Thomas Morley

“ Captain Nolan placed himself in front of the 13th Light Dragoons. Seeing one-third of the cavalry going down the valley to be sacrificed, they having to charge one mile and a half, leaving army and supports, and the commander of the Brigade away, Captain Nolan rode in front of the 17th Lancers, the regiment that gave the speed and direction, taking Lord Cardigan’s place. He knew the enemy were on the Causeway Heights retreating and abandoning the captured guns, not more than half a mile from the Light Brigade, and no danger to the Brigade to get where Lord Raglan intended. ”

“ An iron stock is made in one forging, so as to pass through a hole a, punched in the square. The stock has a shoulder b, which fits against the side of the shank when it is in the position for action as in fig. 1, and it is secured by a key driven tightly on the other side of the shank. The advantage of this is, that the stock can be unshipped and laid along the shank for convenience of stowing, as shown in fig. 4. The weight of the stock, whether of wood or iron, is about 1/6th that of the anchor. ”

“ Perceiving several of our cavalry in the same dilemma, I called to them, and being then a corporal, I used what authority I had to form them as well as I could. We gathered 12, and charged their centre; most of us got through. I believe three fell. These men were 4th and 13th Light Dragoons, and 17th Lancers; one was of the 8th Hussars. I received the point of a lance in the right hand; the wound was slight. The Russian infantry now opened a heavy fire upon us and after galloping through the guns of the enemy in advance of us, each one separated, trusting to fate. ”

“ Lord Lucan knew that the Russians were in strong force near his pickets, and yet he did not strengthen them or patrol the small front he had to protect, while his cavalry pickets knew nothing of the Russian advance until the Turks opened fire, they just saved themselves from capture or annihilation by being better mounted than the enemy. ”

“ Lord Paget commanded the 4th Light Dragoons and 8th Hussars, yet he lost the 8th and found the 11th Hussars (our supports) . The ride down the valley could not have occupied five minutes. I could have run it on foot in seven minutes, as I was champion runner in those days, but the formation of the brigade with which we started had been destroyed, probably within three minutes.
Our arrival at the battery silenced it instantly, and the gunners began to try to move the cannon away. The gospel of Russian fighting was always to save the guns. ”

“ A result which will accord with sound practice may be obtained by calculating the resistance of a given ship at a speed or twelve knots, and taking this tor the working load of the anchor. The working load should be half the testing strain, and consequently 1/6th of the breaking strength.
A large ironclad carries 8 anchors,—2 bower, 2 sheet, 1 stream, 1 stern, end 2 kedge. The bower anchors (fig. 7) are stowed at the bow, and are for ordinary use in a roadstead; if there is any difference in weight, the heavier is stowed on the starboard side, and is termed the best bower. ”

“ Private John Smith, C Troop, 17th Lancers, now living in London, mounted one of the horses to the gun carriage and we started off the field with it when a large body of Cossacks charged upon us completely surrounding us. I fought my way through and was pursued down the valley by seven of them into a body of Russian Hussars re-forming. I had no alternative but to charge through their line, which I did, an officer striking my head with the sword, my lance hat saving my head except for a bad bruise. ”

“ The stock is of iron in large as well as small anchors, and is made with a mortice, to fit over the shank instead of passing through it. It is somewhat heavier than the stocks of other anchors; the arms are shorter than usual in proportion to the length of the shank, and are of a wedge shape, varying in sharpness from the throat to the head of the palms; the back part of the arms is parallel from palm to palm; the palm is double concave on the front, and has a small border at the edge for confining the soil through which it is dragged ”

“ The phrase “Someone had blundered” is familiar to every one, but the condition of affairs which precipitated the blunder are not known and have never been stated in history.
After the Heavy Brigade made their glorious charge, the Light Brigade was placed in the North valley by order of Lord Raglan, Lords Lucan and Cardigan being absent congratulating the Heavy Brigade officers. Both Commanders-in-chief and Staffs had assembled at the top of Sebastopol Heights and were watching the Russian Army. They decided to force a general engagement and recapture the guns and heights the Turks had lost. ”

