Whilst this affair was going on, the Chasseurs d'Afrique made a brilliant diversion in our favour, by charging with the utmost gallantry the battery on the left, which was firing on our Cavalry. They sabred the artillerymen at the guns, which of course, however, they were unable to carry off without support, and retreated with considerable loss, but with the consciousness of having worthily emulated the self-devotion of their Allies, to whom they rendered an essential service, and of having knit still closer the bonds of amity and brotherhood which had been cemented by the mingling of French and English blood on the field of the Alma. The Heavy Cavalry, too far in rear to support the charge, had, however, been enabled to cover the retreat of their brothers in arms, but not without the occurrence of some casualties amongst themselves. The British Infantry, supported by two French regiments, which had come up, began now steadily to advance in the direction of the redoubts, while the Russians gradually retired. And after some manoeuvring, ending in the re-occupation of three of the redoubts by the Allies, and the final abandonment of the fourth to the foe, the cannonade, which had been for some time slackening, at last ceased at about half-past one, both armies retaining their respective positions. Such were the chequered and exciting incidents of the battle of Balaklava, a battle, which, as an officer of the 93d contended with reason, in a conversation with the narrator, held near to where that regiment received the charge of the Russian cavalry, was not a defeat, but in reality a repulse of the enemy, whose real object had assuredly been, not the capture of the Turkish redoubts, but the possession of Balaklava, in which they were completely frustrated. He said nothing could exceed the coolness of the 93d, who kept up a murderous file fire for about eight minutes, just as if they had been on parade, and would have gone on for an hour in the same way, had it been necessary. He added.
that Sir Colin, in his despatch, most decidedly under-rated the numbers of the Cavalry who attacked the Highlanders, who must have numbered nearly 4000, whilst the main body who were charged by our Heavy Cavalry could not have fallen far short of 8000. The service of the Artillery was perfect, and every shell fell among the Cossacks, knocking them over by dozens. Had it not been for the unfortunate Light Cavalry charge, concluded the officer in question, we should have had nothing to reproach ourselves with; and that, even as it was, it was the most perfect little battle that could be imagined for the time it lasted, as every arm of the service was brought into play during the engagement.
Among the illustrious dead, whose unforgotten graves lie thick in the fatal plains of Balaklava, the name of the heroic and ill-fated Nolan must not be omitted. Passionately devoted to his profession, to the theoretic part of which he had contributed an admirable work on Cavalry Tactics, he hailed with delight the order of which he was the bearer, and which would, as he believed, demonstrate by the brilliant nature of its results the truth of his well-known opinions as to the irresistible power of his favourite arm of the service. Placing himself by the side of Lord Cardigan, he joined in the charge, but his horse had scarcely made half-a-dozen strides, ere a fragment of shell struck him in the heart. With the cry peculiar to wounds of this nature he expired; and. his charger, conscious of the loosened rein, galloped back with his dead master still firmly fixed in the saddle, as if to vindicate, even in death, his reputation as an accomplished horseman.
Among those who were wounded on this day was Captain Maude of the Royal Horse Artillery, whose admirable qualities as an officer in this magnificent branch of the service had won him the esteem of the whole Army, from Lord Raglan to the men in his own troop, and whose name is to this day never mentioned in the Crimea but in terms of affection and admiration. Lord Cardigan received a lance-thrust through his clothes, and Lord Lucan was also slightly wounded.
The Russians took advantage of the capture of the guns in the redoubts, some of which they were enabled to carry off, and of the severe loss suffered by the Light Cavalry, to claim a victory; and on the following day the Garrison of Sebastopol, emboldened by this fancied success, determined to make a sortie in force, which, if successful, would seriously embarrass the Allies, and which would, in any case, give them information which might be turned to account on a future occasion.