly as they would over a five-barrel gate
ON the ~hunting-ield, sabering the gunners as
they lenp. A beardless boy, not yet II, holds
fast to the colors he has sworn to carry to
death or victory and falls with the cry My
m - = q "a. -. IL. L-f--I H.
still grasping that amer in his hand.
Far away, clear in front, With his aid de
camp and a few choice spirits ON his right
hand and on his left-none ahead of him,
raging like a lion, fights, as with a forlorn
hope, the leader and commander Of the Light
brigade. He bears a charmed life, and his
brawny arm Is ndowed with a power of
slaughter that grows mightier every moment
from the meat 1t feeds on. Further and
further he dashes on, ~cleaving his way with
his blood-stained sword till be reaches the
last OF the guns.
III ere, when he sees the end is not yet, but
that rank upon ran OF cavalry and infantry.
with heavy artillery in the rear, stretches
out back to the city's utmost bastion, he
recognizes how useless it VIII be further to
tempt the fates and fight one against a
thousand. Coolly and calmly, as II In Hyde
aA ~ - 49, q = mil
and gives the word to the trumpetsr to sound
first the assembly thsn the retreat A
bullet crashes through the boys and as he
raises his trumpet to his mouth, but, stole
like, he makes no sign. Clear rings out the
the summons. A dozen only answer the call
Not one. save Lord Cardigan, but is wounded
more or less severely, and his clothing shows
where lance or saber or bah plowed their way
over his unscathed flesh. Right about the
little band turns, leaving the boy trumpeter
dead on the ground behind them,
1.-THE enemy, paralyzed by the shock Of the
charge, and fancying that the whole British
army supports the handful OF braves.
pauses In his murderous work to cheer the
los survivors who returned sndly and slowly
TO the place from which they came, having,
from a military standpoint, achieved moth
ing, yet covered with a deathless, fadeless
wreath Of glory. 1t was magnificent said
Gen Bosquet, but 1t was not war;