page_title: Charge (warfare)
section_title: Nineteenth century
hierarchical_section_title: Charge (warfare) / Notable charges / Nineteenth century
caption_attribution_description: English: The Charge of the Light Brigade by Richard Caton Woodville Jr., oil on canvas, 1894. Commissioned by the Illustrated London News, the artist completed The Charge of the Light Brigade as part of a commemorative series portraying famous British battles. The painting, which depicts the head of the charge with Lord Cardigan alongside the 17th Lancers, is now part of the permanent holdings of the Palacio Real de Madrid, the official residence of the Spanish royal family.
context_page_description: A charge is an offensive maneuver in battle in which combatants advance towards their enemy at their best speed in an attempt to engage in a decisive close combat. The charge is the dominant shock attack and has been the key tactic and decisive moment of many battles throughout history. Modern charges usually involve small groups of fireteams equipped with weapons with a high rate of fire and striking against individual defensive positions, instead of large groups of combatants charging another group or a fortified line.
context_section_description: Battle of Eylau (February 8, 1807): 11,000 French cavalry under Joachim Murat charge the centre of the Russian army to save the French army of Napoleon.
  Battle of Somosierra (November 30, 1808): During the Peninsular War Napoleon overwhelmed the Spanish positions in a combined arms attack, charging the Polish uhlans or Chevau-légers of the Imperial Guard at the Spanish guns while French infantry advanced up the slopes. The victory removed the last obstacle barring the road to Madrid, which fell several days later.
  Battle of Salamanca (July 22, 1812) Described as probably the most destructive charge made by a single brigade of cavalry in the whole Napoleonic period, Major General John Le Marchant's heavy cavalry brigade (5th Dragoon Guards, 3rd and 4th Dragoons) destroyed battalion after battalion of French infantry.
  Battle of Borodino (September 7, 1812) Three cavalry corps containing French, German and Polish regiments struck the enemy's centre. The Russian cavalry counter charged and this led to a general cavalry battle.
  Battle of Dresden (August 27, 1813) French cavalry under Marshal Murat succeeded in cutting off and annihilating the Allies' left wing. Several Austrian infantry divisions were caught in the open with inoperable muskets (due to heavy rains) by the French combination of cavalry and horse artillery and thus suffered heavy casualties, many soldiers surrendering. Napoleon's forces achieved a great victory.
  Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815): Two brigades (about 2,000 men) of the British heavy cavalry charged and annihilated the advancing French infantry (14,000 men) on the left flank of the Allied army. Later during the battle, the French cavalry mounted an attack with 9,000 men on the Allied infantry positions in the centre, but were unable to break the infantry's squares.
  Charge of the Light Brigade (October 25, 1854) at the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. Due to faulty orders a tiny force of 670 British light cavalrymen charged an enemy force many times their size. They succeeded in breaking through as well as disengaging, but suffered extremely heavy casualties and achieved no important objectives.
  Battle of Gettysburg (July 2, 1863) After running out of ammunition, Col. Joshua Chamberlain ordered the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment to fix bayonets and charge down the hill at the 15th Regiment Alabama Infantry. Shocked by the movement, the Confederates ran down the hill. After the charge, the 20th Maine had captured most of the 15th Alabama. 262 soldiers of the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry regiment charged a Confederate infantry unit in order to gain five minutes of time for the army of the Potomac. During the charge the regiment suffered 82 percent casualties. After the charge only 40 men were left, making it the worst single loss of any unit in the American Civil War.
  Pickett's Charge (July 3, 1863) at the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. Mass infantry assault on the Union lines but was bloodily repulsed by Union forces.
  Third Battle of Winchester (September 19, 1864): the largest cavalry charge of the American Civil War.
  Battle of Franklin (1864) (November 30, 1864): the largest infantry charge of the American Civil War.
  Battle of Wörth (August 6, 1870): French heavy cavalry brigade, with two squadrons of light cavalry, charges Prussian infantry in the village of Morsbronn, lost 800 men and the battle.
  Battle of Mars-la-Tour (August 16, 1870): "Von Bredow's Death Ride". Prussian heavy cavalry brigade overrun French infantry and artillery to reinforce left flank of Prussian Army, at the cost of half the brigade.  One of the few notable examples of successful cavalry charges after the introduction of modern firearms.
  Charge of the 21st Lancers in the Battle of Omdurman, September 2, 1898: 400 British cavalry charge 2,500 Mahdist infantry. This was also one of the first battles Winston Churchill engaged in, and was accurately described in his first book, The River War.
  Relief of Kimberley (13 February 1900): Major-General John French led a charge of 7500 cavalry throug
caption: The Charge of the Light Brigade, a charge of British light cavalry against a larger Russian force, was made famous because of Lord Tennyson's poetic retelling of the events.
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