Jan Smith Photography Blog » Battle of Balaclava – Poems, Pictures, and Immortality Battle of Balaclava – Poems, Pictures, and Immortality Battle of Balaclava – Prologue “Captain Dames of the royal Artillery leans against a wall in camp during the Crimean War”, Roger Fenton 1855 – ©Corbis The Battle of Balaclava is one of the most famous battles of all time, despite being a comparatively minor engagement in the Crimean War. The futile heroics of the soldiers who fought there may have gone relatively unnoticed if not for a picture and a poem. The battle itself is fraught with anecdotes and personalities that combine to make legend. The events of October 25th, 1854 evolve like the episodes of a Greek tragedy, with the fate of the soldiers hinging on the acts of a handful of characters. Balaclava Battle Map – Courtesy of Google Earth – Jan Smith 2012 Balaclava Episode 1 – The Thin Red Line On the morning of the 25th, the Russians overran the Turkish outposts and advanced directly toward the port of Balaclava.

The British, who were commanded by Sir Colin Campbell, were late in responding: the divisional commanders were reluctant to tire their soldiers on what they initially thought was a false alarm. The only British troops between the Russian force and the port were the two cavalry brigades which had their encampments in the valley, the 93rd Highlanders, and a small force of marines. Thin Red Line, Crimea – Jan Smith 2011 The commander of the 93rd ordered his men to stand firm and hold off the Russian cavalry with no thought of retreat. They were spread thinly across a mile of terrain, their red coats easily visible through the vineyard they used as cover. They put-up an admirable defense that was described by William Russell, correspondent for the Times newspaper, as a “thin red line”. Had the Russians pressed their numerical advantage it is likely they would have broken through the line of the 93rd and captured Balaclava. Instead, they desisted and retreated to the strategically safer high ground of the Causeway Heights.

Balaclava Episode 2 – The Charge of the Heavy Brigade To the left of the 93rd Highlanders a force of Russian horse soldiers was moving over the Causeway Heights towards the British camp. The British quickly mustered six squadrons of heavy cavalry from the Royal Scots Grays, the Inniskilling Dragoons and the Dragoon Guards, but were at least twice outnumbered by the Russians. To add to the precarious predicament, the British commander, General Sir James Scarlett had never commanded troops in battle. He organized his men as if on a parade ground and ordered a charge against the advancing enemy line. To everybody’s surprise, the inferior army hacked and hawed its way into the Russian center with such fury that the larger force retreated back over the Causeway Heights. Balaclava Episode 3 – The Charge of the Light Brigade The retreating Russian cavalry was vulnerable to attack from the British Light Cavalry Brigade, under command of Major General the Earl of Cardigan who in turn reported to Lieutenant General the Earl of Lucan.

Some historians claim Cardigan and Lucan were brothers-in-law who disliked each other intensely, and that this may have contributed to the tragic miscommunication: instead of sending the Light Brigade after the routed Russian Cavalry, they were sent against the well positioned artillery and cavalry battalions in the valley behind the Causeway Heights. Cardigan and Lucan mutually accused each other of botching the orders. Charge of the Light Brigade, Crimea – Jan Smith 2011 The events that followed significantly enhanced the reputation of the British Light Cavalry. Armed with pistols and sabers, 673 men and horses charged against Russian artillery lines at the end of the valley. They ran across the low ground for a mile, sustaining fire from three sides: “Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them…” Miraculously, they managed to engage the artillery battalions but were soon forced to retreat back through the valley. Lord Cardigan, who headed the charge himself found himself alone among the artillery and rode back.

He was one of the first 195 survivors to reach British lines, where he met Sir George Cathcart and is reported to have said, “I have lost my brigade.” The French 4th Chaussers were able to overrun the Russian positions on the Fedioukine Hills and provide the retreating cavalry some relief, but the end result was carnage. Marshal Pierre Bosquet, who saw the charge stated, “C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre…c‘est de la folie“. Balaclava 4: The Stasimon or the Stationary Poem The ride of the six hundred cavalrymen was penned into poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson within a few weeks of the battle: The Charge of the Light Brigade. “Into the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred,” became household words that at once enveloped the British soldiers in the book of Psalms. Divided into six parts–one for every hundred who charged–the poem is a gripping ode to wasted bravery.

“the soldier knew Some one had blunder’d: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do & die,” alludes directly to the futility of questioning suicidal orders and echoes the public inquiries being made of the commanders in the months after the battle. Balaclava 5 Exode – The Exit Song (or Picture) William Russell, the correspondent who witnessed the battle, wrote “our Light Brigade was annihilated by their own rashness, and by the brutality of a ferocious enemy”. Public outcry soon followed and obliged the British crown to attempt propaganda efforts to appease its citizens. The most significant of these actions was the appointing of Roger Fenton as the world’s first official war photographer. Fenton took a huge amount of equipment, including five cameras and 700 glass plates, plus numerous bottles of chemicals and his own food supply. He transported it all in his “Photographic Van”–really just a converted wine merchant’s wagon. He endured four months of war that included being bombed by the Russians, breaking a few ribs, and frequently suffocating on developer fumes.

The photographic material of the time limited Fenton to long exposures, and although the ruins of trenches, mutilated soldiers, and corpses were logical still-life subjects, his political mandate limited this choice of motif. Fenton instead focused on the landscape, and of the 350 plates he managed to develop, his most famous one was the one he referred to in letters he sent home as ‘Valley of Death’. The image is iconic not for what is shows, but for what it does not. Beyond the bleak battlefield road littered with cannonballs is the ghost of suffering, an endless road of pain: “Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell”… When exhibited in London in May of 1855, the image’s title was expanded to ‘The Valley of the Shadow of Death’ (as in Psalm 23). The valley depicted is not the one where the infamous Light Brigade charged, but that mattered little because the public already associated the same line in Tennyson’s poem with the debacle of Balaclava. Together, picture and poem set a melancholic mood about war that immortalized the Battle of Balaclava in a light that found glory in defeat.

