Then on October 25th, 1854, in the Crimea, in South Russia, took place
two grand charges by the British cavalry-against the Russian cavalry.
One of these, the charge of the Light Brigade, every boy knows about,
but somehow the charge of the Heavy Brigade is not so much talked
about, although it was equally fine in its way.
I have been lucky, because I have served in two cavalry regiments, and
both of them were in these charges one, the 13th Hussars, was in the
Light Brigade, and the other, the 5th Dragoon Guards, was in the Heavy
Brigade.
I don't mean that I was in the charges, too-no; I wasn't born then!
But I am very proud to belong to two regiments that were there.
Hussar regiments are called light cavalry, because they used to have
small, light-weight men who could ride far and fast to scout the
enemy. Dragoons were heavy troopers on big, strong horses, who by
their weight and long swords could deliver an overwhelming charge upon
an enemy.
A Brigade consists of three regiments. Two Brigades make up a
Division. So the Cavalry Division in the Crimea was made up of a Light
Brigade and a Heavy Brigade.
On October 25th the Light Cavalry Brigade got the order to charge the
Russian artillery, which was supported by the infantry and cavalry.
It was a hopeless task. The order had really been given by mistake.
But that did not matter to men who were accustomed to obey. They
charged, and, though it cost them a great number of gallant lives,
they carried out their duty with such bravery and dash as to command
the highest praise even from their enemies, and they won for British
soldiers the name of being ready to sacrifice their lives to carry out
their orders, even though the job looked hopeless. That is why Scouts
to-day have as their motto the single word,
"BALACLAVA"
to remind them that if they get an order which it is a bore or even a
danger to perform, their duty is to do as their brave fathers did at
Balaclava, and carry it out cheerily and well.
Now I will tell you about the charge of the Heavy Brigade,
* * * * *
"THE THIN RED LINE."
You have often heard the British Army talked of as "the thin red
line." Well, it got that title at Balaclava. Four hundred men of the
93rd Highlanders and a battalion of Turks were posted to guard the
road leading to the harbour of Balaclava, when the Russians, some
twenty thousand strong, proceeded to attack them. The Turks didn't
like the look of things, so they turned tail and bolted but the brave
Sir Cohn Campbell, who was in command of the Highlanders, said to
them:
"My lads, remember there is no retreat from here. You must die where
you stand."
And the gallant fellows meant to do it if they had to die--but they
were not the sort to say die before they were dead They formed a
line--a "thin red line," as it was afterwards described--on a small
rising ground, and received the first charge of the Russian cavalry
with so well-aimed and deadly a fire, at close range, that it put the
others off charging for a while.
The British Commander-in-Chief, seeing their danger, sent a message to
the Heavy Brigade of cavalry, who were camped in the neighbourhood, to
go to their assistance.
The "Heavies" were already parading just outside their camp, when
suddenly there appeared over the rising ground, within half a mile of
them, the head of a big force of Russian cavalry quietly advancing
towards them. Rather a startling apparition when the squadrons were
all moving out of camp to form up on parade.
But the General--General Scarlett--did not lose his head or hesitate
for a moment.
The enemy were on the left flank of the squadrons as they were moving
out. He ordered them to wheel into line to the left, and, without the
usual first orders to "Trot" and then to "Gallop," he directed his
trumpeter to sound "Charge!" and he at once turned his horse towards
the enemy, and started, with his staff officer and orderly, at a
gallop to lead the attack.
"DO OR DIE."
The Brigade saw what was wanted. They did not wait to form into one
line--that operation would have taken time--but each squadron wheeled
up, and, closing in towards its neighbour, galloped forward to back up
the General in the charge.
The Scots Greys, in red tunics and bearskins, mounted on their grey
horses, were in the front line with some of the Irish Inniskilling
Dragoons, and close behind them came the 5th Dragoon Guards and the
1st Royal Dragoons, with their red tunics and shining helmets.
There were not more than three hundred of them altogether, while the
Russian column amounted to some twelve thousand. 'It looked as if the
British must be smashed up by such overwhelming odds.
[Illustration: This sketch map stows the positions of the British and
Russian Forces in the charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava.]
But the General knew that he must do his best to save "the thin red
line" from being overridden, and the men knew that they had got the
order to "charge," and it was their business to carry out the order,
and not to look at the danger in doing it. So they charged.
The Russians were not less astonished than the British had been;
instead of surprising the British, they were themselves surprised.
For a minute or two they hesitated. No officer gave any command, no
one knew quite what to do, and in another minute the bolt burst upon
them.
General Scarlett and his staff came--bang, _smash_!--right
through their front ranks, followed immediately by the crashing weight
of the Greys and the wildly cheering Inniskillings.
The shock of this charge rolled the foremost ranks of the Russians
down underfoot as it ploughed its way into the centre of the column,
and gave a sort of backward surge to the whole mass-for the Russian
force was simply a big, square mass of men and horses.
Our charge, being made by a very small body, only broke into the
central part of the Russian front, so the two flanks of their line
wheeled forward like two arms to enfold it. But just as they were in
the act of doing so they were caught by our second line of Royal
Dragoons, 5th Dragoon Guards and Inniskillings; and were rolled up and
ridden over in an awful confusion.
These heavy blows seemed to send the great Russian mass staggering
backwards, when at this critical moment two more squadrons of Heavies,
belonging to the 4th Dragoon Guards, suddenly plunged into the right
flank of the Russian column, and completed its break-up.
It reeled again, and in a few minutes more was gradually melting and
spreading over the hills behind in hurried flight from the
battlefield. And the thin red line was saved.
The whole fight had lasted only eight minutes, the British loss was
fifty killed and wounded, while the Russians lost about four hundred.
This battle, like Trafalgar and like many other British victories,
showed that, with good, plucky leaders, backed up by men _who can be
trusted to obey their orders,_ we could attack overwhelming forces
against us and come out victorious every time.
Without discipline it could never have been done.
* * * * *