Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/114

 92 THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. CHAP. The embarrassment of determining whether he L ' will direct, or whether he will lead, is one which iikmma S : vei 7 commonly besets the mind of a cavalry- general who commands several regiments just about to engage in a conflict with powerful ad- versaries ; but it pressed upon Scarlett with a somewhat unusual severity ; for he had no time to be delegating authority, or giving effective in- structions for the guidance of his supports; and, in one point of view, it might be bold to take it for granted that a general in command of several squadrons could be warranted in leaving a large proportion of them to come into the fight their own way ; but then, on the other hand, our troops were young, were new to battle ; and, it being determined that a very scant number of them were to be led on — and that, too, uphill — against a vast mass of cavalry which reckoned itself by thousands, there was ground for believing that they might need the example of a general officer, not for the purpose of mere encourage- ment, but in order to put them above all doubt and question in regard to their true path of duty. In such a dilemma, shall a man be the Leader or the General ? He cannot be both. Shall he strive to retain the control over all his troops, as does an infantry General sending orders this way and that ? Or rather, for the sake of leading his first line, shall he abandon for the moment his direct authority over the rest, and content him- self with that primitive act of generalship which