Sebastopol with the Redan, Malakoff & Mamelon – Colonel Shadforth seated in the foreground – Robert Fenton The Thin Red Line (Battle of Balaclava) | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia The Thin Red Line (Battle of Balaclava) 204,343pages on Share The Thin Red Line, painted by Robert Gibb The Thin Red Line was a military action by the Sutherland Highlanders red-coated 93rd (Highland) Regiment at the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854, during the Crimean War . [1] In this incident, the 93rd, aided by a small force of Royal Marines and some Turkish infantrymen, led by Sir Colin Campbell , routed a Russian cavalry charge. Previously, Campbell’s Highland Brigade had taken part in actions at the Battle of Alma and the Siege of Sevastopol . There were more Victoria Crosses presented to the Highland soldiers at that time than at any other. The event was galvanized in the British press and became an icon of the qualities of the red coat in a war that was poorly managed and increasingly unpopular.

Contents Edit The Russian cavalry force of 2,500 was on the road to Balaklava. About 400 of them were involved in the incident. [2] It was early morning, and the sole force that lay between the oncoming cavalry and the disorganised and vulnerable British camp was the 93rd Regiment. [3] A diorama of the action in the Regimental Museum at Stirling Castle Campbell is said to have told his men, "There is no retreat from here, men. You must die where you stand." [4] Sir Colin's aide John Scott is said to have replied, "Aye, Sir Colin. If needs be, we'll do that." (Campbell's relationship with his men was almost family-like.) Campbell formed the 93rd into a line two deep — the "thin red line". Convention dictated that the line should be four deep.

However, Campbell, a veteran of 41 years military service, had such a low opinion of the Russian cavalry that he did not bother to form four lines, let alone a square, but met the charge head on with the 2-deep firing line.[ citation needed ] As the Russian cavalry approached, the 93rd discharged three volleys: at 600, 350 and 150 yards respectively, however they did not get a chance to discharge one at point-blank (as at Minden in 1759) range as in popular belief. This is due to the fact that the Russian commander, seeing such a thin line of infantry, concluded that this was a diversion and that there was a much stronger force behind the 93rd, and ordered the cavalry to withdraw. [5] At that, some of the Highlanders started forward for a counter-charge, but Sir Colin stopped them with a cry of "93rd, damn all that eagerness!" [6] The Times correspondent, William H.

Russell, wrote [7] that he could see nothing between the charging Russians and the British regiment's base of operations at Balaclava but the "thin red streak tipped with a line of steel" of the 93rd. Popularly condensed into "the thin red line", the phrase became a symbol of British sangfroid in battle. The battle is represented in Robert Gibb 's 1881 oil painting of the same name, which is displayed in the Scottish National War Museum in Edinburgh Castle . It is also commemorated in the assembly hall of Campbell's former school, High School of Glasgow , where there is a painting of the action hung in the grand position, a tribute to one of the school's two generals, the other being Sir John Moore who was dismembered by a cannonball during the Peninsular War . Later uses of the term Main article: Red line (phrase) The Thin Red Line has become an English figure of speech for any thinly spread military unit holding firm against attack. The phrase has also taken on the metaphorical meaning of the barrier which the relatively limited armed forces of a country present to potential attackers.

The term "the thin red line" later referred to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and their job to defend the Empire and the United Kingdom after the incorporation of the Argylls and Sutherlands into a single regiment now known as the Argyll and Sutherland battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland . The derived term The Thin Blue Line refers colloquially to the police, which soon gave birth to the equal term of the "Thin Red Line" which refers colloquially to the fire brigade . Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem Tommy that has the lines "Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? / But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll," – " Tommy Atkins " being slang for a common soldier in the British Army . Author James Jones wrote a novel about American soldiers fighting in Guadalcanal during World War II and entitled it The Thin Red Line . The book was adapted into feature films in 1964 and in 1998. In Carry On...

Up the Khyber , a soldier draws a thin red line on the ground with paint and brush, arguing that the enemy will not dare to cross it. Musical references The Battle of Balaclava - Crimean War - Charge of the Light Brigade The Battle of Balaclava The Charge of the Light Brigade, the Charge of the Heavy Brigade and the Thin Red Line War: Crimean War Place: On the southern Crimean coast in the Ukraine. Combatants: British, French and Turkish troops against the Imperial Russian Army. Generals: Lieutenant General the Earl of Raglan commanded the British Army, General Saint-Arnaud commanded the French Army. Prince Menshikov commanded the Russian Army. The Russian commander of the Balaclava assault was General Liprandi, Menshikov’s second in command. Click here or on image to buy a Print Uniforms, arms and equipment: See the main Crimean War site on britishbattles.com. Winner: Balaclava is a battle honour for all the British regiments that took part. It is usually a pre-condition for a battle honour that the battle is a victory for British arms. Balaclava was a strategic defeat.

The Russians captured seven guns and at the end of the battle held the ground they had attacked. Against this the three episodes in the battle; the Charge of the Heavy Brigade, the Thin Red Line and the Charge of the Light Brigade, are such icons of courage and achievement for the British Army, that it is not surprising the military authorities awarded Balaclava as a battle honour to the regiments involved. 1st Royal Dragoons 4th Dragoon Guards: now the Royal Dragoon Guards. 5th Dragoon Guards: now the Royal Dragoon Guards. 1st Royal Dragoons: now the Blues and Royals. Royal Scots Greys: now the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. 6th Inniskilling Dragoons: now the Royal Dragoon Guards. 4th Light Dragoons: now the Queen’s Royal Hussars. 8th Hussars: now the Queen’s Royal Hussars. 11th Hussars: now the King’s Royal Husars. 13th Light Dragoons: now the Light Dragoons. 17th Lancers: now the Queen’s Royal Lancers. 93rd Highlanders: now the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

All these regiments have Balaclava as a battle honour. Account: In mid-September 1854 the British and French armies with a small Turkish contingent landed on the Western Crimean coast 30 miles north of Sevastopol with the aim of capturing this important Russian Black Sea naval base. An officer of the 93rd Highlanders The allied armies marched south along the coast and fought the battle of the Alma on that river, defeating the Russian army and driving it back towards the city. Lord Raglan and Marshal St Arnaud, the two commanders in chief, resolved to march around the inland side of Sevastopol and begin siege operations against the city from the South. Once the march had been completed the French established their base at Kamiesh on the south western tip of the Crimea, south of Sevastopol, while the British took Balaclava as their base, 15 miles along the coast to the East.

