Charge of the Light Brigade

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This article is about the military manoeuvre. For the poem, see The Charge of the Light Brigade
(poem). For other uses, see Charge of the Light Brigade (disambiguation).

Charge of the Light Brigade

Part of Battle of Balaclava, Crimean War

The Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava by William

Simpson (1855), illustrating the Light Brigade's charge into the

"Valley of Death" from the Russian perspective.

Date 25 October 1854

Location 443216N 333727E
Result Russian victory

Belligerents

Russian Empire
British Empire

French Empire

Commanders and leaders

Pavel Liprandi
James Brudenell,

7th Earl of Cardigan

Armand-Octave-Marie

dAllonville

Strength

About 670 (Adkin: 668; Brighton: "at least" 666)

Casualties and losses

110 killed

161 wounded

The Charge of the Light Brigade was a charge of British light cavalry led by Lord
Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854, in
the Crimean War. Lord Raglan, overall commander of the British forces, had intended to send
the Light Brigade to prevent the Russians removing captured guns from overrun Turkish
positions, a task well-suited to light cavalry. However, due to miscommunication in the chain of
command, the Light Brigade was instead sent on a frontal assault against a different artillery
battery, one well-prepared with excellent fields of defensive fire.
 Although the Light Brigade reached the battery under withering direct fire and scattered some of
the gunners, the badly mauled brigade was forced to retreat immediately. Thus, the assault
ended with very high British casualties and no decisive gains.
The events are best remembered as the subject of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's narrative poem "The
Charge of the Light Brigade" (1854). Published just six weeks after the event, its lines emphasise
the valor of the cavalry in bravely carrying out their orders, regardless of the obvious outcome.
Blame for the miscommunication has remained controversial, as the original order itself was
vague, and the officer who delivered the written orders, with some verbal interpretation, died in
the first minute of the assault.

Contents
[hide]

1Background

2The Charge

3Aftermath

4Survivor postscript

5Remembrance

6Notes

7References

8Further reading

9External links

Background

Charge of the Light Brigade by Richard Caton Woodville, Jr.

The charge was made by the Light Brigade of the British cavalry, which consisted of
the 4th and 13th Light Dragoons, 17th Lancers, and the 8th and 11th Hussars, under the
command of Major General James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan. Also present that day was the
Heavy Brigade, commanded by Major General James Yorke Scarlett, who was a past
Commanding Officer of the 5th Dragoon Guards. The Heavy Brigade was made up of the 4th
Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, the 5th Dragoon Guards, the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons and
the Scots Greys. The two brigades were the only British cavalry force at the battle.
The Light Brigade, as the name suggests, were the British light cavalry force. It mounted light,
fast horses which were unarmoured. The men were armed with lances and sabres. Optimized for
maximum mobility and speed, they were intended for reconnaissance and skirmishing. They
were also ideal for cutting down infantry and artillery units as they attempted to retreat.
The Heavy Brigade under James Scarlett was the British heavy cavalry force. It mounted large,
heavy chargers. The men were equipped with metal helmets and armed with cavalry swords
for close combat. They were intended as the primary British shock force, leading frontal
charges in order to break enemy lines.
Overall command of the British cavalry resided with Lieutenant General George Bingham, 3rd
Earl of Lucan. Cardigan and Lucan were brothers-in-law who disliked each other intensely. Lucan
received an order from the army commander Lord Raglan stating: "Lord Raglan wishes the
cavalry to advance rapidly to the front, follow the enemy, and try to prevent the enemy carrying
away the guns. Troop horse artillery may accompany. French cavalry is on your left. Immediate."
Raglan wanted the light cavalry to prevent the Russians from successfully withdrawing the naval
guns from the redoubts they had captured on the reverse side of the Causeway Heights, the hill
forming the south side of the valley. This was an optimum task for the Light Brigade, as their
superior speed would ensure the Russians would be forced to either quickly abandon the
cumbersome guns or be cut down en masse while they attempted to flee with them.
Raglan could see what was happening from his high vantage point on the west side of the valley.
However, the lie of the land around Lucan and the cavalry prevented him from seeing the
Russians' efforts to remove the guns from the redoubts and retreat.[1]
The order was drafted by Brigadier Richard Airey and carried by Captain Louis Edward Nolan.
Nolan carried the further oral instruction that the cavalry was to attack immediately.[2] When Lucan
asked what guns were referred to, Nolan is said to have indicated with a wide sweep of his arm
not the causeway redoubtsbut the mass of Russian guns in a redoubt at the end of the
valley, around a mile away.[3] His reasons for the misdirection are unknown because he was killed
in the ensuing battle.
In response to the order, Lucan instructed Cardigan to lead his command of about 670
troopers[4] of the Light Brigade straight into the valley between the Fedyukhin Heights and
the Causeway Heights. In his poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade"
(1854), Tennyson famously dubbed this hollow "The Valley of Death".
The opposing Russian forces were commanded by Pavel Liprandi and included approximately
20 battalions of infantry supported by over 50 artillery pieces. These forces were deployed on
both sides and at the opposite end of the valley.
Lucan himself was to follow with the Heavy Brigade. Although the Heavy Brigade was better
armoured and intended for frontal assaults on infantry positions, neither force was remotely
equipped for a frontal assault on a fully dug-in and alerted artillery batterymuch less one with
an excellent line of sight over a mile in length and supported on two sides by artillery batteries
providing enfilading fire from elevated ground. The semi-suicidal nature of this charge was surely
evident to the troopers of the Light Brigade, but if there were any objection to the orders, it was
not recorded.

