The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-11-26
BANQUET OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.
Survivors of that Famous Charge Gel
citrate the Torty-Third Anniversary.
T oudon naiIv TeIecranh

| Fifty-nine of the seventy-two survivors
| of the charge at Balakava were present
| at the forty-third annual dinner of their
society at St. James's Hall last week on
the breasts of the guests, many of whom
/ were grizZled and bent, while others lacked
an arm or a leg, were trophies of valor
Among the better known of the veterans
present were John Whitehtea thro1 F op tbn
/ charge without receiving a scratch, al
though his horse was killed under MN py
a bursting shell; David Grantham Eiev-
/ enth Hussars, Sandhurst, was not so for
| tunate. This soldier not only lost MS morse,
but was shot through the calf and wounded
| Dragons Holt, was another of the heroes
| who did not pass unscathed. He had MS
left eye shot out, got sword cut IT, ac r;hs
| another in the neck and had ms loot IN
jured. Some of the other men present, who
have deserved well Of their country, were
Palm and William Cullen.
! The dinner was presided over by Mr.. n.
| Herbert the president of the Balaklaya So
ciety, one of the most prominent guests be-
| ing Mr.. T. II. Roberts, of Illustrated BITS,
who has done much to cheer the declining
around him. The Countess of Cardigan
sent her regrets at not being able to be
present. After the royal toasts had been
Enthusiastically honored, THE Earl of Car
| digan and Our officers" was proposed by
Mr.. Pennington; THE Heavy Brigade and
| Those Who Fought at Balaklava," by Mr.
| Bird; Miss Florence Nightingale" by Mr.
T. H. Roberts and The Navy and Army"
| Dy the CHAIRMAN. he IleHuS VI tL0
Light Brigade" coupled with the name of
| Mr.. T. II. Roberts, 1.-The Visitors and
1.-The Memory of the Dead, were also sub
After the dinner there was a concert in
| the large hall, among the entertainers be-
| ing Miss Cissy LOTUS, Will Evans, G.. H
! Chirgwin, Miss Lucy Clarke r. G. Know
| les, Eugene Stratton Billee Barlow, Miss
Bessie Wentworth and II. Scott Russell
served for the veterans, and the proceeds
! of the entertainment were devoted to the
relief fund of the Light Brigade Survivors
! Lord Tredegar-the Capt Godfrey Nor
/ gan who found himself in command of the
| Seventeenth LancerS at Balaklava when
all his senior officers were either killed or
wounded in the famous charge of the Light
| Brigade-has described what he did and
saw on that memorable day.
| My first recollection on the eVentful
morning of Oct %. 1854, was turning out be-
fore dawn very cold and uncomfortable, but
soon after forming up in front of our camp
unusual movements were observed in the
| redoubts held by the Turks on the rising
! ground on our left front, and 1t was not
long before we felt that something out OF
| the common was going to happen on that
/ side of Balaklava. We had not long to
wait, as we saw shots striking the redoubts
from an invisible enemy the other side
of the hill. Soon after this the lances of
the Cossacks or other Russian cavalry APP
peared over the brow surrounding the re-
| doubts, out of which the Turks came run
ming leaving them in the possession of the
russians. l then saw the Highlanders
forming into line in front of Balaklava,
1
tackled, but they stood their ground and the
Russians did not get very near. AT the
| same time large body of Russian cavalry
| came down the hill at the charge, and the
| heavy cavalry brigade formed at once in
| line and advanced to meet them. 1t was a
| curious sight They had hardly time to get
up a trot when they met the Russians com
| ing down hill. There was kind of shock
as they met and then the heavens appeared
| through them A hand-to-hand fight con-
tinued, and then the Russians turned and
| galloped back.
AT that moment Captain Morris. who
was in comand of the Seventeenth Lancers,
| said, or shouted: Now is our chance! and
then he suggested, 1 think to Lord Cardi-
| gan, our chief, who was just in front of us,
| that we ought to follow up the success
and complete the rout.' He was told it was
not his business, or words TO that effect
| teenth and said: The Seventeenth shall do
1t themselves. Seventeenth Lancers, ad-
vance? We advanced about a hundred
yards when Lord Cardigan galloped up and
ordered us back into line. We were shortly
| afterwards moved up over the hill and
formed up at the head of the valley. When
we got there we saw the army. which we
| afterwards knew was that of LiprandPs
masses, at the head of the valley and on
| it's hills to right and left. Some of them
were at the redoubts vacated by the Turks
| About IL o'clock order came to Lord
Lucan to prevent the enemy carrying off
the guns. While standing in position 1 re-
| marked to poor Webb. We are in range
of them now from that battery on our left ;
At that moment we were ordered to adj
vance, and a puff of smoke from the battery
alluded to told me that the Russians
| thought as l did
hundred yards in front of US. The next one
| dropped in front of Nolan's horse and ex-
ploded on touching the ground. He uttered
| a wild yell as his horse turned round and,
| With his arms extended the reins dropped
| on the animals neck, he trotted toward us,
but in few yards dropped dead off his
| horse. / do not imagine that anybody ex-
| cept those in the front line of the Seven
teenth I1ancers (Thirteenth Light Dragoons)
| When we got about two or three hundred
| yards the battery of the Russian Horse Ar
| tillery opened fire. / do not recollect hear
| ing word from anybody as we gradually
| broke from a trOt to canter, though the
| noise of the striking of men and horses by
| grape and round shot was deafenng while
the dust and gravel struck up by the round
| shot that fell short was almost binding
| and irritated my horse so that 1 could
scarcely hold him at all. But as we came
nearer l could see plainly enough, especially
when was about one hundred yards from
the guns. appeared to be riding straight
on to the muzzle of one of the guns, and
distinctly saw the gunner apply his fuse,
/ shut my eyes then, for / Thought that
settled the question as far as / was con-
cerned. But the shot just missed me and
struck a man on my right full in the chest
In another minute l was on the gun and
supposed. with pistol by somebody on my
right, fell across my horse, dragging it over
with him and pinning me in between the
| gun and himself A Russian gunner on foot
| at once covered me with his carbine. He
was just within reach of my sword and
| struck him across his neck. The blow did
not do much harm but it disconnected his
| aim AT the same time mounted gunner
| struck my horse on the forehead with his
| saber. Squirting Sir Briggs he half
| jumped half blundered over the fallen
horses and then, for a short time, bolted
| with me. / only remember finding myself
| alone among the Russians, trying to get
| out as best could. This, by some chance,
| did, in spite of the attempts of the Rus
| slams to cut me down.
When clear again of the guns saw two
or three of my men making their way back
and as the fire from both TANKS was still
heavy 1t was matter of running the
gauntlet again. | have not sufficient recol-
lection of minor incidents to describe them
as probably no two men who were in the
charge would describe it in the same way
When / was back pretty nearly where we
started from l found that / was the senior
officer OF those not wounded and conse-
quently, in command, there being two
others, both juniors to me, in the same po-
stion--Lieutenant Wombwel and Cornet
Cleveland (afterward killed at Inkerman)
We remained formed up until evening
when, as the enemy made no further at
tempt to, advance, we returned to our tents
not very far off.
VnfOnism and Churches.