Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-02-06
THE CHARGE OF THE SIX HUNDRED.
Some New Points of a Different Nature,
Given BY a Survivor.

The Charge of The Light Brigade,
called The Six Hundred took place
Oct. %, 1854. and is still a household
memory with US. though thirty-five
years have slipped BY and / have been
asked by many to place on record this
anniversary some occurrences other
than mere galloping, cutting, thrust
ing. and strong language, all of which
are very similar on like occasions. and
are often told in prose and verse.
Short and to the point is best suited to
what IS required of me. So to begin
my story.
Maude's horse artillery, with me
second in command, opened fire at
daylight, and kept in action until its
ammunition was exhausted. when it re-
tired few yards down hill and re-
manned there for a while, screened
from the Russian shot and she'll, with
the hope of giving confidence to some
wavering Turks. Maude was seriously
wounded by she'll bursting in his
horse. and there were also several cas-
ualties among the officers, men, horses,
and gun wheels. Some of cur field
batteries soon arrived and continued
the cannonade.
In the course of an hour or so our
two brigades of cavalry and horse ar
tillery formed columns near the heights
of the plateau of Sebastopol, when sud-
denly a line of calvary, with supports
in column, probably five thousand,
poured down the grass slopes toward
Balaklava, and were gloriously defeat
ed by our heavy brigade of cavalry,
under Gen. Scarlet.
In the pause that followed l deemed
it desirable to learn what the Russians
were doing, and as the horse | had rid
den was wounded by the splinter of a
shell, l mounted baggage pony and
rode up the grass slope to near the
crest of the now famed valley, where
tethered him to a tent peg, and crept
on through the long grass until my
telescope cautioned: Beware! The
brushwood on the hills opposite was
full of guns, and down the valley were
troops by thousands. Capt. Charters,
one of Lord Lucan's aides de camp,
now rode by. but as he did not see me
| hailed him with the information, when
he replied, The Light Brigade is or
dered to attack and while we were
speaking it hove in sight, advancing
and deploying at the trot and canter.
There was not time for warning, so |
ran to my pony, and, getting back to
the guns as fast as he could carry me,
brought them up at full speed and
placed them over the ridge, where best
able to aid the remains of the Six Hun
dred IN their inevitable retreat.
At this time Lord Cardigan raised up
and told me what had happened, at the
same time pointing to long rent in
his cherry overalls made by Cossack
Lancer, who had otherwise missed his
guns. Among the last were Capt God
frey Morgan, Seventeenth Lancers, now
Lord Tredegar whose horse had been
killed and his helmet lost However,
he came to me, sword in hand, and,
speaking as cool as he would on par
ade, said: is not this an awful bust
ness, Shakespear! What shall | do?"
My reply was, Quick; jump on the
gun timber, and go to the rear with us,
or to the front if we 90 into action,
when you may help fight gun"
We must not forget the volley from
the Ninety-third Highlanders, which
emptied many Russian saddles near
the entrance to the village of BalakIa-
va; nor the attack on the Russian ar
tillery in the brushwood by the French
cavalry on white horses. | can see
them now, so conspicuous were they
on the hill. So keen is memory formed
on the battlefield that even now | fancy
/ see Nolan and his horse lying dead,
like many others whose names | did
not know
Of my friend Charters | have a re-
markable foreshadowing of fate to re-
late. On the previous evening he and
l, while taking a quiet ride, saw signs
of fight on the morrow, when he
spoke very gloomily of it being his
last. My saying, ''Well, we have been
under fire together pretty often, and
yet here we are again" did not cheer
him. "No; it would be his last" A
round shot killed him directly we part
ed on the ridge before named. As the
spot was debatable ground my gunners
buried him then and there. am. sir,
your obedient servant, John Shake
spear, Colonel, late r. f., IN London
Sfna70n1-d