The Charge
The Timeline of the Charge taken from Forgotten Heroes: The Charge of the Light Brigade (2007). [5]

Contemporary map showing line of the charge"Charge des Anglais"

The charge was from left to right, with the Russian batteries at the extreme right

The Light Brigade set off down the valley with Cardigan out in front, leading the charge. Almost at
once Nolan was seen to rush across the front, passing in front of Cardigan. It may be that he
then realised the charge was aimed at the wrong target and was attempting to stop or turn the
brigade, but he was killed by an artillery shell, and the cavalry continued on its course. Captain
Godfrey Morgan (subsequently 1st Viscount Tredegar), who was close by and saw what
happened, later recounted:
The first shell burst in the air about 100 yards in front of us. The next one dropped in front of
Nolan's horse and exploded on touching the ground. He uttered a wild yell as his horse turned
round, and, with his arms extended, the reins dropped on the animal's neck, he trotted towards
us, but in a few yards dropped dead off his horse. I do not imagine that anybody except those in
the front line of the 17th Lancers (13th Light Dragoons) saw what had happened.
We went on. When we got about two or three hundred yards the battery of the Russian Horse
Artillery opened fire. I do not recollect hearing a word from anybody as we gradually broke from a
trot to a canter, though the noise of the striking of men and horses by grape and round shot was
deafening, while the dust and gravel struck up by the round shot that fell short was almost
blinding, and irritated my horse so that I could scarcely hold him at all. But as we came nearer I
could see plainly enough, especially when I was about a hundred yards from the guns. I
appeared to be riding straight on to the muzzle of one of the guns, and I distinctly saw the gunner
apply his fuse. I shut my eyes then, for I thought that settled the question as far as I was
concerned. But the shot just missed me and struck the man on my right full in the chest.
In another minute I was on the gun and the leading Russian's grey horse, shot, I suppose, with a
pistol by somebody on my right, fell across my horse, dragging it over with him and pinning me in
between the gun and himself. A Russian gunner on foot at once covered me with his carbine. He
was just within reach of my sword, and I struck him across his neck. The blow did not do much
harm, but it disconcerted his aim. At the same time a mounted gunner struck my horse on the
forehead with his sabre. Spurring "Sir Briggs," he half jumped, half blundered, over the fallen
horses, and then for a short time bolted with me. I only remember finding myself alone among
the Russians trying to get out as best I could. This, by some chance, I did, in spite of the
attempts of the Russians to cut me down.[6]
Despite withering fire from three sides that devastated their force on the ride, the Light Brigade
was able to engage the Russian forces at the end of the valley and force them back from the
redoubt, but it suffered heavy casualties and was soon forced to retire. The surviving Russian
artillerymen returned to their guns and opened fire once again, with grape and canister,
indiscriminately at the mle of friend and foe before them. [2] Captain Godfrey Morgan continues:
When clear again of the guns I saw two or three of my men making their way back, and as the
fire from both flanks was still heavy it was a matter of running the gauntlet again. I have not
sufficient recollection of minor incidents to describe them, as probably no two men who were in
that charge would describe it in the same way. When I was back pretty nearly where we started
from I found that I was the senior officer of those not wounded, and, consequently, in command,
there being two others, both juniors to me, in the same position Lieut. Wombwell and Cornet
Cleveland (afterwards killed at Inkerman).[6]
Lucan failed to provide any support for Cardigan, and it was speculated that he was motivated by
an enmity for his brother-in-law that had lasted some 30 years and had been intensified during
the campaign up to that point.[citation needed] The troops of the Heavy Brigade entered the mouth of the
valley but did not advance further. Lucan's subsequent explanation was that he saw no point in
having a second brigade mown down, and he was best positioned where he was to render
assistance to Light Brigade survivors returning from the charge. The French light cavalry,
the Chasseurs d'Afrique, was more effective in that it cleared the Fedyukhin Heights of the two
half batteries of guns, two infantry battalions, and Cossacks to ensure the Light Brigade would
not be hit by fire from that flank, and it later provided cover for the remaining elements of the
Light Brigade as they withdrew.[2][7]