The Battle of Balaclava (this map appears in the best selling book, The Dangerous Book for Boys by Gonn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden, in the section Famous Battles-Part Two) The Russian commander, Prince Menshikov, marched his army out of Sevastopol to the North East, leaving a garrison to conduct the defence of the city. The allies were thereby left with two tasks; the siege of the city and holding off Menshikov’s army. During October 1854 reinforcements came in to Menshikov’s army from elsewhere in the Crimea and further afield in Russia until his army was larger than that of the allies. The 93rd Highlanders repel the Russian Cavalry On 25th October 1854 Menshikov launched an assault across the Tchernaya River to the North East of Balaclava with the aim of capturing the British base. The assault was commanded by his deputy, General Liprandi. Liprandi crossed the Tractir Bridge across the river and advanced on the positions held by Turkish troops along the Causeway Heights.

He commanded twenty-five battalions of infantry, twenty-three squadrons of cavalry, thirteen squadrons of Cossack light horse and sixty-six guns. Supporting General Liprandi by occupying the Fedioukine Hills was a further force commanded by General Jabrokritski, of seven battalions and fourteen guns. The total force comprised 20,000 infantry, 3,500 cavalry and 76 guns. A trooper of the 13the Light Dragoons on picquet duty The Woronzoff Road running along the ridge of the Causeway Heights provided an important communication for the British, being the only firm road from Balaclava up to the siege works at Sevastopol. The Turkish troops were building six redoubts along the Heights to protect the road and defend Balaclava. The work was not far progressed. Nine 12 pounder naval guns bolstered these positions. After a heavy bombardment the Turkish troops were driven out of the Number One redoubt on Canrobert’s Hill, suffering some 400 casualties of a garrison of 500.

A French Chasseurs D'Afrique Lord Raglan from his headquarters on the Sapouné Heights to the West saw the threat to Balaclava and his lines of communications. The only British troops between the Russian force and the port were the two cavalry brigades which had their encampments in the valley, the 93rd Highlanders and a small force of marines. Raglan ordered the 2nd and 4th Divisions to march down from their camps outside the Sevastopol siege lines to support the cavalry and highlanders. There was considerable delay in persuading the divisional commanders to make the arduous journey down to the valleys at Balaclava. Many of the regiments had spent the night in the trenches and were exhausted and only days previously a similar alarm had caused the infantry to make just this march to find it was a false alarm. Following the Russians’ successful attack on the Turkish troops in Number One Redoubt the garrisons of the other earthworks left their positions and made for Balaclava, some of the Turkish soldiers being belaboured by a Scottish soldier’s wife as they fled through the camp of the 93rd Highlanders.

Sergeant Major Bailey of the Royal Dragoons The Charge of the Heavy Brigade: As the Russian infantry and guns pushed the Turks out of the redoubts a force of 3,000 Russian cavalry moved from the North Valley onto the Causeway Heights with the intention of advancing across the South Valley to occupy Balaclava. At the same time the British Heavy Brigade, of 900 cavalrymen commanded by Major General James Scarlett, was moving eastwards into the South Valley. The main section of the brigade comprised six squadrons of the Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons), the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons and the 5th Dragoon Guards, in two columns. Following these columns were the 1st Royal Dragoons and the 4th Dragoon Guards, another four squadrons. Lord Raglan and his staff on the Sapouné Heights, looking down from the high ground, could see the two cavalry forces converging. The Russians and the Heavy Brigade could not see each other, until the Russian cavalry came over the Causeway Heights and began their descend into the South Valley. In front of them, marching across their line of advance, was the Heavy Brigade.

The Charge of the Heavy Brigade: the Royal Scots Greys attack the Russian cavalry. the Grey's 2nd Squadron was led in the charge by Captain Samuel Toosey Williams. Captain Williams died in Scutari on 25th November 1854 of exhaustion and exposure suffered in the period around the battle and the Great Storm of 15th November 1854. A memorial to this officer can be seen in the tiny church of Buscot, Oxfordshire where his parents lived. General Scarlett acted immediately, forming his left column into line and leading them into the attack on the Russian cavalry force. The squadrons of the other column followed as a second line and the Royals and 4th Dragoon Guards hurried up to join the attack as quickly as they could. The Charge of the Heavy Brigade (The Greys and the Royals) French Chasseurs D'Afrique : The 4th Chasseurs D'Afrique, a mounted regiment, charged the Russians on the Fedioukine Hills and cleared the flank of the Light Brigade, saving them from fire on that side during the retreat from the charge As the Heavy Brigade charged, the Russian cavalry force halted so that it received the Heavy Brigade charge stationary.

The Russian commander appeared to be seeking to extend his line after crossing the Causeway Heights. The first line of Scots Greys and Inniskillings struck the Russian cavalry, followed by the second line of Inniskillings and 5th Dragoon Guards. The wings of the Russian formation closed in behind the two lines and the Royal Dragoons charged the wings in the rear. The two forces struggled on the hillside until the 4th Dragoon Guards came up and delivered a further charge into the Russian flank. In Hamley’s words “Then -almost as it seemed in a moment, and simultaneously- the whole Russian mass gave way, and fled, at speed and in disorder, beyond the hill, vanishing behind the slope some four or five minutes after they had first swept over it”. In the rush to charge the Russians the brigade commander, General Scarlett, with his adc Lieutenant Alick Elliot, his trumpeter and orderly outstripped the line of troopers and plunged into the Russian ranks initially alone. Scarlett suffered five wounds and Elliot fourteen wounds. Lord Raglan sent down the message to Scarlett “Well done”.

