BRITISH SOLDIERS IN CAMP.
"The commander of the French army justly remarked of this charge, 'C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre' ("It is magnificent, but it is not war"). Twelve thousand Russians had attacked the English with the intention of taking Balaklava and its port, but they were compelled to retire to the end of the valley. They had re-formed, with their artillery in front, and infantry and cavalry immediately behind. By the misunderstanding of the order of Lord Raglan, the British commander-in-chief, Lord Lucan, who commanded the cavalry division, ordered Lord Cardigan to charge with his light cavalry.
"In other words the light cavalry, six hundred and seventy strong, were to attack twelve thousand Russians with thirty cannon on their front. The charge was over a plain a mile and a half long, and the Russians had a battery of field artillery on each side of the valley within supporting distance of that at the end. Consequently there is an excellent description of the scene in Tennyson's lines,
"'Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them,
Volley'd and thunder'd.'
"The charge was made very reluctantly by Lord Cardigan, as you may well believe, but he had no alternative other than to obey the order of his superior. There was never a more brilliant charge. The column advanced at a trot for the first half of the distance, and afterwards at a gallop; the Russian cannon made huge gaps in the ranks, but they were closed up, and on and on swept the heroes, up to and beyond the Russian cannon—
"'Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke,
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not,
Not the six hundred.'
ALFRED TENNYSON.
"According to one authority, out of six hundred and seventy British horsemen that went to the charge, only one hundred and ninety-eight returned. Another authority gives the total loss in killed, wounded, and captured as four hundred and twenty-six. Five hundred and twenty horses were lost in the charge."