Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/315

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THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. 293 shattered his leg, and he was disabled for life.* chap. So also was Captain George CanipbelL Captain Elmsall and Lieutenant Hartopp were, both of them, wounded severely ; and Lieutenant Eobert- son had a horse shot under him. Lord Lucan had come to the conclusion that The Heavy 1 the only use to which the Heavy Brigade could halted on ' be turned was to protect the Light Cavalry chosen by • • • i • iii-ii Lord Lucan. against pursuit in their return ; and he judged that for that service the position to which he had now brought back the Heavy Dragoons was sufficiently advanced. There, accordingly, the brigade remained halted. Lord Lucan being present in person, General General Scarlett had no authority to determine upon the colonel extent to which his brigade should be ventured in supporting the advance of the Light Cavalry ; and at the time when the Heavy Dragoons re- ceived their first order to retreat, he was still un- aware of the decision which had produced this result. Yielding to a natural eagerness, he had ridden forward some sixty yards in advance of his brigade ; and I imagine that he and Colonel Beatson (the aide-de-camp then at his side) must have been the last of those acting with the Heavy

  • In support of Lord Lucan's impression respecting the part

taken by the Royals in the Heavy Cavalry charge the alleged acquiescence of Colonel Yorke in words addressed to him by Lord Lucan will probably be insisted upon. If that should happen, it will be well to remember that the shattering and terrible wound above mentioned long made it impossible for Colonel Yorke to undertake any such task as that of remon- strating against Lord Lucan's words.