Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/303

 THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. 281 applied his mind with persistency to the other chap. end of the traces or ' prolong,' and sought to dis- ' engage the gun from the harness ; a curious act of audacity in the thick of a fight, for which, unless I mistake, his colonel both damned and admired him. There were some amongst our men, and even amongst our officers, who per- formed hideous wonders in the way of slaughter ; for the Eussians were under such cogent obliga- tion to save their Czar's cherished ordnance from capture, and were, many of them, so brave and obstinate, that even the sense of being altogether unequal to strive against an onslaught of English cavalry did not suffice to make them yield. There was one of our officers who became afflicted, if so one may speak, with what has been called the blood -frenzy. Much gore besmeared him, and the result ot the contest was such as might seem confirmatory of the vulgar belief as to the mad- dening power of human blood. This officer, whilst under the frenzy, raged wildly against human life, cutting down, it was said, very many of the obstinate Eussians with his own reeking hand.* Other officers of a different tempera- ment made use of their revolvers with a terrible diligence. From his bearing at this time, it seemed that Lord George Paget scarce approved this kind of industry on the part of his officers. At all events, calmed down, there was so great a reaction in his nervous sys- tem, that he hurst into tears, and cried like a little child.
 * I have heard that, after the battle, when this officer had