Charge of the Light Brigade

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 44°32′16″N 33°37′27″E / 44.53778°N 33.62417°E / 44.53778; 33.62417 Result Russian victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom  France	Russia
Commanders and leaders
James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan Armand-Octave-Marie d'Allonville	Pavel Liprandi
Strength
About 670 (Adkin: 668; Brighton: "at least" 666)	Unknown
Casualties and losses
~110 killed ~161 wounded	Unknown

The Charge of the Light Brigade was a military action undertaken by British light cavalry against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, resulting in many casualties to the cavalry. On 25 October 1854, the Light Brigade, led by Lord Cardigan, mounted a frontal assault against a Russian artillery battery which was well-prepared with excellent fields of defensive fire. The charge was the result of a misunderstood order from the commander-in-chief, Lord Raglan, who had intended the Light Brigade to attack a different objective for which light cavalry was better suited, to prevent the Russians from removing captured guns from overrun Turkish positions. The Light Brigade made its charge under withering direct fire and reached its target, scattering some of the gunners, but was forced to retreat immediately.

The events were the subject of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's narrative poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (1854), published six weeks after the event. Its lines emphasise the valour of the cavalry in carrying out their orders regardless of the risk. Responsibility for the miscommunication is disputed, as the order was vague and Captain Louis Nolan, who delivered the written orders with some oral interpretation, was killed in the first minute of the assault.