BALACLAVA HERO.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14842, 6 December 1913, Page 14

BALACLAVA HERO.

THE LATE SIR GEORGE WOMBNVBLL. fcSTOKY OF THE FAMOUS FIGHT. O'BOM OCR OWN* COIUIESI'ONIIBXT.) LO-NDON, October l>4. Tho, baud oi Balaclava hercwe is elawly auujciiinu, ausl doath tias just claiiutfd anotuor iv the person of 6ir of .Newburgh l'riory, £io was in his olst year. :Oi ail tho miraculous cvxapes iv tho <-Jiatgo> of. the Light Brigaut> uono was mort- marvellous than that of Sir Georgo, who rode with his regiment, tho i«tii ' Konuaatoiy lie kt>pt a diary, and tho iollowing is hie account of the lighting, written ou tho same day in 185 i:— "Wednesday, 25th: This has been a ! dreadful day for tho Light Brigade. ! "While on parade this morning suddenly tho Turkish battorios on the to our front opened a tremendous fire. Wβ soon found out the reason: the Russians were advancing in a very fargo force. Our field batteries and a troop of Horro Artillery camo quickiy up and opened fire. The shells began to come very near us, and ono went right iuto Captain Maude's honso and exploded, oomplotely blowing Captain llnude up in&> tho air. Ho "was badly wounded ia tho face and arm. Ho will bo a great loss, as ho was a soldier, and his troop of artillery, -with him in command, was perfect. All this time tho Russians cam© up in tho most plucky manner, and their .shot and sheib camo nearer and nearer, bursting right over us. "At last wo heard musketry, ami, on looking round vro could sco our allies, tho 1 inks, firing away at them, but instead of making any resistance, they were flying from the different redoubts in every direction, and loffc their guns, etc., in tho hands of the Russians, who were still advancing. Tho Russians wero now scon coming down tho hill towards us, and they- brought a troop of artilk-ry to the ton of the hill, from which they opened oh us a murderous fire. Wβ kept all the time retreating. The Russians remained on tho hill. An order now camo down for us to retire, and we did. out cf rango of their guns. "Shortly afterwards, tlioy (ovidentl' thinking wo were beaten) sent a tro- ' mendous body of cavalry, with a hordo of Cossacks, across the plain after us, and bitterly they found out thoir mistake, for they were mot by tho Scots Greys and Inniskillons, who charged them magnificently, and completely routed tho whole lot of them. Nothing could bomorc beautiful than tho Greys and Inniskillincs looked as they dashed right into the Russian cavalry, who seemed quite astounded, and rarely made any resistance. At last they stiddonly wheeled round and galloped off as hard as they could go, pursued by tho Greye and tho othors, who cut a great many down. THE CHARGE. "Both brigades of cavalry then advanced, and an. order in writing came down from Lord Raglan, telling us to attack somo guns, which were firing on us. So tho Light Brigade, in. two li&fcs, the 18th Light Dragoons, and tho l*th Lancers in tho first line, and tho 4th Light Dragoons, Bth.and 11th Hussars in tho second lino, were ordered to the front, and off wo wont at a trot, "when suddenly a tremendous fire opened upon us, killing poor Nolan of the 15th Hussars, who brought tho order down from Lord Raglan, close to mc. Wβ broke into n gallop every man feeling convinced that the quicker we rode through the awful showers of grape shot, musketry and shells,' which they poured into our flanks as we passed, the better chance wo should have of escaping nnhurt. "Wβ charged up to the guns, which kept firing at us till we £pt up to them, and cut the Russian gunnors down aa they stood at their, guns. The way the showers of grape and canister, musketry and shells came among us was eomething too awful :to describe; the men- w ere."falling in heaps all round mo, and every time I looked an I could see our line getting thinner, till by tho time., wo passed tho. guns and got up to the third line of Russian- cavalry wo were but a mere Handful. /

I'l had been ridinir all day as orderly officer to Lord Cardigan, who behaved most pluckily, and led the way by himself, so of course I followed him with his other A.D.C.'s close behind, and just as he got close up to a gun it wont off, luckily without touching him, and not being ablo to eeo for the smoke, he rode right up against the gun. My horse was shot under mc, in what place I know not, but down he came. 1 luckily "coon caught a trooper which had lost its rider, and got on his back and joined the second line— but in coming back he got quite.knocked up, and refused to move. I at last got him into a slow walk, and was congratulating myself on having passed unseen two squadrons of Russian Lancers, whon suddenly-a horrid yell arose nnd I Tvas surrounded by a let of them, brandishing their swords affil lances, and desiring rbe to throw down my sword, which.-,seeing resistance was useless," I did. They then seized my pistols in my holsters, and helped mc in a very rough way off my. wounded trooper, and marched mc off a prisoner on foot between two of them, with three more behind. ' .. -

~"'■(. <> f course, walked quictlv wirli them, but seeing . tho 11th Hussars coming back at a jraHop, when they got near I made a rush forward, and luckily caught another trooper, on which I jumped and joined tho 11th, and rode back wjth them. When I was taken, they took away roy . eword and pistols from mc, which I never got back, and a Russian officer came up and told mo in French not in be alarmed, as they would not touch mc, and that they were only a. little rouch. However, thank God, I managed to cefc away, and got back again."

"YOTF YOUNG FOOL." It was Lord Cardigan, riaing in front of tho remnant of his shattered brigade who saw Wombwell horseless, and" shouted, "Catch a horse, you young fool, and come with us," advice which Wombwell promptly took. Sir Ocorgo gave it as his impression that Colonel Nolan, the bearer of the written order from Lord Raglan, wrongly described the position of tho guns which were to bo attacked, pointing to those in front, whereas those to Tvbich the order related wero on the right flank. 13oth Sir George's sons found a soldier's grave, ono in India and the other in" South. Africa, and tho title passes to a younger brother. . The family is o&e of great antiquity, the first ancestor on record being Robert de Wombwell, who was living in the time cf King Stephen and derived his surname from the place of his residence, Wombwell, near JBarnsley, where he owned much land. Oliver Cromwell, too, was an ancestor on the distaff side of Sir George Wombwell. The bones of tho great Lord Protector are believed to lie in a stone vault at Xewburgh, which bears a bronze inscripFion indicating the contents of the casket. There is no record of the vault having been opened or the tradition verified, and it is related that King Edward VII V inspecting the vault one day, laughingly remarked, "Look here, Sir George, I shall never be satisfied about this until you open the vault. Why not send for the workmen at once and have it opened now." "No, Sir," replied Sir George. "I have been brought up in the belief—l shall-dio in the belief— and I will not open it for anybody." The fact remains, however, that Cromwell's daughter Mary married Thoinaa Bellasyss, JSaron Fauconberg, of Newburf Priory, who was Cromwell's Ambassador at Paris. Georgo a chairman of the East India.Company, was created a Baronet in l< <S, nnd died two years later, when ho was succeeded by his eldest son, the second baronet," who died in 1846.