THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. 261 assailants by a sufficing movement of retreat, and chap. this he accordingly did ; but before he had gal- ___ loped far back, and whilst still on the Eussian side of the battery, he found that he already had extricated himself from personal molestation, and had leisure to determine what next he would do. Being now on the verge of that period in the the devotion battle when Lord Cardigan's course of action be- he had been , , , „ ,. , leading his came such as to leave room lor question and con- brigade. Lroversy, if not for unsparing blame, I would here interpose, and say that, home down to the mo- ment when he found himself almost alone in the presence of the enemy's cavalry, he had pursued his desperate task with a rare, and most valorous persistency. And English officers, I know, will take pleasure in learning that, from the moment when he quietly said, ' The brigade will advance,' to the one when, nearly alone in the presence of the enemy's cavalry, he stiffly awaited his assail- ants with his sword at the slope, Lord Cardigan performed this historic act of devotion without word or gesture indicative of bravado or excite- ment, but rather with the air of a man who was performing an everyday duty with his everyday courage and firmness.*
- During the advance down the valley, Captain Morris, who
could not have heen under a bias favourable to the commander of the brigade (see ante, p. 228), was on the left rear of Lord Cardigan, and at no great distance from him. When asked as to the manner in which Lord Cardigan had led the brigade, Morris used to say, ' Nothing could be better. He [Lord Car- 1 digan] put himself just where he ought, about in front of my ' right squadron, and went down in capital style.' When specially asked whether Lord Cardigan had led 'quietly.'