The Chasseurs d'Afrique, led by General d'Allonville, clearing Russian artillery from the Fedyukhin Heights.

War correspondent William Russell, who witnessed the battle, declared "our Light Brigade was
annihilated by their own rashness, and by the brutality of a ferocious enemy." [2]
Cardigan survived the battle. Although stories circulated afterwards that he was not actually
present,[8] he led the charge from the front and, never looking back, did not see what was
happening to the troops behind him. He reached the Russian guns, took part in the fight, and
then returned alone up the valley without bothering to rally or even find out what had happened
to the survivors. He afterwards said all he could think about was his rage against Captain Nolan,
who he thought had tried to take over the leadership of the charge from him. After riding back up
the valley, he considered he had done all that he could and then, with considerable sang-froid,
left the field and went on board his yacht in Balaclava harbour, where he ate a champagne
dinner.[9] He subsequently described the engagement in a speech delivered at the Mansion
House in London that was afterwards quoted in length in the House of Commons:[citation needed]
We advanced down a gradual descent of more than three-quarters of a mile, with the batteries
vomiting forth upon us shells and shot, round and grape, with one battery on our right flank and
another on the left, and all the intermediate ground covered with the Russian riflemen; so that
when we came to within a distance of fifty yards from the mouths of the artillery which had been
hurling destruction upon us, we were, in fact, surrounded and encircled by a blaze of fire, in
addition to the fire of the riflemen upon our flanks.
As we ascended the hill, the oblique fire of the artillery poured upon our rear, so that we had thus
a strong fire upon our front, our flank, and our rear. We entered the batterywe went through the
batterythe two leading regiments cutting down a great number of the Russian gunners in their
onset. In the two regiments which I had the honour to lead, every officer, with one exception, was
either killed or wounded, or had his horse shot under him or injured. Those regiments proceeded,
followed by the second line, consisting of two more regiments of cavalry, which continued to
perform the duty of cutting down the Russian gunners.
Then came the third line, formed of another regiment, which endeavoured to complete the duty
assigned to our brigade. I believe that this was achieved with great success, and the result was
that this body, composed of only about 670 men, succeeded in passing through the mass of
Russian cavalry ofas we have since learned5,240 strong; and having broken through that
mass, they went, according to our technical military expression, "threes about," and retired in the
same manner, doing as much execution in their course as they possibly could upon the enemy's
cavalry. Upon our returning up the hill which we had descended in the attack, we had to run the
same gauntlet and to incur the same risk from the flank fire of the Tirailleur as we had
encountered before. Numbers of our men were shot downmen and horses were killed, and
many of the soldiers who had lost their horses were also shot down while endeavouring to
escape.
But what, my Lord, was the feeling and what the bearing of those brave men who returned to the
position. Of each of these regiments there returned but a small detachment, two-thirds of the
men engaged having been destroyed? I think that every man who was engaged in that
disastrous affair at Balaklava, and who was fortunate enough to come out of it alive, must feel
that it was only by a merciful decree of Almighty Providence that he escaped from the greatest
apparent certainty of death which could possibly be conceived.
A newspaper report on 11 December 2016[10][11] revealed another version of what happened:
"More than 160 years on" (i.e. after 2014) a letter was found in the British Library, written by
Lieutenant Frederick Maxse, who was on Lord Raglan's staff at Balaklava. It said that Lord
Raglan had sent an order for the Light Brigade to "follow the enemy and try to prevent the enemy
from carrying away the guns"; those guns were some British artillery guns which were at risk.
Raglan sent the order via 36-year-old Captain Louis Nolan (old drawing of him). Nolan, instead of
passing on the order verbatim complete as given, passed it on to Lord Lucan orally as "There,
my lord, is your enemy! There are your guns!", and added the word "attack" when Raglan had
intended merely a show of force. Nolan's version of the order and accompanying gesture were
misunderstood, causing the disaster described above. Nolan rode with the charge and died in it.
Maxse's letter said that Nolan was annoyed at how little the Light Brigade had done previously
and that Nolan was angry against Lord Lucan. Nigel Kingscote (another of Raglan's staff officers)
agreed that the fault was Nolan's, and said that Nolan, if he had lived, would have been "broke
by court martial".

