arge, the
charge of six hundred men against an army in position, with its flanks
defended by strong batteries on elevated positions, there was no
flinching. The gallant leader has told the author of this work that
various officers shouted, brandished their swords, and were excited;
that if any effort were required on the part of the commander, it was to
keep the men cool and the lines regular as they galloped forward to the
terrific encounter. The charge was made, how gallantly the whole world
admits. The wonder is that any escaped. Probably, hardly any would, had
not Colonel Sewell, at the head of the Royal Irish Hussars, thought of
the peril of the Russian cavalry wheeling from the flanks and blocking
up the way of return. He immediately turned his rear and found this
danger in actual existence. He charged the Russian cavalry, and, with
the aid of a handful of French horsemen, kept open the way for the
return of those who had dashed,

"With fetlock deep in blood,"

their fiery steeds through the lines of the enemy. The leader and a
portion of his gallant band escaped. It has been said of the Earl of
Cardigan that "he was the first in and the first out." This is simply
not true. He entered the Russian lines at the head of his men, and when
his brigade was broken in pieces upon the guns and lines of the enemy,
he, as a fragment of the shattered mass, like other fragments, turned
to re-form and act as duty then might dictate. He rode slowly from the
Russian lines under the fire of the enemy, and joined the rest of the
survivors, who received him with cheers. The Earl of Lucan, with the
heavy brigade, rendered the retreat of the light brigade possible. The
Russian cavalry swept down in masses, approaching the British infantry,
by whose fire they were deterred from charging. They approached the
cavalry camp; General Scarlett was ordered, with a portion of the
heavy brigade, to charge them. It was a gallant and glorious deed. Lord
Raglan, who witnessed it from the heights, declared, in his despatch,
that he had rarely seen such a splendid charge of cavalry, and that
it was so made as never for a moment to leave success in doubt. The
Russians retired to their positions and kept there, but the redoubts
were held by them. Had Lord Raglan advanced his infantry, an action of
a more general and scientific character would have ensued, and an
opportunity might have been made available for inflicting a defeat upon
the enemy w