Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/255

 THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. 233 casualty did not end the part which Wombwell chap was destined to take in the battle ; but for the mo- ' ment, of course, it disabled him, and there was no longer any Staff-officer in the immediate personal following of the General who led the brigade. But although he rode singly, and although, as continued we have seen, he rigidly abstained from any retro- Lord car- grade glance, Lord Cardigan, of course, might infer Ms first une. from the tramp of the regiments close,:following, and from what (without turning in his saddle) he could easily see of their flanks, that the momen- tum now gathered and gathering was too strong to be moderated by a commander ; and, rightly per- haps, avoiding the effort to govern it by voice or by gesture, he either became impatient himself, and drew the troops on more and more by first increasing his own speed, or else yielded (under necessity) to the impatience of the now shattered squadrons, and closely adjusted his pace to the flow of the torrent behind him. In one way or in the other, a right distance was always maintained between the leader and his first line. As before, when advancing at a trot, so now, whilst flinging themselves impetuously deep into the jaws of an army, these two regiments of the first line still had in their front the same rigid hussar for their guide, still kept their eyes fastened on the crim- son-red overalls and the white near hind-leg of the chestnut which showed them the straight, honest way — the way down to the mouths of the guns.* up the leg. Both these ' white stockings ' were on the near
 * The chestnut had two 'white stockings,' both rather high