Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/71

 THE BATTLE UE BALACLAVA. 49 had not yet come up from Balaclava) he took chap. upon himself to mount the Light Brigade. He . — had hardly done this when a messenger came in 2£j^ v j&y. from the front with an order despatched by Lord Lucan (then reconnoitring with Sir Colin Camp- bell in the direction of our advanced post) which directed the immediate advance of the cavalry. Thus it seems that the Turks not only obtained vigilance . n . i_j_i evinced by the earliest intelligence of the impending attack, the Turks. but were also the first to perceive the advance of the enemy. The elevation of Canrobert's Hill may have aided their surveys ; but without being watchful and sagacious, they could hardly have succeeded in being beforehand with so keen a soldier as Sir Colin Campbell. We watched the sweet slumbers of a Cabinet whilst assenting to the cogent despatch which enforced this invasion ; but now, in the midst of the campaign, and at a moment when accounts have come in, which announce an attack for the morrow in the direction of the Baidar valley, we may steal before break of day to the ground where the enemy is expected, and there, seek our ideal of vigilance in the outlying cavalry picket. We shall seek in vain. The English soldier's The English i r solaier ' s want of vigilance is so closely allied to some ot want of . vigilance. his greatest qualities (as, for instance, to his pride, and his sullen unwillingness to be put out of his way by mere danger), that our countrymen incline to think of it with indulgence, nay, perhaps, with an unconfessed liking ; but if the fault is in some measure natural and characteristic, it has been vol v D