Blair of Balaclava

A HERO OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
BY
ESCOTT LYNN
Author of ‘When Lion Heart was King,’ ‘Under the Red Rose,’
‘With Robin Hood in Sherwood,’ &c.
WITH SIX COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS
by
W. H. C. Groome
LONDON: 38 Soho Square, W.
W & R. CHAMBERS, LIMITED
EDINBURGH: 339 Hight Street
Edinburgh:
Printed by W. & R. Chambers, Limited.
TO MY BROTHER FRED
AND THE OFFICERS
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN
OF THE ‘DEATH OR GLORY’ BOYS

PREFACE.

Inkermann has been called ‘The Soldiers’ Battle.’ With equal truth the whole Crimean campaign might be called ‘The Soldiers’ War.’ It was the vindication of the regimental officer and the rank and file; it showed to the world the ineptitude of the general staff as it existed at that day. Those entrusted with the conduct of the campaign were mostly old men long past the age when brilliant service in the field could be expected of them. Some had seen war-service in the Peninsula forty years before, the interim being spent doing office-work at the Horse Guards; many had never heard a shot fired in anger in their lives, their services being confined to Hyde Park or the Curragh Camp. Family or political influence procured them their appointments, while younger men who had already rendered splendid war-service in the East were either passed over, snubbed, or relegated to subordinate positions.

The miseries of Varna, the unparalleled sufferings of the troops before Sebastopol, and the awful blunder of Balaclava give testimony to the unwisdom of the selections.

During the long peace since Waterloo the army had grown unpopular. It had been neglected. Even the Duke of Wellington was averse to making any military display for fear that what army there was should be further reduced.

The force which left England for the East was one of the worst equipped and most badly organised that ever left our shores. On the contrary, the men of which it was composed were the finest. They were all long-service men, of grand physique and of an unrivalled spirit.

Before the Crimean war a red coat was looked on with disdain; after the war the wearer was hailed as a friend. He had proved that he was a worthy descendant of the heroes of the Peninsula, that he could perform as gallant deeds on the blood-stained slopes of the Alma or in the valley of Balaclava as had his forebears at Waterloo, that he could die of disease and starvation as uncomplainingly before Sebastopol as did his predecessors in Spain or Portugal.

In the following pages the author has endeavoured to pay a small tribute to the heroism of the rank and file, and to show how they won for themselves in the hearts of the British public the warm place they have ever since occupied.

The survivors of the Crimean war are, alas! growing yearly fewer; but the author desires to acknowledge with thankfulness much information he has gained from the veterans he has had the opportunity of knowing, amongst whom he wishes specially to mention Sergeant James Mustard, of the 17th Lancers, a survivor of the immortal charge, and happily still alive.

He also wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to the fascinating pages of Kinglake’s Invasion of the Crimea and Russell’s British Expedition to the Crimea. Stirling’s Highland Brigade in the Crimea, and Steven’s Connaught Rangers have also been advantageously consulted.

ESCOTT LYNN.

London, 1911.

FOREWORD.
BY A SURVIVOR OF THE CHARGE OF
THE LIGHT BRIGADE.

It is many a long year now since the misty October morning when with my regiment, the 17th Lancers, I rode up that fatal valley where so many of my gallant comrades fell. Yet, as I read Mr Lynn’s description of the charge, I seemed to see and hear it all again: my comrades’ faces grim and set, the fine figure of Lord Cardigan leading us, poor Captain Nolan wildly trying to direct us out of the course we were following, the rattle of rifle-fire, the crash of the shells, the blazing of the guns all round us, the constant gaps in the ranks as man and horse went down, the ever-increasing speed till we were in amongst the Russian gunners and avenging those who had fallen.

I shivered again when I read of the awful storm of November and of the miseries of the road to Balaclava. My heart beat with pride at the tale of Inkermann, so well is the story told.

Many of the characters in the story I recognise—Jack Blair, Sergeant Barrymore, Sergeant Linham, Captain Norreys, Pearson, Brandon, and so on. I knew them under different names in the old regiment, but they were the same men.

If any boy is interested in what we did, what we suffered, and what part in the Crimean war my regiment played, let him read Blair of Balaclava. As a survivor of the Light Brigade I can truly say that had Mr Lynn soldiered with me and ridden by my side in the charge he could not have given a truer account of our doings in the Crimea in 1854 and 1855.

(Signed) James Mustard,
late 17th Lancers.

Sergeant James Mustard, the writer of the fore-going letter, was born in St James’s, Piccadilly, on January 13th, 1829.

Coming of a family of soldiers, a love for the profession of arms was born in him, and he joined the 3rd Light Dragoons, in London, on May 1st, 1850. Two years later he transferred, at Canterbury, to the 17th Lancers.

He went out to the East with his regiment in April 1854, was present at the affair of the Bulganak and the battle of the Alma. He rode in the front rank of the ‘Immortal Six Hundred,’ going down the valley immediately behind Lord Cardigan and his orderly trumpeter, Brittain of the 17th Lancers, who died of his wounds received in the charge. He reached the guns in safety, and, after using his lance with good effect against the Russian gunners and the cavalry formed behind them, started, with a little group of his own regiment and the 8th Hussars, on the return ride. He had a personal encounter with a Polish Lancer, whom he worsted; then continuing on his way, went to the assistance of Trumpeter Landfried of the 17th, who came safely out of the fray.

