Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/340

 318 THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. CHAP, each dragoon individually still had to be reckoning J; on the death that might come the next moment ; and this the last trial which the soldier passed through was that of riding for life, with the tor- ment of being forced to ride slowly ; for he had to toil on uphill under a heavy fire at the laggard, and always decreasing pace which represented the utmost remaining power of his wearied horse. The ground traversed by these remnants of the 4th Light Dragoons and the 11th Hussars was strewn with such ruins of brilliant squadrons as might well be more distressing to them than to any other regiment, except, perhaps, the 17th Lancers. Lord George Paget's and Colonel Doug- las's regiments in the course of their advance had encountered ugly traces of battle, but they now, as they rode, saw the marks of a yet more ter- rible havoc ; and, this time, a great proportion of those they saw dead, or dying, or cruelly disabled, were men of their own regiment. Amongst the wounded comrades and friends thus passed, some were walking erect, though feebly, some limping, some crawling ; and it was grievous to have to see the still living remains of horses with the trappings upon them of the 4th Light Dragoons or the 11th Hussars, some violently struggling to get up, though perhaps with more than one limb shattered, or floundering back with cruel weight upon their disabled riders. As the pace of each rider had long since had no other limit than the last strength of his sink- ing horse, it resulted, of course, that, after a while.