THE BATTLE OF EALACLAVA. 333 uttered a sentence which, supposing it to be chap. accurately reported, did certainly supply Lord r - Lucan with fair means of raising a controversy, and even gave him, as many may think, a kind of argumentative victory. The Commander of the Forces had no copy of either the ' third ' or the ' fourth ' order ; and, for that reason alone, even if there were no other, he might not improbably desire to avoid or defer all discussion founded upon the wording of the documents. Accordingly, he did not say, as he might have done : ' I ordered ' — I ordered in writing — that the cavalry should ' advance and take advantage of any opportunity ' to recover the heights, and you kept it halted for ' more than half an hour. I ordered — I ordered 'in writing — that the cavalry should advance ' rapidly to the front, that it should follow the ' enemy, and try to prevent him from carrying ' away the guns, meaning of course, as you well ' know * our lost English guns, and yet with this
- order in your hand you caused Lord Cardigan to
' go down the valley instead of advancing upon • the " heights," and to attack the front of a dis- ' tant Eussian battery, after running the gauntlet ' for a mile and a quarter between crossing fires.' What Lord Eaglan did say, according to Lord Lucan, was to this effect : ' Lord Lucan, you were 1 a Lieutenant-General, and should therefore have ' exercised your discretion, and, not approving of ' the charge, should not have caused it to be made.'
- For proof that Lord Lucan did know this, see the footnotr
ante, p. 19S.
