Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-02-28
WHO Numbered AT
B~AtACLAvA?

Forward. the light brigadc,"
Was there u man dismay'd.

the light brigade"
was there u man dismay'd,
No, tho the soldier knew
some one had blundercd."
The question as to who Numbered at
R~aiaclava has been "a much mootcd one
for more than half ~ century. The
marvellous charge of the noble 600" in
the famous battle of the Crimea has
always been cherished by Englishlnen
with peculiar pride. Ii is true thai
the great event, the great central
episode of the battle of Balaclava, was
Il blunder. a gigantic mistake, and that
through 1t many brave men lost their
lives. but their splendid courage was
not sacrificed i'm vain. and this charge
VIII alWayS rank AS among the finest
of warlike achievements.
Readers are generally familiar with
the story of how Lord Cardigan and
his gallant lporsemen ga1loped straight
into the jaws OF death" The brigade
went into action AS fine Il body of light
cavalry as the world had ever seen.
The remnan rode back by twos and
three, stricken and shattered. They
carried the commands given
hut upon whose shoulders is To be
placed the responsibility of the
slaughter? The battle 1nad been raging
for Il considerable time and the Eng
lisii were gaining steady Roadway.
LvIN SdIuiSilH ana HIS bUU were IN
active on Il height within sight of the
battle. but were told to remain there rs
4 reserve until required. But Captain
Notan finally passed the order as de-
livcred To him that Lord Raglan had
ordered that the cavalry should attack
immediately.
The terrible mistake was now set
going and the mischief speedily in
creased. Lord Lucan having miscon-
strued the orders delivered to Captain
Nolan, and declining to- exercise his
own Judgment i'm correcting them, rode
over to where ord Cardigan sat at tile
head of the light brigade, and told
him to advance down the valley. Lord
Cardigan did not actually demur.
Certainly" he said, but allow me to
POINT out that there is Il battery in
front of us and guns and riiiemen on
either Hank
II know it," replied Lord Lucan:
hut Lord Raglan N>will have it. We
have no choice but to obey Was
Lord Lucan piqued at something
Lord Raglan had done to him that he
was bent on stubbornly obeying an
order which upon the face of it he must
nave felt he had misunderstood: III
such is the case he was guilty Of "a
terrible crime.
But Lord Cardigan was soldier
enough to obey any order HI received
from a superior officer. without hest
tation he before the l.t and
quietly turning around. cried out: The
brigade will advance, He was going.
and all that rode with him. to almost
certain destruction. With Lord Car
diEan at the head of the brigade
mounted on /; thoroughbred chestnut
horse. the gallop began into the Valley
of Death.
II was the order and had to be
obeyed. Captain Nolan saw that the
order a beer misunderstood, hut il
was too late. The cavalry lines adj
Ivanced rapidly and in u few moment
nad entered the o of fire. Tn air
was ftlled with the rush OF shot, the
bursting of shells and the rain of bull
let's, while amidst the Internal din the
of destruction went on and men
and horses were incessantly dashed TO,
Ine ground. The struggle finally be-
came a hand to hand n between the
many and n struggling. undaunted
few, unit the latter had almost ,neltad
away.
Lord Raglan was cut to the heart by
the loss of his cavalry light brigade.
Me reproved Lord Cardigan angrily.
The cavalry commander hung his head
AZ he replied:
Il WAS obeying orders" The French
general. l3OsQuct. who saw it from first
70 last, said 1t was magnificent. but
tnat II was not war. Who was re-
sp0nStble: England never seriously in
CURED. She u too proud OF the
Kiory sWOn for British bravery by that
charge.
AA a !. AMA -.