Balaclava 1854 examines in detail the crucial battle of Balaclava during The Crimean War. The port of Balaclava was crucial in maintaining the supply lines for the Allied siege of Sevastapol. The Russian attack in October 1854 therefore posed a major threat to the survival of the Allied cause. This book includes: the attack on the redoubts; the action of 'the thin red line' in which an assortment of about 700 British troops, some invalids, were abandoned by their Turkish allies; the subsequent charge of the Heavy Brigade; and the most famous part of the battle: the infamous charge of the Light Brigade.
10 year old Tommy Dennis is evacuated during the early part of WWII from his home in the city to a small, rural coal-mining village. There he joins a gang of adventurous friends who call themselves the Balaclava Brigade. This group of young boys get into all sorts of humorous and suspenseful situations, and there is a mystery that runs throughout the story.
Treasury of verse by the great Victorian poet, including the long narrative poem, Enoch Arden, plus "The Lady of Shalott," "The Charge of the Light Brigade," selections from The Princess, "Maud" and "The Brook," more.
Lord Cardigan's cavalry charge on 25 October 1854 at the battle of Balaclava 'into the valley of death' is surely one of the most famous actions in military history. Is there anything new to say about it in print? Yes there is, because most publications have concentrated on commanding officers Lucan, Cardigan and the fatal actions of Nolan. But there were 670 men in the charge and by collating the evidence from the many eyewitnesses James Bancroft offers a new and more accurate appraisal of events. Cardigan's description of the action was quoted at length in the House of Commons: '... with the batteries vomiting forth upon us shells and shot, round and grape, with one battery on our right flank and another on the left ... when we came to within a distance of fifty yards from the mouths of the artillery which had been hurling destruction upon us, we were, in fact, surrounded and encircled by a blaze of fire.' One question of course – which the author, who has been studying the subject for many years, addresses – is how anyone survived.
*Includes pictures *Includes descriptions of the charge made by survivors *Examines the myths and legends surrounding the charge *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents The Charge of the Light Brigade is the most famous British cavalry charge in history, possibly also eclipsing the renown of any other mounted attack conducted by the armed forces of other nations in the general imagination. This cavalry action is certainly remembered far more vividly than the 1854 Battle of Balaclava during which it occurred, and even the wider Crimean War that led to the battle. Of course, the prominence of the Charge in popular and historical memory is due primarily to Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem describing the events of that distant late October afternoon. The bearded Poet Laureate crafted a powerful, gripping poetic narrative that fixed the encounter firmly in both the popular imagination and in the English literary oeuvre. Millions of people who know nothing else of the Crimean War between Great Britain and the Russian Empire are familiar with Tennyson's memorable verses. At the same time, however, his words also created a narrative about the combat which has obscured much contrary evidence, replacing fact with legend and completely obscuring the true significance of the Charge of the Light Brigade. Indeed, its perception by historians and depiction in history books has been massively influenced by the sheer artistic power of Tennyson's poem. Sober historians have unwitting cherry-picked the existing original documents to support Tennyson's "version" of the events while disregarding much contrary evidence that provides a very different perspective of the Light Brigade's attack. In fact, a closer examination of source materials casts the Charge of the Light Brigade in a very different light than the widely accepted version of men so highly disciplined and obedient that they obeyed a suicidal order without question. So unquestioningly obedient were the British cavalrymen, the legend declares, that they were willing to charge into a cannon's mouth and die rather than raise a voice of protest against the imbecility of their incompetent officers. This mix of doomed courage and absolute, unfaltering compliance with the orders of their superiors, however idiotic, had given the Light Brigade and the British soldier in general a character of tragic heroism. Powerful as this vision of buffoonish commanders leading soldiers infused with ant-like obedience may be in the world of poetry, considerable documentation still exists which at least partially refutes such an interpretation. These documents, recently revisited by a handful of historians, greatly diminish the role of upper-echelon mistakes in causing the Charge. They restore agency and initiative to the ordinary British soldiers, highlighting them as fierce, independent-minded, and energetic actors in their own right, who very nearly changed the outcome of the entire Battle of Balaclava with their skill, courage, and daring. Ironically, it is possible to argue that the Charge of the Light Brigade was an attack mostly initiated by the rank and file, and that it was largely successful. The actual blunder was the failure of other commanders to support the charge by sending in infantry in its wake, which could potentially have led to the complete rout of the Russian forces. Instead, the British commanders did nothing to exploit the breakthrough created by the initiative, skill, and ferocity of the ordinary cavalryman, squandering the opportunity they had been offered. The Charge of the Light Brigade chronicles the history and legacy of the ill-fated cavalry charge. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Charge of the Light Brigade like never before, in no time at all.
