The Irish standard., 1898-01-29

keeps such close hold on Ireland. She
knows we'll if she loses the Irish she
loses the best of her army; and she will
never part with the old sod.
"By the time we were formed it was
a little after o'clock, think. We were
led around the hill and told to draw our
sabers and charge. We had carbines, Of
course, and horse pistols, but we relied
as q main thing on the sword. The Co.'S
sacks had their carbines, and they used
them first, afterward taking to their
sabers. We didn't charge any cannon.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered.
was all in the poets mind. And he
didn't say charge on the guns either,
because it was the Russian horse we
were charging-and about all of them
there was. So over the hard snow we
galloped like a shot into the heart of the
Cossacks.
II don't remember much of what hap
pened then. know that they fired at us
from both f1anks as we'll as from in front,
and almost everybody got hit. Then the
Cossacks surrounded us and commenced
fighting with their sabers. We hadn't
more than got into it when the trumpet
cbugle' you call it) sounded the retreat.
We turned around then and cut our Way
n1,f oh %1,oJ
we got out. They followed lis till We
got close to our lines, where the Fifty
fifth infantry and the artillery protected
what there was left of us. We weren't
in more than fifteen minutes, guess, but
only 236 of us came out alive, and that
few was scattered about in the hospitals
for months afterwards.
II got cut all over with sabers. Two
Of the worst slashes were across my
bride hand, and you can see them now.
A bullet grazed my shin bone and left a
scar too, though at the time I didn't
know 1 was hit. The same ball went
ahead and broke my mares hip. I got
her out with me, though; norman who
was dismounted ever came alive out Of
that hell. But my poor horse had to be
shot that night, and when they told mo
in the hospital cried. She was pretty
creature.
'But the worst I got was piece Of
wadding or dirt of some kind in my eve,
The doctors at the hospital had to take
| the eyeball out of the socket and scrape
1T, and it's little twisted ever since, I
was in the Scutaria Hospital for three
weeks, and o, man! but it was cold. We
were just kept in cots under tents, and
! were hungry and thirsty, too. That was
an awful winter.
after that the principal business of
our troops was to escort the nurses and
| Baggage wagons while we were moving
about the country. I saw the battle of
1nkerman, but the cavalry didn't fight.
Then we were at the siege of Sebastopol,
and spent six long months while the
| royal engineers undermined the fortress
, es. and blew the Russians up in the air.
When 1t finally capitulated we reversed
the transports again.
'Let ME tell you, it was the Irish that
beat the Russians. Every time we met
them, except in the one little charge at
Balalllava, we won, and the French VIC
tories We're principally due to Marshal
MacMahon. If ever England has to fight
Russia in the years to come she better
put her Irish troops in 'front.'
1--WE went back to England after nv
first and last campaign. We were
stationed in Newbridge Barracks in Kil-
| dare, Ireland. We cut pretty big
figure then. We all had lashins' of good
| English gold in our pockets, because you
! couldn't spend anything in Russia, and
the girls all thought we were just the
right sort. I was married then, and my
wife is still alive here in Chicago. l
have grandchildren here, too.
II left the army just before was mar
ried, but spent four years in Ireland,
getting the military cut out of my hair
and the print of the stock out of my neck.
In 1860, the 18th of March, l landed in
New York city with my wife. Before
the day was done went to work for the
Adams Express, at SO Broadway. NV
trade is carpenter and wheelwright, at
| was Weighmaster for the company. l
was with them until 1893 continuously,
the last part of the time in Chicago"
Is Lord Tennyson's story of the charga
of the Light Brigade correct or was 1t a
case of somebody blundered?" Was
there ever a Light Brigade, in the first
place, or was it simply body of light
horse, picked from several regiments ?
Did this body Of horse storm battery
or did it charge the Russian cavalry
Was the devoted band surrounded by
(, cannon and "stormed at by shot and
SHELF or was it the Cossacks who did
the surrounding, and just shot alone
used? Did they "saiber the gunrers
there?' or were there no gunners to sa-
ber?' "Thundered" rhymes with "hun-
dred' and is it not possible that the ex-
gencies of poetical version compelled the
great laureate to add the cannons and
their thunder on account Of the mechani-