“ Since 1820 about 130 patents have been taken out for anchors; and the attention thus given to the subject, with the introduction of steam hammers and furnaces, the substitution of the fan blast for the old bellows, and the better knowledge obtained of the forgeman's art, have rendered the anchor of the present day so far superior to that of fifty years ago, that we rarely hear at one being broken, the ground in which it is embedded generally giving way before the anchor. ”

“ I was present in every skirmish in which my regiment was engaged, and I returned home when the campaign ended. When in Ireland with my regiment I inquired of my troop officer why I did not get a medal for distinguished conduct. He told me he was very sorry I did not, but it lay to the commanding officer’s discretion. So it appears they are not “distinguished conduct medals” but “discretion medals!” There are several men in the 17th Lancers who wear medals for distinguished conduct on the field of battle who never crossed swords with a Russian. ”

“ The size of anchors for various ships has been determined by practice, but is based upon the theory that as the anchor is required to withstand the force brought upon the ship by the wind and tide, which would otherwise cause her to drift, its strength must be nearly proportional to her resistance. ”

“ He lost no time in getting to me and remained in command till Lieutenant Barbour returned with two Russian Greek spies, who tried to decoy his command into a village in which the Russian Cavalry were hiding. Sir Drury Lowe was loved by all men and I never heard or knew an enlisted man to say any thing but kindness respecting him. I was in Aldershot when he commanded the regiment, and I was in the Sergeants Mess. I heard Sergeant-Major Davis repeat that he would sooner soldier under Colonel Lowe without pay than any other officer with pay and the rest shouted “hear hear.” ”

“ Fig. 2.—Admiralty's. Fig. 3.—Rodger's.
Fig. 1 represents the "common" anchor. The various parts are known by the following terms:—The shank is the straight part, ab; the square, ac, is that part of the shank to which the stock and the shackle are attached; d is the crown; de and df the arms; gg the palms or flukes; the pee, the bill, or the point is the extreme end of the arm beyond the palm; the blade is the part of the arm at the back of the palm; h is the shackle or ring to which the cable is attached; kl is the stock, placed at right angles to the plane of the arms and shank. ”

“ I charged at Balaklava with my squadron until it was nearly annihilated, my own lance being shot away. Drawing my sword I galloped on to the Russian guns, and assisted in cutting down the gunners. On the right of our forming line I observed one particular gun going away as fast as the horses could take it. I went after it with Captain Jervis, of the 13th Light Dragoons, who shot one of the horses and delayed its progress. On this I engaged two of the gunners, who both fell. It now became a struggle for our lives, a large body of Cossacks surrounded us. ”

“ The Horse Artillery took up position just before it came to number 3 redoubt and opened fire on the Russian Artillery, nothing but smoke from their guns being perceived. The heavy Brigade moved first to its left, then back again to its right, several times. Lord Lucan calls that a demonstration. They could not see the Russians, and the Russians could neither see nor hear the heavy Brigade. If they had, they would not have been firing at the white smoke above the black fog of the Turkish redoubts and our Horse Artillery, but would have sent a volley into the heavy Brigade. ”

“ Iron was afterwards introduced for the construction of anchors, and also the grand improvement of forming them with teeth or flukes to fasten themselves into the bottom; whence the words ὀδόντες and dentes are frequently taken for anchors in the Greek and Latin poets. The invention of the teeth is ascribed by Pliny to the Tuscans; but Pausanias gives the merit to Midas, king of Phrygia. Originally there was only one fluke or tooth, whence anchors were called ἑτερόστομοι ”

“ Lord Lucan says after he read the order he said to Captain Nolan, “Attack! Sir! Attack what? What guns, sir?” and he states also that Captain Nolan, pointing, said, “There, my Lord, is your enemy, and there are your guns.” Captain Nolan did not tell him to attack and he had no proof to show he did.
Lord Lucan left the largest part of his command in the South valley prepared to support infantry he had never seen. The first thing he did was to inform Lord Cardigan that Lord Raglan had ordered the Light Brigade to charge the guns, telling a lie in the Commander-in-Chief’s name. ”

“ The anchor is held by a chain attached to the shackle, and the strain is applied to each arm separately at 1/3d of its length from the point. The proof of the anchor is that it must show no sign of fracture, and that if any deflection is caused by the strain, it must return very nearly to its original shape. A good anchor, after being deflected half an inch, will return to its former shape, leaving no permanent set. ”