The Thin Red Line: As the force of Russian cavalry came over the lip of the Causeway Heights before engaging the Heavy Brigade, a force of four squadrons detached from the main body and headed directly for Balaclava. In their path lay the 93rd Highlanders under Sir Colin Campbell, the commander of the Highland Brigade. Two Turkish battalions fled on the Russians advance. As the Russians approached, Campbell brought the 93rd from concealment and formed line across the cavalry’s line of advance. The staff on Sapouné Hill saw what William Russell, the Times correspondent, described as a “thin red line tipped with steel” (in his initial report the expression used was “a thin red streak…”) Lord Cardigan leading the Light Brigade in the Charge Hamley reports that the 93rd fired one volley at extreme range and the Russian cavalry withdrew. Other authorities state that the highlanders fired a second volley, also at considerable range. The unyielding presence of the single Highland regiment caused the Russians to abandon their intention of taking Balaclava.

The Charge of the Light Brigade: While the Heavy Brigade engaged the Russian cavalry force in the South Valley, the Light Brigade was in position at the western end of the North Valley. Following its defeat by Scarlett’s brigade, the Russian cavalry recrossed the Causeway Heights into the North Valley, presenting an opportunity for the Light Brigade to attack them in flank and complete the rout begun by Scarlett’s charge. Lord Cardigan failed to take the opportunity, even though the commanding officer of the17th Lancers, Captain Morris, pressed him to attack and in the light of Cardigan’s refusal sought permission to charge with his regiment, a request Cardigan also refused. Morris returned to his regiment striking his thigh and saying “What an opportunity we have missed”. Raglan’s failure to commit the cavalry to offensive action in the campaign to date had caused considerable frustration in the cavalry division and derision in the rest of the army. On the Bulganek and Alma Rivers during the march towards Sevastopol in September 1854 Raglan had refused to permit the Light Brigade to attack, causing the army to give the divisional commander the nickname of Lord “Look-on”, attributing the division’s inaction to him.

Click here to purchase a Giclee Print of this Picture Now at Balaclava, in the absence of the infantry, the cavalry was required to play a major role. The Heavy Brigade had played its part to the full. The opportunity was passing to the Light Brigade and Cardigan refused to act. There seems to be no doubting Cardigan’s personal courage. He claimed that Lucan had forbidden him to take offensive action. The opportunity for the Light Brigade was particularly apparent to Raglan’s staff watching from the Sapouné Hills, amongst whom there was considerable excitement, particularly on the part of Captain Lewis Nolan of the 15th Hussars, General Airey’s adc, a fine horseman and a ferocious advocate of the aggressive use of cavalry. Lord Raglan's Order to the Cavalry to attack As the Russian cavalry force withdrew along the North Valley to take up a position behind a battery of eight guns at the far end, Raglan’s staff saw that the Russians on the Causeway Heights were preparing to remove the naval guns captured from the Turks in the redoubts. Loss of guns was a clear indicator of success or failure in battle and could not be allowed to go unchallenged.

The two British infantry divisions had still not reached the valley floor so that the only force available to prevent the removal of the guns was the cavalry division. The alarm is given in the Cavalry Camp : Dawn 25th October 1854 At Raglan’s direction General Airey wrote the famous order to Lucan, stating: “Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front, and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns. Troop of horse artillery may accompany. French cavalry is on your left. Immediate.” Because of the urgency of the message and the difficulty in reaching the valley floor from the Sapouné Hills the order was entrusted to Captain Lewis Nolan. The authorities agree this was an unfortunate choice. Hamley describes Nolan as “the author of a book on cavalry tactics, in which faith in the power of that arm is carried to an extreme”. An Officer of the 11th Hussars Nolan, a mercurial professional cavalry officer who had begun his career in an Austrian hussar regiment, entertained a contempt for Lucan and was constantly irked by the failure to use the cavalry decisively. Nolan rode headlong down the steep slope and delivered Raglan’s order.

The text made little sense to Lucan as the preparations for the removal of the guns from the redoubts could not be seen from the valley floor. Lucan asked Nolan which enemy and which guns Raglan was referring to. Nolan is reported to have flung his arm out in the direction of the Russian cavalry force now positioned behind its guns at the end of the North Valley and to have said with some insolence, “There is your enemy. There are your guns, My Lord.” Click here or image to buy a print Raglan’s staff watched horrified from the top of Sapouné Hill as the Light Brigade moved off down the valley and failed to turn up onto the Causeway Heights. They could see the Russians positioned on the Fedioukine Hills to the north side of the North Valley, with infantry, cavalry and guns, the original force of Russian cavalry attacked by the Heavy Brigade at the end of the North Valley behind the battery of 8 guns and on the Causeway Heights on the south side of the valley, Russian infantry, cavalry and guns in the redoubts abandoned by the Turks. All these troops were ready to fire into the Light Brigade as it attacked down the North Valley.

Vedettes of the 13th Light Dragoons It was soon after 11am that the Light Brigade set off behind Lord Cardigan. The 13th Light Dragoons held the right flank of the first line with the 17th Lancers on the left. The 11th Hussars, Cardigan’s regiment, formed the second line, positioned behind the 17th Lancers. In the third line were the 8th Hussars and the 4th Light Dragoons. Lord Lucan followed with the Heavy Brigade, but a short distance into the advance, as the scale of fire became apparent, he halted the brigade and left the Light Brigade to continue down the valley alone. The 17th Lancers in the Charge: Lord Cardigan leads the Regiment Captain Nolan joined the ranks of the 17th Lancers, the officer commanding, Captain Morris, being a friend. It is thought Nolan realised the brigade was intended to ascend the Causeway Heights, not to attack down the valley, and that a grave mistake was being made. Nolan rode across in front of Cardigan waving his sword.