On the 150th anniversary of the world's most famous cavalry charge comes a revisionist retelling of the battle based on firsthand accounts from the soldiers who fought there In October 1854, with the Crimean War just under way and British and French troops pushing the tsar's forces back from the Black Sea, seven hundred intrepid English horsemen charged a mile and a half into the most heavily fortified Russian position in the Crimea in Ukraine. In the seven minutes it took the cavalry to cross this distance, more than five hundred of them were killed. Celebrated in poetry and legend, the charge of the Light Brigade has stood for a century and a half as a pure example of military dash and daring. Until now, historical accounts of this cavalry charge have relied upon politically motivated press reports and diaries kept by the aristocratic British generals who commanded the action. In Hell Riders, noted historian and Crimean War expert Terry Brighton looks, for the first time, to the journals recorded by survivors-the soldiers who did the fighting. His riveting firsthand narrative reveals the tragically inept leadership on the part of the British commander in chief, Lord Raglan, whose orders for the charge were poorly communicated and misinterpreted, and an unfathomable indifference on the part of British officers to the men who survived the battle and were left to tend their wounds and bury the dead in the freezing cold. While the charge overran the Russians, it gained nothing and the war continued for another two years. In finally capturing the truth behind the charge of the Light Brigade, Brighton offers a stirring portrait of incredible bravery in the service of a misguided endeavor.
First hand accounts of the men who took part in the heroic and tragic Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava on the 25th October 1854. Previously unpublished biographies of the men and photographs bring their stories to life. What became of our heroes? Some died penniless while others found fame and fortune. Set within an unrelenting and cruel military campaign, where many would perish, unravelling the myths to find many of the missing Chargers was a massive undertaking.
INKERMANN has been called ‘The Soldiers’ Battle.’ With equal truth the whole Crimean campaign might be called ‘The Soldiers’ War.’ It was the vindication of the regimental officer and the rank and file; it showed to the world the ineptitude of the general staff as it existed at that day. Those entrusted with the conduct of the campaign were mostly old men long past the age when brilliant service in the field could be expected of them. Some had seen war-service in the Peninsula forty years before, the interim being spent doing office-work at the Horse Guards; many had never heard a shot fired in anger in their lives, their services being confined to Hyde Park or the Curragh Camp. Family or political influence procured them their appointments, while younger men who had already rendered splendid war-service in the East were either passed over, snubbed, or relegated to subordinate positions. The miseries of Varna, the unparalleled sufferings of the troops before Sebastopol, and the awful blunder of Balaclava give testimony to the unwisdom of the selections. During the long peace since Waterloo the army had grown unpopular. It had been neglected. Even the Duke of Wellington was averse to making any military display for fear that what army there was should be further reduced. The force which left England for the East was one of the worst equipped {viii}and most badly organised that ever left our shores. On the contrary, the men of which it was composed were the finest. They were all long-service men, of grand physique and of an unrivalled spirit. Before the Crimean war a red coat was looked on with disdain; after the war the wearer was hailed as a friend. He had proved that he was a worthy descendant of the heroes of the Peninsula, that he could perform as gallant deeds on the blood-stained slopes of the Alma or in the valley of Balaclava as had his forebears at Waterloo, that he could die of disease and starvation as uncomplainingly before Sebastopol as did his predecessors in Spain or Portugal. In the following pages the author has endeavoured to pay a small tribute to the heroism of the rank and file, and to show how they won for themselves in the hearts of the British public the warm place they have ever since occupied. The survivors of the Crimean war are, alas! growing yearly fewer; but the author desires to acknowledge with thankfulness much information he has gained from the veterans he has had the opportunity of knowing, amongst whom he wishes specially to mention Sergeant James Mustard, of the 17th Lancers, a survivor of the immortal charge, and happily still alive. He also wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to the fascinating pages of Kinglake’s Invasion of the Crimea and Russell’s British Expedition to the Crimea. Stirling’s Highland Brigade in the Crimea, and Steven’s Connaught Rangers have also been advantageously consulted...FROM THE BOOKS.
