There is no doubt that Cardigan had reached and overrun the enemy battery: he was recognised beyond the guns by Prince Leon Hieronim Radziwiłł (ru), an enemy officer with whom he was acquainted before the war; Radziwiłł issued instructions that Cardigan was to be taken prisoner and not killed. Cardigan, considering his duty then done and disdaining, as he later explained, to "fight the enemy among private soldiers", turned about and made his way steadily—he himself said that his return was at the walk to avoid any unseemly appearance of haste—for his own lines. Lord Lucan recalled things differently, later giving evidence that Cardigan had been galloping back, only slowing to walk when he realised he was being watched. This hurried retreat was also noticed by General Liprandi, Russian commander, who made enquiries to identify the English officer whom he saw galloping away after the attack. Officers and men of the second and third lines—men for whom as brigade commander Cardigan remained responsible—were still advancing at the charge when they saw their commander riding in retreat. Lord George Paget of the 4th Hussars later declared that Cardigan alone could issue the required orders when the time came to break off the engagement and some needless fighting, hand-to-hand and intense against great odds, could thus have been avoided. Other officers too had noticed his absence: one, Lord William Paulet on Lucan's staff, had noticed Cardigan "riding like a madman" towards the rear. When Colonel Paget, one of the last to return, encountered a "composed" Cardigan, he challenged him to account for himself. Unsatisfied with the response, Paget wrote an official complaint to the new Commander-in-Chief, the Duke of Cambridge. Cambridge forwarded the letter to Cardigan for comment and Cardigan's reply in turn complained that Paget had not in fact taken the part he claimed during the attack that day. Inconclusive claim and counter-claim followed, until Cardigan's attentions were diverted to the allegations made public when Calthorpe's book "Letters" went on sale.