Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/278

 256 THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. chap, sword, and from time to time he found means i. to deliver some sabre -cuts upon the thighs of his Cossack assailants. Soon, however, he was pierced in the temple by a lance - point, which splintered up a piece of the bone, and forced it in under the scalp. This wound gave him great pain ; and, upon the whole, he believed that his life must be nearly at its end ; but presently there appeared a Eussian officer, who interposed with his sword, striking up two or three of Cos- sack lances, and calling out loudly to Morris, with assurances that if he would surrender he should be saved. Accordingly Morris yielded up his sword, and became a prisoner of war. other inci- At nearly the same time, and not far from the part of the same spot, another officer of the 17th Lancers fell alive into the hands of the enemy. This was Lieutenant Chadwick. Before he reached the line of the battery, his charger had received so many wounds, and lost so much blood, as to be all but incapable of stirring, though yet re- maining on his legs. In spite of the singular and tormenting disadvantage of thus having under him an almost immovable horse, Chadwick found means to defend himself for some time against the stray Cossacks and other dragoons who, one after another, beset him ; but at length he was caught in the neck by a Cossack lance, which lifted him out of his saddle, and threw him to the ground with such force as to stun him. When his senses returned, and whilst he still lay on the ground, he succeeded in defending himself