As he did so he was struck and killed by a shell splinter, one of the first casualties. The distance the Light Brigade had to cover to reach the guns was a mile and a quarter. Advancing at a trot the brigade came under fire within a few minutes; shell fire, cannon balls and rifle fire from the flanking Russian forces striking down riders and horses. After five minutes the brigade came within range of the eight guns at the end of the valley. These guns had a much easier target, firing at the brigade line, around 100 yards in width, rather than at its flank. Casualties spiraled causing the regiments to increase their pace until the lines were at the gallop and order was being lost. By the time the brigade reached the guns, half of its complement were casualties. The cookhouse of the 8th Hussars Reaching the end of the valley, the Light Brigade plunged into the Russian gun line and slaughtered those of the crews that had not fled. The 13th Light Dragoons with the right hand squadron of the 17th Lancers struck the Russian Battery directly. The left squadron of the 17th passed the battery and attacked Russian cavalry behind.

The 11th Hussars passed the battery and attacked the cavalry beyond driving them back and pursuing them as far as the aqueduct. They were in turn pursued for some distance by a force of Russian cavalry and Cossacks. 8th Light Dragoons (Hussars) The charge complete the Light Brigade returned by the route it had come. It did this singly and in small groups, other than two larger parties: one led by Colonel Shewell formed of 70 men of the 8th Hussars and the 17th Lancers; the other led by Lord George Paget of 4th Light Dragoons and 11th Hussars. Each of these bodies was opposed by Russian cavalry who emerged from the hills on either side of the valley, which they charged and dispersed. The aftermath of the Charge of the Light Brigade: the survivors return The French General Morris directed the 4th Chasseurs D’Afrique, a colonial cavalry regiment, to attack along the Fedioukine Hills and silence the Russian fire on the north side of the valley. This they did with great success and a loss of only 38 casualties.

This relieved the British cavalrymen of the fire from the north side of the valley as they returned. Lord Cardigan having ridden through the battery found himself alone, turned and rode back down the valley. He was one of the first to reach British lines where he met Sir George Cathcart. He is reported to have said “I have lost my brigade.” The French Chasseurs D'Afrique attack On its return the Light Brigade had a mounted strength of 195 officers and men from an original strength of 673. 247 men were killed and wounded. 475 horses were killed and 42 wounded. The 13th Light Dragoons mustered 10 mounted men. Although the First and Fourth British Infantry Divisions were now in the valley and ready to begin an assault on the Causeway Heights along the Woronzoff Road, no further action was taken. The Russians were left in control of the Heights and the road. The infantry divisions returned to their camps. A Russian Cossack sits by his dead horse The Heavy Brigade suffered 92 casualties (9 of whom were killed) in the battle, some of whom were hit at the beginning of the charge down the North Valley.

17th Light Dragoons (Lancers) Victoria Crosses awarded to the regiments at Balaclava: Royal Scots Greys: 2 4th Dragoon Guards: 5 men 5th Dragoon Guards: 2 officers and 13 men 1st Royal Dragoons: 4 officers and 9 men Royal Scots Greys: 4 officers and 55 men 6th Inniskilling Dragoons: 15 men 4th Light Dragoons: 4 officers and 55 men 8th Hussars: 4 officers and 53 men 11th Hussars: 3 officers and 55 men 13th Light Dragoons: 3 officers and 38 men 17th Lancers: 7 officers and 67 men 93rd Highlanders: no casualties.

"Sir Briggs" one of the horse survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade: ridden in the Charge by Lord Tredegar, an officer of the 17th Lancers Follow-up: The main consequence of the battle was that the use of the Woronzoff Road was lost to the British for the winter of 1854/1855, making the disastrous conditions even more difficult. 6th Inniskilling Dragoons Regimental anecdotes and traditions: The Charge of the Light Brigade caused a sensation in Victorian Britain and throughout the world. It quickly became the stuff of legend, Lord Tennyson writing his famous poem: see below. Controversy has raged over the mistake that sent the Light Brigade down the valley instead of up onto the Causeway Heights. Lord Lucan bore most of the blame. Hamley, who was present at the battle, questions the ambiguous wording of Raglan’s order. Without a doubt the extraordinary clash of personalities between Cardigan, Lucan and Nolan played a major part. The one unquestionable feature that emerges from the battle is the courage and persistence of the ordinary troopers and regimental officers of the cavalry regiments that fought at Balaclava.

All the Crimean battles show the mid-Victorian British soldier to have been a very tough breed. The French 4th Chasseurs D’Afrique deserve great praise for their attack along the Fedioukine Hills that relieved the retreating Light Brigade of further gun fire from one of the flanks. Among the various controversies one is whether the charge was begun by a trumpet call and who sounded it. It seems likely that there was no call, just an order to mount followed by the orders “Walk, March”. The pace increased inexorably as the Brigade moved down the valley. “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The survivors from the Charge of the Light Brigade : 13th Light Dragoons photographed n 1855 by Roger Fenton Cornet Wilkins, 11th Light Dragonos (Hussars) Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. Charge for the guns!' he said: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. Was there a man dismayed?

Not though the soldier knew Some one 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. 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. Flashed all their sabres bare, Flashed as they turned in air Sabring the gunners there, The charge of the gallant three hundred, the Heavy Brigade! Down the hill, down the hill, thousands of Russians, Thousands of horsemen, drew to the valley–and stay’d; For Scarlett and Scarlett’s three hundred were riding by When the points of the Russian lances arose in the sky; And he call’d, ‘Left wheel into line!’ and they wheel’d and obey’d.

Then he look’d at the host that had halted he knew not why, And he turn’d half round, and he bade his trumpeter sound To the charge, and he rode on ahead, as he waved his blade To the gallant three hundred whose glory will never die– ‘Follow,’ and up the hill, up the hill, up the hill, Follow’d the Heavy Brigade. II. The trumpet, the gallop, the charge, and the might of the fight! Thousands of horsemen had gather’d there on the height, With a wing push’d out to the left and a wing to the right, And who shall escape if they close? but he dash’d up alone Thro’ the great gray slope of men, Sway’d his sabre, and held his own Like an Englishman there and then. All in a moment follow’d with force Three that were next in their fiery course, Wedged themselves in between horse and horse, Fought for their lives in the narrow gap they had made– Four amid thousands! and up the hill, up the hill, Gallopt the gallant three hundred, the Heavy Brigade. III.

