Our two cavalry brigades had been manoeuvring so as to threaten the flank of any force which might approach Balaklava, without committing themselves to an action in which they would have been without the support of infantry. The Light Brigade, numbering 670 sabres, was at this moment on the side of the ridge looking to the Tchernaya ; the Heavy Brigade, say 900 sabres, on the side towards Balaklava.* Its commander, General Scarlett, was at that moment leading three of his regiments (Greys, Inniskillings, 5th Dragoon Guards) through their camping ground into the plain; a fourth, the Royals, was for the moment behind, at no great distance, while the 4th Dragoon Guards was
Charge of the Heavy Brigade. 1 13
moving at the moment in the direction of the Light Brigade. Having witnessed the hasty retreat of the Turks, the many spectators on the Upland, consisting of the French stationed on it, and the English marching along it, next saw a great body of Russian cavalry ascend the ridge. Scarlett, unwarned till then, wheeled the Greys and half the Inniskillings into line ; the 5th Dragoon Guards and the other squadron of the Inniskillings were in echelon behind the flanks ; the Royals, galloping up, formed in extension of the 5th. The Russians, after a momentary halt, leaving the Light Brigade unnoticed, perhaps unseen, on their right, swept down in a huge column on the Heavy Brigade, and at the moment of collision threw out bodies in line on each flank; the batteries which accompanied them darting out and throwing shells, all of which burst short, against the troops on the Upland. Just then three heavy guns, manned by Turkish men and officers, in an earthwork on the edge of the Upland, were fired in succession on the Russian cavalry, and those troops nearest on the flank of the column losing some men and horses by the first shot, wavered, halted, and galloped back. At the same moment the mass slackened its pace as it drew near, while our men, embarrasssd at first by the picket lines of their camp, as soon as they cleared them, charged in succession. All who had the good fortune to look down from the heights on that brilliant spectacle must carry with them through life a vivid remembrance of it. The plain and surrounding hills, all clad in sober green, formed an excellent background for the colours
i 1 4 Riissian Cavalry defeated.
of the opposing masses ; the dark grey Russian column sweeping down in multitudinous superiority of number on the red-clad squadrons that, hindered by the obstacles of the ground in which they were moving, advanced slowly to meet them. There was a clash and fusion, as of wave meeting wave, when the head of the column encountered the leading squadrons of our brigade, all those engaged being resolved into a crowd of individual horsemen, whose swords rose, and fell, and glanced ; so for a minute or two they fought, the impetus of the enemy's column carrying it on, and pressing our combatants back for a short space, till the 4th Dragoon Guards, coming clear of the wall of a vineyard which was between them and the enemy, and wheeling to the right by squadrons, charged the Russian flank, while the remaining regiments of our brigade went in in support of those which had first attacked. Then — almost as it seemed in a moment, and simultaneously — the whole Russian mass gave way, and fled, at speed and in disorder, beyond the hill, vanishing behind the slope some four or five minutes after they had first swept over it.
While this was going on, four of the enemy's squadrons, wheeling somewhat to their left, made a rush for the entrance of the harbour. The 93d were lying down behind a slope there ; as the cavalry approached, they rose, fired a volley, and stood to receive the charge so firmly that the horsemen fled back with the rest of the column.
All this had passed under the observation of Lord Raglan. He does not seem to have made any comment on
The Orders to the Light Brigade. i i 5