Aftermath
Initial London Gazette dispatches, addressed to the Duke of Newcastle, in which the event was first
reported. Raglan blamed Lucan in the dispatch, igniting significant controversy.

Officers and men of the 13th Light Dragoons, survivors of the charge, photographed by Roger Fenton

The brigade was not completely destroyed, but did suffer terribly, with 118 men killed, 127
wounded, and about 60 taken prisoner. After regrouping, only 195 men were still with horses.
The futility of the action and its reckless bravery prompted the French Marshal Pierre Bosquet to
state: "C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre." ("It is magnificent, but it is not war.") He
continued, in a rarely quoted phrase: "C'est de la folie" "It is madness."[12] The Russian
commanders are said to have initially believed that the British soldiers must have been drunk.
[9]
Somerset Calthorpe, Aide de Camp to Lord Raglan, wrote a letter to a friend three days after
the charge. He detailed casualty numbers but did not distinguish between those killed and those
taken prisoner:
"Killed and missing. Wounded.
9 Officers 12
14 Serjeants 9
4 Trumpeters 3
129 Rank and file 98

156 Total 122

278 casualties;
 besides 335 horses killed in action, or obliged afterwards to be destroyed from wounds. It has
since been ascertained that the Russians made a good many prisoners; the exact number is not
yet known."[13]
The reputation of the British cavalry was significantly enhanced as a result of the charge, though
the same cannot be said for their commanders.
Slow communications meant that news of the disaster did not reach the British public until three
weeks after the action. The British commanders' dispatches from the front were published in an
extraordinary edition of the London Gazette of 12 November 1854. Raglan blamed Lucan for the
charge, claiming that "from some misconception of the order to advance, the Lieutenant-General
(Lucan) considered that he was bound to attack at all hazards, and he accordingly ordered
Major-General the Earl of Cardigan to move forward with the Light Brigade." [14] Lucan was furious
at being made a scapegoat: Raglan claimed he should have exercised his discretion, but
throughout the campaign up to that date Lucan considered Raglan had allowed him no
independence at all and required that his orders be followed to the letter. Cardigan, who had
merely obeyed orders, blamed Lucan for giving those orders. He returned home a hero and was
promoted to Inspector General of the Cavalry.