Crash’d like a hurricane, Broke thro’ the mass from below, Drove thro’ the midst of the foe, Plunged up and down, to and fro, Rode flashing blow upon blow, Brave Inniskillens and Greys Whirling their sabres in circles of light! And some of us, all in amaze, Who were held for a while from the fight, And were only standing at gaze, When the dark-muffled Russian crowd Folded its wings from the left and the right, And roll’d them around like a cloud,– O, mad for the charge and the battle were we, When our own good redcoats sank from sight, Like drops of blood in a dark-gray sea, And we turn’d to each other, whispering, all dismay’d, ‘Lost are the gallant three hundred of Scarlett’s Brigade!’ IV.

‘Lost one and all’ were the words Mutter’d in our dismay; But they rode like victors and lords Thro’ the forest of lances and swords In the heart of the Russian hordes, They rode, or they stood at bay– Struck with the sword-hand and slew, Down with the bridle-hand drew The foe from the saddle and threw Underfoot there in the fray– Ranged like a storm or stood like a rock In the wave of a stormy day; Till suddenly shock upon shock Stagger’d the mass from without, Drove it in wild disarray, For our men gallopt up with a cheer and a shout, And the foeman surged, and waver’d, and reel’d Up the hill, up the hill, up the hill, out of the field, And over the brow and away. V. Glory to each and to all, and the charge that they made! Glory to all the three hundred, and all the Brigade! Note.–The ‘three hundred’ of the ‘Heavy Brigade’ who made this famous charge were the Scots Greys and the 2d squadron of Inniskillens; the remainder of the ‘Heavy Brigade’ subsequently dashing up to their support.

The ‘three’ were Scarlett’s aide-de-camp, Elliot, and the trumpeter, and Shegog the orderly, who had been close behind him. The Inniskilling Dragoons in the Charge of the Heavy Brigade References: see the main Crimean War site on britishbattles.com. Designed and maintained by Chalfont Web Design © Britishbattles.com 2002 - 2016; 'The 93rd Sutherland Highlanders at the Battle of Balaclava, 25 October 1854' | Online Collection | National Army Museum, London « Prev - 1 of 1 results - Next » 'The 93rd Sutherland Highlanders at the Battle of Balaclava 25 October 1854. The Thin Red Line'. Watercolour by Richard Simkin. 'The thin red line' specifically refers to the crucial stand of the 93rd (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot at the Battle of Balaklava in 1854.

Deployed in line to meet the advancing Russian cavalry, the 93rd were described by William Howard Russell, the Times' correspondent in the Crimea, as that 'thin red streak, topped with a line of steel'. NAM Accession Number How Lothian troops led the charge to glory at the Battle of Balaclava - The Scotsman How Lothian troops led the charge to glory at the Battle of Balaclava 12:27 THE year is 1854. In the midst of a chaotic cavalry charge, a young British sergeant gallops through the battlefield, hacking down enemy troops with every stride. Swords clash amid the screams of soldiers, as metal slices flesh and gunshot smoke fills the air. On the ground, a stranded private calls for help as seven enemy soldiers begin to surround him, pointing their sabres at him. Escape looks impossible as the Russian horsemen close in for the kill, but in an instant the sergeant drives into their midst and repels them with a ferocious counter-attack. The battle rages on. The Russians begin to flee and the sergeant spots a dismounted enemy soldier frantically trying to retreat with his comrades.

Without a thought for his own safety, he jumps down from his horse and chases after the soldier before capturing him on the ground. Another hour goes by. More British cavalry are sent and the battle looks set for a victory. But suddenly the horsemen find themselves trapped and hopelessly outnumbered - and forced to retreat after sustaining heavy losses. The weary sergeant once more jumps on his horse and rides to the rescue of another wounded soldier about to be captured. Gunshots fly by their heads as the wounded man is lifted from the battlefield and taken back to the British camp, just moments before the Russian troops arrive on the scene. It may sound like a scene from an episode of Sharpe, but this is in fact the tale of Edinburgh-born Henry Ramage - just one of the many soldiers from the Capital and the Lothians who were involved in the Battle of Balaclava, where the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade took place. Awarded a Victoria Cross for his gallantry in battle, Sergeant Ramage’s story is one of many that emerged from the conflict, which was fought during the Crimean War. Monday marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Balaclava which took place in what is now Ukraine.

The battle was the second of the Crimean War, which had begun as a dispute between the Muslim Turkish Ottoman Empire and Russia over the protection of Orthodox Christians in several holy towns in what was then Palestine in late 1853. Russian forces invaded Moldavia and Wallachia, both now in Romania, and the Turks declared war. Britain and France, allies of the Ottomans, sent naval fleets to support the Turks in 1854, and a formal pact between the three was made. Much of the conflict took place on the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea and included battles at Alma and Sebastopol as well as Balaclava. War ended in 1856 after Austria threatened to enter the conflict unless a peace proposal was accepted by the Russians. The peace pact was signed at the 1856 Treaty of Paris. The war was also famous for the work of nurse Florence Nightingale, who was drawn into the conflict after reading horrific newspaper reports of the suffering of the Allied soldiers.

Balaclava is famous for not only the ill-advised cavalry charge - made famous by Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem The Charge of the Light Brigade - but also for an outrageous, and successful, defensive formation carried out by a battalion of Scottish soldiers. Hopelessly outnumbered, the 93rd Highlanders held fast in a line only two men deep, and fired wave upon wave of gunshot until the opposing Russian troops were dispelled. Watched by the Times’ famous war correspondent William H Russell, the fragile defence was hailed a triumph and became known as the "Thin Red Line" due to the colour of the Scottish troops’ jackets. FOLLOWING the Highlanders’ stance, the British Army ordered an immediate cavalry charge against the enemy - which became known as the Charge of the Heavy Brigade. Waves of horsemen slammed into a Russian force that far outnumbered them, but through their ferocity and bravery they were able to brutally dispel their enemies. It seemed that victory was imminent until a further order was made to follow the fleeing Russians through a canyon and finish them off. Known as the Charge of the Light Brigade, more than 670 horsemen sped after the enemy troops, but they soon found themselves trapped and outnumbered.

