The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-01-22

slowly began TO give ground. retreating
| up the hill, fighting as they went. wnlle
| the heroic Englishmeh pursued them.
| and pushed them back over the bfo"
OF the emlnence.
ave moved forward. the most Of US
feeling strange forbodlng OF disas-
ter, yet ready for anything.
"In order that the meaning OF tne
charge may be clearly understood,
will describe the Balhltloya plnan. II
was n valley. with range of hills on
| either side. We were Mt the head OF the
valley, Forty thousand Russians were
nnssed n mile aud u half from us,down
the valley, Their artillery on the mus
swept the piain from both sides. About
three quarters of a mile from us, that
is, halfway between our position and
the Russian army, was line OF artlll-
cry stretched Right across the valley.
and manned by Russians. II was a.
these guns that we FIRST used our
snbrcs.
eve moved forward. down the val
| ley, making for the batteries on the
plain Instead Of attacking those on the
fhllI. which had been captured from INC
| Turks, II perhaps mabtercd little, Tor
| nm effort to re- take the Turkish bat
tories would probably have been no less
disastrous.
The Famous Charge.
"As soon as our brigade rushed Into
the head of the yalley,the Russian guns
opened fire. It. was a surprise to tho
enemy, for so strongly was the plnin
fortified TINT the Russians did not
consider 1t possible for an army TO
make hcadway through II. much lesa
for our brigade OF GOO to do 50. II has
| always been mystery to tne how a
single person ever returned alive. Cam
non pourcd shot and shell upon us from
tho hills on both sides, aud the bnt-
tcrfcs below us In the wiley assnlled
uS In front.
''Here was tho opportunity for the
| Light brigade. The flank OF the re-
! treating Russians was exposed 10 ah
attack from our forces. and had tho
charge been made ut that moment. tho
result would hnve been different; we
would have routed the enemy. and per-
| hups nothing would ever have been
said about II. But fate WAS against
us. We saw the opportunity and the
commanding officer OF the Seventeenth
iaHcers moved as II TO take advantage
oft. Our Eleventh husslTs also moved
| TO attack the Russians. But Lord Lucan
| hcnt written orders to us not to move
] forward. The opportunity passed. and
in Its place c1me the condition OF az
fairs which almost hnnihilated our
whole brigade.
Lord Ragland saw the opportunity
but the action he took was too late He
sent this written order to Cardigan:
Follow UP the enemy. Try 10 recap
ture the guns. Take troop OF horse
artillery with you.
The Awfu' BInnder.
A.. aeAan TO Nha
charge OF the Six Hundred. 1t was In
definite. Perhaps the intention was
that the column OF 1000 Russian cavnl~
ry, then IN retreat, should be charged,
and the guns which were TO be re-takpn
were the batteries on the hill. which
had been captured from the Turks a
short time before. But blunder had
been made. II was now too late to at
! tack that troop OF cavalry. It had re-
Joined the main body Of Russians 10000
strong, mile and half further down
the valley. The subllterns hesltateG.
They believed that q blunder had been
made; but It was
Theirs not to rehson why.
Theirs but to do and de
when once we had started, we lost
alt sense OF danger. It was II terrible
moment. We rushed into the jaws OF
death, each man filed with superhuman
courage. The ground under our horses
feet was Plowed by shells. and the air
was filed with gcreachlnE spllnten.
Lieutenant Haughton and galloped at
the head OF the hussars. our horses neck
and neck We had been lifelong
friends. a shell exploded In the air over
us. his blood was spattered over me. l
saw the brave officer fall back, of his
horse. / did not ugain look back Par
| don me, II speak OF myself from this
on. think every man was like myself
felt that he alone must win or all
would be lost WAhad no time TO look
about US 10 see what others were doing.
We looked straight ahead, down that
fatal valley. l could catch glimpses OF
| the gray uniform OF Russians. now and
then. through the puffs OF the smoke OF
the batteries. a bullet struck me IN the
leg felt the sting, but forgot 1t the
next moment.
I'VE reached the batteries In the val
ley. We killed the gunners with our
swords, and rushed on. From this
point our men began to show the effects
OF the artillery FIRE through which We
had passed for three foHrths OF mile.
More than half had fallen. Riderlcss
horses Ealloped on. n lieutenant
HauEhton's horse led the Charge even
TO the very bHyonets of the Russians.
although his master had fallen. The
Eleventh hussars penetrated f1rthest,
reaching the mouth of the Tchornaya
gorge, and beating back the front OF the
main Russian army.
I'VE saw that It was hopeless. There
were only n few OF us left. The enemy
was closing In upon us. We had come
so close upon their men that the can
non on the hills could not fire upon us
| without injuring their own troops. II
was fight OF swords. bayonets and
IaHces It was hand TO hand conflict,
short but terrible. a Russian trans
fixed my leg with a bayonet, and in
striking ut him with my sabre, another
! plunged n spear through my wrist.
Fighting the Way back.
We began to tight our way back. The
enemy followed: and although they
! pressed us hard. their presence con-
tributcd much toward protecting us
from the artillery on the hills. Qcca-
sionnlly n charge from the flank WAS
made upon us, but we beat the enemy
back. a wounded sergeant major
whose horse was also wounded, was ur-
able to keep up with us. A huge RUS
Sian cnvRlryman singled him out, and
| raised his sword TO strike. The SER
gennt was unable to defend himself,
but Lieutenant Dunn turned back, took
the Russian sword on his own blade
! and with n quick, powerful stroke,
severed the Russians head from his
body.
"'Thc JapakIne lancers got In front OF
us, and attempted to block our line OF
retreat, but after hand TO hand fight
with them they withdrew. and we made
our way out OF the valley.
about thirty men OF the hussars. re-