Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/31

THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. 9 field, he bad so yielded to his unfortunate habit chap. of adverse criticism as to be more often fretted than animated by the orders which came down from Headquarters; and, on the other hand, he had under him a general officer commanding one of his brigades, who was rather a busy antagonist than a zealous and devoted lieutenant. It must be remembered, moreover, that the control of a large body of cavalry in action carries with it one peculiar source of embarrassment. If the general commanding leads a charge in person (as Murat was accustomed to do), he loses, of course, for a time his power of personally directing the troops not included in his first line, and so abdicates during the interval one of his principal functions as a general. If, on the other hand, he clings to his power as a general, and declines to narrow his authority during several critical minutes by taking the part of a leader, he must be content to forego a large share of the glory which attaches to cavalry achievements. He may deserve and attain the high credit of seizing the happiest moments for successively launching his squadrons ; but in combats of horse, the task of actually leading an attack is plainly so momentous a business that it would be diffi- cult for any man coming new to field service to build up any lofty repute as a general of cavalry, by ordering other people to charge. Therefore, for general as well as for special rea- sons, Lord Lucan's command was one of an em- barrassing kind ; but despite the inherent dim-