Fewer than 180 came back from the battle still with their horses, whilst the rest were slain, wounded or captured. However, the battle is also widely cited for producing some of the finest displays of soldiering of the Crimean War conflict. Although at first regarded as a failure by the British Army - who refused to give the soldiers any formal insignia for the conflict - veterans of Balaclava soon lobbied for recognition for their efforts and bravery. Many English, Irish and Scottish troops were awarded medals for their role in the battle, but it was two soldiers from Edinburgh who were among the first recipients of the prestigious Victoria Cross for their valour and gallantry in the conflict. Sergeant Ramage, who was born in Morningside in 1827 and served in the 2nd Dragoons, was rewarded with the medal for his bravery, but he was not the only soldier from the Lothians to have been decorated for his performance at Balaclava. Sergeant-Major John Grieve, from Musselburgh, was also awarded the Victoria Cross.

He, too, was a member of the 2nd Dragoons and was one of the cavalry troops who took part in the Charge of the Heavy Brigade against the Russian cavalry. He saved the life of one of his commanding officers who had been thrown from his horse and left to fend off eight Russian soldiers single-handedly. Spotting the officer in danger, Grieve rode through the thickest part of the battle and straight up to the Russian cavalry men - decapitating one and dispersing the others before leading the officer to safety. After the war, he was presented with the medal at a parade in Hyde Park by Queen Victoria - making him and Ramage the first Scottish VC winners. However, they were not the only Edinburgh-born soldiers to have taken part in the battle. "Scots feature very heavily in the battle of Balaclava," says Alastair Mathie, curator and archivist from the National Army Museum in London. "After all, the whole of the 93rd who were involved in the ‘Thin Red Line’ were Highlanders from Scotland.

"You also have the 2nd Dragoons, who were in charge of the Charge of the Heavy Brigade, who were from Scotland and there are a number of Edinburgh soldiers other than the VC winners Grieve and Ramage who were involved." He continues: "For a start, there is Private Robert Shaw Farquharson, who was from the 4th Light Dragoons and stationed in the Light Brigade charge. For some reason he was demoted from his rank as trumpeter to a lowly private role, which meant he was in the thick of the cavalry charge. "He ended up riding three different horses into battle, which were all shot down from underneath him, before he was captured by the Russians. They held him for a year. He later published an account of his ordeal, in which he reminisced about being a Crimean prisoner of war." Mathie adds that other Edinburgh soldiers in the ill-fated charge include Private George Gibson, who is buried in Uphall and was wounded in the Light Brigade, and Private Thomas Sharp, of the 17th Lancers, who was captured and died in prison.

He adds: "Although most of the troops in the Light Brigade were actually Irish, a high proportion of the Scots that were deployed there were killed in the charge. However, most of the Scottish troops at Balaclava were either in the Heavy Brigade or the Thin Red Line - although there is occasionally some crossover, as in the case of Sergeant Ramage." Stuart Allan, deputy curator at the National War Museum of Scotland, adds: "There was another soldier from the Lothians who was heavily involved in the Charge of the Light Brigade. "His name was Charteris, he was from East Lothian, and he was the nephew of Lord Lucan [the military leader in charge of the British cavalry at Balaclava]. "He found himself at the front of the Light Brigade charge as an assistant to Lucan, but ended up getting his head blown clean off. His memorial plaque is now in Longniddry, but he didn’t receive any commemorative medals in the field." AND the modern-day regiment will be remembering their forebears.

Colonel Roger Binks, regimental secretary for the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, says: "Every year we try to commemorate the Battle of Balaclava, as it is one of about 90 battle honours that the regiment has. "We are having a commemorative service at Inveresk Cemetery this Sunday to lay a wreath on John Grieve’s grave. There are also three members of the regiment going to Crimea alongside some of the other regiments who were involved. "Whilst everyone remembers the Charge of the Light Brigade, not a lot of people remember the earlier Heavy Brigade charge, which the Royal Scots Dragoons were involved with." A version of this post ran on The Week : The Earl of Cardigan's sartorial legacy lives on. (Bettmann/CORBIS, Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images) March 28, 2014, is the 160th anniversary of Britain declaring war on Russia to formally start the Crimean War. The war was fought by Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire against Russia, mainly to curtail Russia's presence and ambitions in the Black Sea and Eastern Europe. It lasted until 1856, and was fought in several places, not just Crimea.

But it's best remembered for just one battle, a battle that was vaunted as glorious and heroic by the side that lost it (but won the war)—and that has left us with some misquotations, three articles of clothing, and some lessons in accidental and deliberate miscommunication. Advertisement Balaclavas. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) The battle we are speaking of was the Battle of Balaclava. Balaclava (also spelled Balaklava) is a bay south of Sevastopol (its name is thought to come from words meaning "catch fish"). The battle was fought on October 25, 1854, and it was already plenty cold there at the time, so the British soldiers wore knitted pull-over head coverings. These came to be known as Balaclava helmets, and now they're just called balaclavas. They're associated more with crime than with Crimea these days. Cardigan Advertisement A noted hero of the Battle of Balaclava was James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan.

