Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/193

 THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. 171 palliation shall be established, it must be judged chai that Lord Cardigan's abstention resulted from an honest failure of judgment, from an undue confid- ence in himself, and from an imperfect acquaint- ance with the business of war, but also from strong sense of duty — from that same sense of duty, remember, which was destined to be his guide in the hour then coming, and to carry him down the North Valley on a venturesome, nay desperate service. Still, the miscarriage of Lord Cardigan's endeavour to construe the order aright did actually result in the spectacle which we have just been witnessing ; and, it being apparent that the in- action to which he imagined himself condemned was calculated to be gravely injurious to the public service, it seems useful to inquire whether the mishap was one of those incidents of war which carry no lesson, or whether, on the con- trary, it can be traced to a malpractice on the part of the Home Government which might be avoided in future wars. The task of endeavouring to put a right con- Lord Lucan's version of his own words, they were such as, in the judgment of a peace-service man like Lord Cardigan, might not unnaturally appear to have a fettering tendency. Such phrases as 'placed here,' and ' defence of this position,' followed by the instruction to attack whatever might 'come within reach? were plainly dangerous. I know not on what ground Lord Lucan thought that Lord Raglan placed the cavalry where he did in order to charge it with the defence of this position. I have always understood that Lord Raglan's object in bringing in his cavalry under the steeps of the Chersonese was — not to defend any position, but — to have it in hand, and prevent it from becoming perniciously entangled in combats.