CHAP. but the answer first elicited was only a message of V. attack up on the Turkish redoubts. acknowledgment sent back in the words, 'Very well!' The morn- Afterwards, Lord Raglan requested that any new ing of the 25th Oct. occurrence which might take place should be reported Tidings of the to him; but no fresh orders resulted from the inimpending formation thus furnished. The truth is that only a few days before, Lord Raglan had been induced by a similar report to send down 1000 men of the 4th Division, who had to be marched back when it proved that the enemy was not advancing. He could ill afford to exhaust the time and strength of his men in these marches and countermarches, and he seems to have come to the conclusion that it would be inexpedient for him to be again despatching reinforcements to the outer line of defence in the plain of Balaclava, unless he should learn that the enemy was actually advancing against it. 25th Oct. The hour II. In accordance with its daily custom, the English before cavalry on the morning of the 25th of October had daybreak. turned out an hour before daybreak; and the men were standing to their horses when Lord Lucan, already in the saddle and followed by his Staff, moved off at a walk towards Canrobert's Hill. Advance of Lord Lucan and his Staff in the di rection of Canro Two of the Divisional Staff-Lord William Paulet, I think, bert's Hill. and Major M'Mahon, who had now, it seems, been joined by Lord George Paget-were riding some distance in rear of their chief, and had come within *This was on the 21st of October. 6 V. Break of flags seen flying from the fort on Can Hill. port of this. about 300 paces of Canrobert's Hill, when a streak of CHA P. pale light in the horizon before them began to disclose the morning. Presently, there was grey enough day. Two to show through the dusk that Canrobert's Hill was not without its standard; but soon it became almost clear, and presently afterwards certain, that from robert's the flag-staff of the work two ensigns were flying. 'Holloa!' said one, there are two flags flying! The im'What does that mean?' 'Why, that surely,' said another, that surely is the arranged signal-the signal that the enemy is advancing. Are you quite 'sure?' The questioner was soon answered; for scarcely had he spoken when the fort opened fire from one of its 12-pounder guns. The Staff-officers hurried forward to overtake their chief; and Lord Lord George Paget galloped back at speed to the cavalry Paget, in camp, where (in the absence of Lord Cardigan, who had the practice of sleeping on board his yacht, and had not yet come up from Balaclava) he took upon on himself himself to mount the Light Brigade. He had hardly the Light done this when a messenger came in from the front Brigade. with an order despatched by Lord Lucan (then re- from Lord connoitring with Sir Colin Campbell in the direction of our advanced post) which directed the immediate advance of the cavalry. Thus it seems that the Turks not only obtained the earliest intelligence of the impending attack, 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 VOL. IV. G George the absence of Lord Car digan, takes up to mount Orders Lucan for the immevance of diate ad the cav. alry. Vigilance evinced on this occa sion by the Turks. CHAP. beforehand with so keen a soldier as Sir Colin The Eng lish sol of vigi. lance. 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 want dier's want of vigilance is so closely allied to some of 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 aggravated apparently by the empty ceremonies of military duty in peacetime; for to go on rehearsing men day after day, and year after year, in the art of giving and taking pretended alarms about nothing, and to carry on these rehearsals by means of formulated sentences, is to do all that perverted industry can towards preventing, instead of securing, the 'bright look-out' of the seaman. The relation that there is between standing armies and war bears analogy to that which connects endowed churches with religion; and, in particular, the Anglican arrangements for securing the infant mind against heresy show a curious resemblance to those V. which are made during peace for preventing surprises CHA P. in war- time. Whether aiming at the one or the other of these objects, man tries to secure it by formula. Just as through the means of set questions and answers, the anxious theologian arms children against 'false doctrine,' in the trust that, when they come to riper years, they may know how to treat his opponents, so also with him who makes rules for the governance of soldiers in peace-time, the hope, it seems, is that they may learn to be vigilant against night surprises by repeatedly saying their catechism. The common challenge' is brief; but, it being foreseen that he who is appointed to watch may himself require watching, the functionaries called 'visiting 'rounds' have been invented, whose duty it is to see that the sentries are at their posts and awake; but as this task of supervision has itself also lapsed into form, the result is, that at a military post requiring great vigilance, there goes on, all night, a reiteration of set questions and answers, which tends to avert real watchfulness by suggesting that a mere formal sign of not being absolutely asleep will sufficiently answer the purpose. Men trained to 'look out' as do sailors, are more likely to pierce to the utmost of what eye and ear can reach, than those who are repeating to one another, and repeating and repeating all night, set lessons, of which this is one: Halt ! 'who goes there?' 'Rounds!' 'What rounds?' Visiting rounds!' 'Visiting rounds advance! All's well!' When these words have been reiterated by the same men a few thousand times, they are as V. CHAP. lulling as the monotone waves that beat and still beat on the shore. The truth is, that the object of securing a really keen watchfulness is one which lies out of the true scope of mechanical arrangements. A man's wits may be easily deadened, they can hardly be sharpened, by formula. Our outly ing picket did not detect the advance, and was only saved Far from detecting the earliest signs of an advance in force, and being at once driven in, our outlying enemy's picket enjoyed its tranquillity to the last, and was only, indeed, saved from capture by the field officer of the day,' who learnt, as he rode, what was passthe field ing, and conveyed to the men of the watch—just in time to secure their escape- that warning of the enemy's approach which they themselves should have given. from capture by officer of the day. Lord vanced post. ceive the Lord Lucan and Sir Colin Campbell were together Lucan and Sir Colin a good way in advance; and, as day broke, they saw Campbell at the ad- the enemy's columns of infantry in march-saw them converging upon the easterly approaches of the Causeway Heights from the directions of Tchorgoun and Baidar. It soon became apparent that, whatever advancing might be his ulterior design, Liprandi's first object Causeway was the seizure of the Turkish defences, beginning Heights. with Canrobert's Hill; and Lord Lucan did not fail to despatch an aide-de-camp to Headquarters with intelligence of the impending attack.* enemy's columns upon the Intelli gence sent Lord Lu can's dis of Our cavalry was brought forward; and the guns position of Maude's troop of horse-artillery were got into battery on the right of the Arabtabia or Number Three Redoubt. The Light Cavalry regiments were placed the cav alry and horseartillery. * Captain Charteris was the officer sent. |