British officers in the Crimean War wore knitted waistcoats (again: it was not warm there at the time), and Brudenell became quite the famous figure after the war, so the buttoned sweater vest came to be named after him. Once associated with a dashing cavalry hero, cardigans are now seen on bookworms and grandmothers. Charge of the Light Brigade Tennyson. (Bettmann/CORBIS) What was the Earl of Cardigan famous for? A suicide mission in a lost battle. He led a cavalry brigade, the Light Brigade, made up of units of dragoons, lancers, and hussars. He was given a poorly written, badly relayed order, which was not the only time that happened during that battle; in fact, just about everything to do with the Battle of Balaclava was a showpiece of sloppy communication and misunderstanding. He was supposed to be chasing after a retreating artillery battery. Instead, the order he got was to make a frontal assault on a different artillery battery—one that was not retreating at all, and bombarded the Light Brigade quite effectively.

Of some 666 men, 118 were killed, 127 were wounded, 60 were taken prisoner, and only 195 still had their horses at the end. On the other hand, the insane bravery of the charge unnerved the Russians. And the Light Brigade were immortalized by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in his poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade," which portrayed the charge as more doomed than it was, thanks to a mistaken news report. When given a correction, Tennyson refused to change his poem. Why would he? It sounded better his way. Advertisement Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or die Perhaps it’s plain justice on Tennyson that the most-quoted line from his poem is typically misquoted. You have surely heard people say "Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or die" in sardonic stoicism about orders from upper management.

Here is the original as Tennyson wrote it: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die Raglan Advertisement The poorly written orders that led to the misguided charge came from FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, overall commander of the British forces. He was a senior career soldier and sometime politician; he had lost his right arm at the Battle of Waterloo. It is likely because of his dis-armed state that he preferred a coat with the sleeve fabric extending to the collar rather than stopping at the shoulder. That style of sleeve came to be called a raglan sleeve, and it's usually seen on casual wear and sportswear now. I know when I was a teenage boy in the '80s I had no idea my T-shirt had sleeves named after a war "hero" who botched his last assignment and died of dysentery before the war was over. Thin Red Line Training exercise at Fort Bragg, N.C. (DoD/Corbis) Before the charge of the Light Brigade there were two more successful maneuvers. One was the charge of the Heavy Brigade, and before that was a standing defense by the 93rd Highlanders.

The Russian cavalry were charging, and the Highlanders were put in place as the first line of defense. Their commander, Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde, had a low opinion of the Russians and lined his men up across a hilltop only two soldiers deep rather than the usual four, and told them to die rather than move. William H. Russell, correspondent for The Times, jotted hastily as he watched: "The Russians dash at the Highlanders. The ground flies beneath their horses' feet; gathering speed at every stride, they dash on towards that thin red streak topped with a line of steel." The Highlanders fired as the Russians approached, inflicting damage. But the real reason the Russians retreated was that it was so crazy to have just a thin line of soldiers there—the Russian commander figured they had to have a much larger force lurking behind them. Russell's description of a "thin red streak topped with a line of steel" came to be shortened to "thin red line," which entered popular usage as a bit of old-style sloganeering for the British army. It is echoed in "thin blue line," a term for police in American cities and the title of a documentary by Errol Morris.

Advertisement Valley of death Another quote from Tennyson's poem is "Into the valley of Death / Rode the six hundred." This "valley of Death" is undoubtedly influenced by the 23rd Psalm's reference to "the valley of the shadow of death." But don't give the credit to Tennyson; the soldiers in the battle called it that. And after the battle, a photographer named Roger Fenton took a famous picture of it, the road strewn with cannon balls—how could anyone have survived that? When he put the picture on show in England, he improved the title to The Valley of the Shadow of Death. But actually, he took two photos. In one, the road is strewn with cannon balls; in the other, the cannon balls are mostly in the ditches on the side of the road. Fairly recently, a noted documentarian examined the photos closely and determined that the one with the balls in the ditch was taken first. Fenton may have had assistants move balls onto the road because it looked better. And who was the documentarian who figured that out? Errol Morris again. So there we have it.

A battle characterized at the time by sloppy orders, and afterwards by misrepresentation, has now been memorialized in misquotations and in articles of clothing that to most people carry no suggestion of the military heroism they were named after. And are we supposed to be surprised when there are errors, miscommunications, and misapprehensions involving Crimea now? More from The Week: The Thin Red Line at the Battle of Balaklava 1854 Balaklava, 1854 Sir Colin Campbell After New Orleans the 93rd spent 10 years in Britain and Ireland, 11 years in the West Indies, and a further 13 at home and in Canada. In 1854 they went to the Crimea, took part in the storming of the heights above the Alma and then moved on to Sevastopol. They were led by Sir Colin Campbell who was so pleased with them at Alma that he had obtained Lord Raglan's permission to wear a Highland bonnet instead of his general's cocked hat for the rest of the campaign. On the 24th October they routed the Russian Cavalry charge at Balaklava earning themselves the nickname of "The Thin Red Line".

In the museum a diorama with commentary explains the details of the battle. The Russian force was 25,000 strong; but only their massed cavalry pushed right forward down the road to Balaklava. Part of this threat was parried by the immortal charge of Scarlett's Heavy Cavalry Brigade. The rest, a formidable mass, swept on to charge the 93rd drawn up in line, two deep. "There is no retreat from here, men," Campbell told them as he rode down the line, "you must die where you stand." And the reply of John Scott, the right-hand man, was taken up by them all: "Ay, Sir Colin. An needs be, we'll do that." They fired two volleys and the cavalry charge split in half, galloping to right and left and finally into full retreat. Some of the younger soldiers started excitedly forward for a bayonet charge, but Sir Colin called out, "93rd, 93rd, damn all that eagerness!" The Times correspondent, W. H.

Russell, who standing on the hills above could clearly see that nothing stood between the Russian cavalry and the defenceless British base but the "thin red streak tipped with a line of steel" of the 93rd. Condensed almost immediately into "The Thin Red Line", the phrase has survived to this day as the chosen symbol of everything for which The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders believe themselves to stand. Asked why he had been so unorthodox as to receive a cavalry charge in line instead of in a square. Sir Colin Campbell said; "I knew the 93rd, and I did not think it worth the trouble of forming a square." Continued:

Question: At the Battle of Balaclava, how were the 93rd Highlanders described by the Times war correspondent William H. Russell?
Answer: The thin red line