During the Battle of Balaclava in 1854 in the Crimean War, the British Light Brigade was sent on a frontal assault against a Russian artillery battery because of miscommunication. Lord Cardigan, the leader of the brigade, well aware that he was going to almost certain death, shouted out, "Here goes the last of the Cardigans!" Upon which an Irishman, touched by a sense of humour even in the midst of the most deadly peril, sang out, "Here goes the last of the Murphys!"
Sergeant Nicholson was one of those captured by the Russians. The Russian general said to him, "Your men must have been primed with rum before you made such a mad charge." "We had not a sup, sir," Nicholson replied. "If we had, we should have broken through the whole Russian army."
克里米亞戰爭有一八五四年的巴拉克拉瓦戰役，其間由於通信錯誤，一旅英軍輕騎兵奉命正面攻擊俄軍砲兵連。卡迪根勳爵身為旅長，明知此去幾乎必死，高聲喊道：「卡迪根一脈，從茲逝矣！」一個愛爾蘭人在這九死一生情況下，仍然不失詼諧，曼聲應道：「摩菲一脈，亦從茲逝矣！」
尼科爾森中士和一些同袍遭俄軍俘虜。俄軍一名將領對他說：「你們這樣瘋狂衝鋒之前，一定是喝了蘭姆酒。」尼科爾森回答說：「將軍，我們一口酒都沒有喝，否則整支俄國軍隊，都阻擋我們不住。」