October 25, 1854172 years ago
The Charge of the Light Brigade takes place at Balaklava
Key facts
- Location
Balaklava
Crimea
- Historical period
Crimean War
- Participants
British Light Brigade; Russian artillery and cavalry
- Outcome
The brigade reached the guns but suffered severe losses and withdrew
During the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War, British light cavalry charged Russian guns after confused orders were misunderstood. The attack became famous for the courage of the horsemen, the heavy losses and the command failure behind it.
Balaklava and a vulnerable supply line
The Charge of the Light Brigade was one episode of the wider Battle of Balaklava on 25 October 1854. British, French and Ottoman forces were besieging Sevastopol, while Russian troops tried to threaten the Allied supply base at Balaklava. Russian attacks captured positions on the Causeway Heights and several guns. British infantry and the Heavy Brigade stopped other Russian advances, but from his higher viewpoint commander-in-chief Lord Raglan could see the enemy preparing to remove captured artillery. He wanted the cavalry to prevent that. The commanders below, however, did not share his view of the battlefield and could see a different Russian battery at the far end of a valley. This difference in perspective became central to what followed.
An order becomes a disaster
Raglan’s written order told the cavalry to advance rapidly, follow the enemy and prevent the removal of guns. Captain Louis Nolan carried it to Lieutenant-General Lord Lucan, who commanded the Cavalry Division. The instruction was brief, the terrain hid Raglan’s intended objective, and relations among senior officers were poor. Lucan directed Lord Cardigan’s Light Brigade toward the battery visible down the valley. About six hundred cavalrymen advanced between Russian guns positioned not only ahead but also along the flanks. Artillery fire tore through the formation as it covered the long distance. The brigade nevertheless reached the Russian guns, passed through the battery and fought cavalry beyond before the survivors turned back through the same fire.
Courage and failure in the same story
The Light Brigade returned badly reduced and with enormous horse losses. Sources differ on exact totals, but the National Army Museum describes hundreds of men killed or wounded and the brigade’s operational strength badly damaged. Public discussion immediately focused on who had misunderstood or issued the fatal instructions. Nolan was killed during the charge, leaving later arguments to Raglan, Lucan, Cardigan and their supporters. The episode became even more famous through Alfred Tennyson’s poem, which emphasized the soldiers’ duty and courage rather than the confused command system that sent them forward. The charge has endured because it combines two powerful ideas: extraordinary bravery at the individual level and a preventable failure of communication at the command level.
Also on this day
Sources
Illustrations on this page are AI-generated, not archival images.