Sergeant Mustard had received a severe wound; but owing to the intense excitement became aware of the fact only by accident. To describe this event the writer quotes the sergeant’s own words: ‘We were coming back along the valley when a chum of the 13th Light Dragoons, named Hetridge, rode up to me. “Jim,” he said, “lend me your sword, for I’ve lost mine in the fight.” I still held my lance, though the shaft had been chipped by a bullet. I turned to draw my sword to hand it to Hetridge, when, to my amazement, I found I had neither sword, scabbard, nor belt. A canister-shot had caught me on the left hip, and cut away sword, belt, overalls, and pants, and laid bare a great red patch of bleeding flesh. Another inch would have smashed my hip and killed me.’

After lying all night on the ground, and helping to shift camp twice, Sergeant Mustard was next day sent to Scutari hospital, where he spent the next four months.

He served till the end of the war; and, returning with his regiment, was stationed in Ireland till the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny. Going to India, he served in Sir William Gordon’s squadron in the pursuit and capture of Tantia Topee. He was again wounded, and had his horse shot under him. Among his officers at that date were Lieut.-General Sir D. C. Drury Lowe, G.C.B., and Field-Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood, V.C., G.C.B., both then regimental officers in the 17th Lancers.

Sergeant Mustard, after being master-tailor of his regiment, retired from the service in 1865, being the possessor of the Crimean medal with three clasps, the Turkish medal, and the Indian Mutiny medal with one clasp.

The old veteran is still hale and hearty, though the only survivor of the rank and file of his regiment who rode in the charge. The kindly face and upright, soldierly figure, with the glittering medals on his breast, are well known in the suburb where he has lived, greatly respected, ever since he left the service.

His grandfather and two uncles fought at Waterloo in the 71st Light Infantry, and two of his brothers served for many years in the 22nd Regiment.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER		PAGE
[I.]	[A SCRIMMAGE IN THE OFFICE ]	[1]
[II.]	[ROBBERS ON THE HIGHWAY]	[11]
[III.]	[THE ‘DEATH OR GLORY BOYS’]	[18]
[IV.]	[JACK BECOMES A LANCER]	[23]
[V.]	[A BARRACK-ROOM SQUABBLE]	[30]
[VI.]	[JACK MAKES A RESOLVE]	[38]
[VII.]	[SERGEANT LINHAM INSTRUCTS]	[43]
[VIII.]	[BANDSMAN NAPPER IS TAUGHT A LESSON]	[55]
[IX.]	[JACK MAKES GOOD PROGRESS]	[60]
[X.]	[THE REVIEW]	[71]
[XI.]	[JACK RECEIVES VISITORS]	[76]
[XII.]	[THE ROUTE ARRIVES]	[81]
[XIII.]	[EASTWARD HO!]	[85]
[XIV.]	[AN ADVENTURE AT VARNA AND ITS SEQUEL]	[92]
[XV.]	[JACK MEETS AN OLD FRIEND]	[99]
[XVI.]	[AN ADVENTURE IN BULGARIA]	[106]
[XVII.]	[NAPPER PLAYS HIS LAST CARD]	[111]
[XVIII.]	[A WELCOME MOVE]	[116]
[XIX.]	[THE FIRST BRUSH WITH THE ENEMY]	[120]
[XX.]	[CAUGHT IN A TRAP]	[127]
[XXI.]	[SERGEANT LINHAM TAKES COMMAND]	[137]
[XXII.]	[A BRILLIANT LITTLE AFFAIR]	[144]
[XXIII.]	[JACK SHOWS HIS METTLE]	[151]
[XXIV.]	[THE PASSAGE OF THE ALMA]	[164]
[XXV.]	[THE WINNING OF THE HEIGHTS]	[175]
[XXVI.]	[JACK RECEIVES HIS FIRST STEP]	[186]
[XXVII.]	[LARRY AND JACK MAKE A DISCOVERY]	[191]
[XXVIII.]	[LARRY WINS DISTINCTION]	[198]
[XXIX.]	[THE BEGINNING OF THE SIEGE]	[204]
[XXX.]	[A NIGHT ON VEDETTE DUTY]	[212]
[XXXI.]	[‘THE THIN RED LINE’]	[216]
[XXXII.]	[WELL DONE, HEAVIES!]	[224]
[XXXIII.]	[‘INTO THE JAWS OF HELL’]	[233]
[XXXIV.]	[A NIGHT ON THE BATTLEFIELD]	[253]
[XXXV.]	[THE CAVES OF INKERMANN]	[267]
[XXXVI.]	[‘THE SOLDIERS’ BATTLE’]	[277]
[XXXVII.]	[MISERIES ACCUMULATE]	[294]
[XXXVIII.]	[WAR IN GRIM EARNEST]	[302]
[XXXIX.]	[IN THE HANDS OF THE COSSACKS]	[308]
[XL.]	[A FRIEND IN NEED]	[314]
[XLI.]	[THE CHÂTEAU PAULOFF]	[322]
[XLII.]	[TREACHERY AT WORK]	[333]
[XLIII.]	[A DREARY MARCH]	[339]
[XLIV.]	[THE RESCUE]	[346]
[XLV.]	[THE BATTLE OF THE TCHERNAYA]	[361]
[XLVI.]	[THE STORMING OF THE REDAN]	[367]
[XLVII.]	[HOMEWARD BOUND]	[374]
[XLVIII.]	[‘FOR VALOUR!’]	[387]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

	PAGE
[Jack jerked out a note or two as they literally raced along]	[Frontispiece]
[Dragged the little boy right from under the iron-shod hoofs]	[74]
[Pearson caught the cowardly Russian just between the shoulder-blades]	[162]
[‘Howly Moses, look there to yer left!’ cried Larry]	[194]
[Jack having as much as he could do to keep up with his brutal captors]	[313]
[The two heroes were seized, seated shoulder high]	[360]

BOOKS BY G. MANVILLE FENN.