Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/45

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THE FLANK MARCH. 15 cavalry :* aiul the oflicers wlioiii lie cliar'^ed with chap, .II this mission glided swiftly away ; hut he himself L_ and the rest of his Staff slowly moved down the lane a few paces, then halted, and remained very still.f Before the orders for biinging up the cavalry An interval could produce their effect, some minutes must needs pass, and during this little interval the English Commander and his Staff, as well as Maude's artillery, could not but he much at the mercy of the enemy. Yet those of the Paissians who were so placed as to be able to descry Lord Ilaglan through the foliage would never have been able to infer from the sight that he or his Staff were people who supposed themselves to be placed in any kind of jeopardy. Eather they would have been led to imagine, from what they saw, that the English General had just effected a surprise designed beforehand, and was inspect- ing the progress of an attack now about to be made on themselves. Deceived by the evident tranquillity of Lord

  • He dispatclieil, I tliiiik, two officers, of whom one, I sup-

pose, may have been ordered to fetch the troop inuler Captain Chetwode which were on duty as Lord Raglan's escort, wliilst the other was probably directed to endeavour to find Lord Luoan and the main body of the cavaliy. According to the impression I formed at the time — and I believe I heard his words — he sent for any cavali-y that could be found. + I have seen it somewhere stated that Lord Raglan and hia Staff came galloping back in haste. If they had done so, they would probably have brought destruction upon themselves. Neither Lord Raglan nor any of his Staff (except the officers sent to fetch the cavalry) moved out of a walk.