On October 24, 1854 on the Crimean Peninsula British
cavalry commanded by General Sir James York Scarlett
fought at the Battle of Balaclava near the Black Sea, The
Heavy Brigade made an uphill charge to defeat a superior
force of onrushing Russian cavalry. The brigade was
composed of 2 squadrons each of the 1st Dragoons (The
Royals), the 2nd Dragoons (Scots Greys), the 4th Dragoon
Guards (Royal Irish), the 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess
Charlotte of Wales), and the 6th Dragoons (Inniskilling).
The Russians suffered 40–50 killed and over 200
wounded; the British lost 10 killed and 98 wounded.
Had the Light Brigade been ordered to extend the
attack it seems likely the Russian defeat would
have been decisive.
As it was, there were plenty of heroes. The 93rd Scottish
Highlanders infantry, drawn up in two parallel lines, were
attacked by Russian cavalry. Sir Colin Campbell, the
British commander, told his troops: "There is no retreat
from here, men, you must die where you stand." The first
volley was not effective, but the second volley stopped the
Russian momentum, and the third volley forced the
Russians to retreat.
The London Times correspondent W. H. Russell 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. The phrase
became "The Thin Red Line" and survives to this day.
When asked why he had been so unorthodox as to receive
a cavalry charge in line instead of in a square, Campbell
(later Field Marshal Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde,
GCB, KSI) said; "I knew the 93rd, and I did not think it
worth the trouble of forming a square."
The Charge Of The Heavy Brigade
At Balaclava
October 25, 1854 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
I.
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.