Grave of Charles Macaulay, former Sergeant 8th KRI Hussars "One of the Six Hundred" in Woodhouse
Cemetery, Leeds

Lucan attempted to publish a letter refuting point by point Raglan's London Gazette dispatch, but
his criticism of his superior was not tolerated, and Lucan was recalled to England in March 1855.
The Charge of the Light Brigade became a subject of considerable controversy and public
dispute on his return. He strongly rejected Raglan's version of events, calling it "an imputation
reflecting seriously on my professional character." In an exchange of public correspondence
printed in the pages of The Times, Lucan blamed Raglan and his deceased aide-de-camp
Captain Nolan, who had been the actual deliverer of the disputed order. Lucan subsequently
defended himself with a speech in the House of Lords on 19 March.
Lucan evidently escaped blame for the charge, as he was made a member of the Order of the
Bath in July of that same year. Although he never again saw active duty, he reached the rank of
general in 1865 and was made a field marshal in the year before his death.
The charge of the Light Brigade continues to be studied by modern military historians and
students as an example of what can go wrong when accurate military intelligence is lacking and
orders are unclear. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who was a keen military historian and a
former cavalryman, insisted on taking time out during the Yalta Conference in 1945 to see the
battlefield for himself.
One research project used a mathematical model to examine how the charge might have turned
out if conducted differently. The analysis suggested that a charge toward the redoubt on the
Causeway Heights, as Raglan had apparently intended, would have led to even higher British
casualties. By contrast, the charge might have succeeded if the Heavy Brigade had
accompanied the Light Brigade along the valley, as Lucan had initially directed. [15]
According to Norman Dixon, 19th-century accounts of the charge tended to focus on the bravery
and glory of the cavalrymen, much more than the military blunders involved, with the perverse
effect that it "did much to strengthen those very forms of tradition which put such an
incapacitating stranglehold on military endeavor for the next eighty or so years," i.e., until
after World War I.[16]
The fate of the surviving members of the Charge was investigated by Edward James Boys, a
military historian, who documented their lives from leaving the army to their deaths. His records
are described as being the most definitive project of its kind ever undertaken. [17] Edwin Hughes,
who died on 14 May 1927, aged 96, was the last survivor of the charge. [18]

Souvenir picture of the 1904 survivors' reunion

In October 1875, survivors of the Charge met at the Alexandra Palace in London to celebrate the
21st anniversary of the Charge. The celebrations were fully reported in the Illustrated London
News of 30 October 1875,[19] which included the recollections of several of the survivors, including
those of Edward Richard Woodham, the Chairman of the Committee that organised the
celebration. Tennyson was invited, but could not attend. Lucan, the senior commander surviving,
was not present, but attended a separate celebration, held later in the day, with other senior
officers at the fashionable Willis's Rooms, St James's Square.[20] Reunion dinners were held for a
number of years.[21]
On 2 August 1890, trumpeter Martin Leonard Landfried, from the 17th Lancers, who may (or may
not)[22] have sounded the bugle charge at Balaclava, made a recording on an Edison cylinder that
can be heard here, with a bugle which had been used at Waterloo in 1815. (Landfried's name is
misspelled as "Landfrey" on the Edison cylinder recording). [23]
In 2004, on the 150th anniversary of the Charge, a commemoration of the event was held at
Balaklava. As part of the anniversary, a monument dedicated to the 25,000 British participants of
the conflict was unveiled by Prince Michael of Kent.[24]

Survivor postscript
A survivor, John Penn, who died in Dunbar in 1886, left a personal account of his military career
including the infamous Charge written for a friend. This survives and is held by East Lothian
Council Archives.[25]
A number of individuals who died during 1916-17 were thought to be the 'last' survivor of the
Charge of the Light Brigade. Sergeant James A. Mustard of the 17th Lancers, aged 85, had his
funeral with military honours at Twickenham in early February 1916. In the Abergavenny
Chronicle news report published on 11 February it was stated:
He was one of thirty-eight men of the 145 of the 17th Lancers that came out of the charge led by
Cardigan, and was always of the opinion that no one sounded the charge at all. He was in the
battles of Alma and Mackenzie's Farm, and the storming and taking of Sebastopol, and before
leaving for Varna marched with his regiment from Hampton Court to Portsmouth. [26]
In The Cambrian News of 30 June 1916 the passing of another 'last' was noted, Thomas Warr,
aged 85, at Dorchester:
At the meeting of the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation in London last week Mr. Hayes Fisher,
M.P., who presided, said that the last pensioned survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade died
on the previous day. His name was Thomas Warr.[27]
Finally, without any mention of him being the 'last', Sergeant John Smith Parkinson, aged 84, of
Kings Norton, Birmingham,"a survivor of the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava", was
reported in the Cambria Daily Leader of 13 January 1917 to have died the previous day.[28]

