BATTLE OF BALAKLAVA

Waipawa Mail, Volume LI, Issue 38, 13 December 1929, Page 1 (Supplement)

BATTLE OF BALAKLAVA

IMMORTALISED FOREVER TWO FAMOUS CHARGES October 25 lust was the seventy-fifth anniversary of the battle of Balaklava a battle which, v hen other incidents in the Crimean War have been forgotten, will be ever memorable for two gallant charges of English cavalry upon the Russian batteries, writes A.J.iL, in the Melbourne “Age.” Not only have these episodes been strikingly recorded in history; they have also been i. Miiortnlised in liter:!-, tit re by Tennyson, one of our great ost poets, in two of the most sf'Ting poems in the language. H iving taken Hal klava, a harboui to the south of Sebastapol, the allies had established a depot of connnuniw h■ he upp'\ shi{>s. Dei iiiji g to dislodge tin* British from this position. the Russian'commander directed • roups to attack certain Turkish re 'louids, then to assault Balaklava itself. Tin* British heavy brigade was mdered to intercept the Russians. This small body of horsemen charged with such determined force that they— Stagger M the mass from without. Drum- it in wild disarray. Ciory lo each and to all, and the charge that they made! 'rimy to all the three hundred and all the Brigade! AM hough I his charge was not without effect, the Russians had captured Hie Turkish redoubts, and were in the let of removing the cannon from them. Order Misunderstood.

It occurred to Lord Raglan, the British general, observing from a hill overlooking the plain, that a welltimed attack wotid prevent the liltsdons from achieving their object. He dietofore sent dowi: a young officer., Lieutenant Nolan, with orders that the Light Brigade should attack a once und save the guns. Evidently his oriels were not clearly expressed; certainly they were misunderstood. Lord Cardigan, in charge of the brigade, was bewildered. “Attack? Attack what? Where are In* guns ! n he cried. “There, my lord, are the Russians; here are your guns.’’ replied Nolan, pointing to the line of Russians on the

Lord Cardigan therefore gathered that tin* brigade was to charge a bat G*ry of artillery stationed right in the ‘he command accordingly. Every man in the brigade knew, as lid Lord Cardigan, that some terrible mistake had been made. No cavalary had ever in military history been set •mch an impossible task. It, was necessary to cross a mile and a half of open plain under deadly fire. “The brigade will advance,” eoninanded Lord Cardigan. The Dreadful Blunder.

Bo remarkable was the discipline 'hat the troops, amazed as they must, have been, moved forward as o. e man. It was— Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason wiiv, Their:;'but to do and die; Into the valley of death Rode the six hundred. Too lute Lieutenant Nolan dashed across the front of the galloping horsemen to warn them of the dreadful blum* r. hi the tumult, his words could not be heard, and in another moment he himself was shot down; so Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred. In spite of u devastating cross-fire :li<* brigade dashed towards the Russian battery, and cut down many of the gunners. Then, “all that was left of them”—-only one hundred and ninety out of six hundred and sev mi--made their way back through the ‘‘louds of smoke, across the field of dead and dying men and horses. It was a great charge, blit useless. In the immortal words of Bosanquct, the French general: “It is magnificent, but it is not war. ” Nevertheless it showed the Russians the lengths to which British troops won I d go. and it added immensely to British prestige, not only in Europe, but throughout the whole world. While we deplore the blunder and the - iciilice it> entailed, we cannot re •all the incident without a real glow of racial pride.