Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/425

APPENDIX. 403 we considered it our first duty to defend the approach to the town of Balaclava ; and as this defence would depend chiefly upon the cavalry, it was necessary to reserve them for this purpose. I therefore confined myself to cannonad- ing the enemy so long as my ammunition lasted, and to threatening demonstrations. We only left the neighbour- hood of the forts after they were already captured. My opinion was, that the advance upon Balaclava could only be assisted [qu. ' resisted '] by the cavalry on the plain, and I placed them in order of battle for that purpose until removed by Lord Raglan. The soundness of my opinion was established by the check and retreat of the enemy im- mediately on the repulse of their cavalry ; and be it ob- served that their cavalry were attacked and repulsed on the very site I had prepared to meet them. The circumstances under lohich it happened that the advance of the Russian Cavalry to the ground where it turned to engage our Heavy Dragoons was a surprise ? This advance of the Russian cavalry was no surprise, nor did I ever hear it so described. From the time that they descended into the valley they moved very slow, and should have been seen by General Scarlett when still one mile dis- tant. I saw them before they crowned the heights, and found time to travel over double the extent of ground, and to halt, form, and dress the attacking line before it had tra- versed more than half the breadth of the valley. The grounds on which it was thought necessary for the Heavy Brigade to desist from supporting the Light Brigade in its charge ? Be it remembered that I had carefully divided the Light Brigade into three lines, to expose as few men as possible in the first line, and that the first line should be efficiently supported. So soon as they hud moved off, I instructed