The Charge of the Light Brigade

BY LORD ALFRED TENNYSON
I
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns! he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
II
Forward, the Light Brigade!
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
 Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
III
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred.

OVERVIEW
The Charge of the Light Brigade was written by Lord Alfred Tennyson. Those
who can still remember the poem Monsoon History would still remember the
line Reading Tennyson at six p.m. . Anyway, this poem was inspired by

a true event that happened during the Battle of Balaclava that occured on 25
October 1854 in the Cremean War between the British and the Russian. As the
name suggests, the Light Brigade was supposed to pursue a retreating Russion
artelliry battery, a task well-suited to a light calvary. However, due to
miscommunication in the chain of command, the Light Brigade was sent on a
frontal assault against the more well-prepared artelliry battery specialised in
defensive fire.
Adapted from : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_of_the_Light_Brigade
THE POET

Lord Alfred Tennyson was born on August 6, 1809, in Somersby, Lincolnshire,

England. He is one of the most well-loved Victorian poets. Tennyson, the fourth of
twelve children, showed an early talent for writing. At the age of twelve he wrote
a 6,000-line epic poem. His father, the Reverend George Tennyson, tutored his
sons in classical and modern languages. In the 1820s, however, Tennysons
father began to suffer frequent mental breakdowns that were exacerbated by
alcoholism. One of Tennysons brothers had violent quarrels with his father, a
second was later confined to an insane asylum, and another became an opium
addict.
Tennyson escaped home in 1827 to attend Trinity College, Cambridge. In that
same year, he and his brother Charles published Poems by Two Brothers.
Although the poems in the book were mostly juvenilia, they attracted the
attention of the Apostles, an undergraduate literary club led by Arthur Hallam.
The Apostles provided Tennyson, who was tremendously shy, with much
needed friendship and confidence as a poet. Hallam and Tennyson became the
best of friends; they toured Europe together in 1830 and again in 1832. Hallams
sudden death in 1833 greatly affected the young poet. The long elegy In
Memoriam and many of Tennysons other poems are tributes to Hallam.
Source : http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/lord-alfred-tennyson
VOCABULARY

WOR
MEANING
D

Leag
ue

an elongated depression between uplands, hills, or

Valle
mountains, especially one following the course of a
y
stream.

Char
to attack by rushing violently against:
ge

Dism to break down the courage of completely, as by

ayed sudden danger or trouble; dishearten thoroughly; daunt:

Blund to make a gross or stupid mistake, especially through

ered carelessness or mental confusion:

Volle
to fly or be discharged together, as missiles.
yed

Shell a hard, protecting or enclosing case or cover.

Boldl not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or

y possible danger or rebuff; courageous and daring:
MEANING OF THE STANZA
Stanza 1
The light cavalry was marching to the Valley of Death because the foes were no
match for them. It was like committing suicide. They were 600 of them riding
horses fighting in a battle. Their leader ordered them to move forward and
confiscate the guns to prevent the guns from being carried away by the enemies.
Stanza 2
The soldiers were still moving forward. No one was discouraged by the fact that
somebody had made a foolish mistake by giving them a wrong order. They were
not in the position to answer any questions nor to ask why. They kept on moving
because it was their responsibility and they received order from their superior.
Even if they were fated to die, all the six hundreds of them were still moving
forward.
Stanza 3
The soldiers bravely fought the battle. They were attacked from their right, their
left but they still moved forward. True enough, they were also attacked from the
front. But they marched fearlessly to the Valley of Death and fought until their
last breaths.
MORAL VALUES
1. We should be brave in defending our country.
2. Appreciate the peace that we have.
3. Sometimes, it is good to ask questions.