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early on the 25th of October its advanced guard moved southward to attack the ridge, which was weakly occupied by Turkish battalions behind slight entrenchments. The two nearest See also:

BRITISH

British divisions were put into See also:

motion as soon as the firing became serious, but were prevented by their orders from descending at once into the See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain, and the See also:

TURKS

Turks had to meet the See also:

ASSAULT (from Lat. ad, to or on, and saltare, to leap)

assault of greatly See also:

SUPERIOR

superior See also:

numbers. They made a gallant resistance, but the Russians quickly cleared the ridge, capturing several guns, and their first See also:

LINE

line was followed by a heavy See also:

mass of See also:

CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, Ger. Kavallerie or Reiterei, derived ultimately from late Lat. caballus, horse)

cavalry which crossed the ridge and descended into the Balaklava plain. At this moment the British cavalry See also:

DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division under the See also:

EARL

earl of See also:

LUCAN

Lucan was in the plain, but their See also:

COMMANDER

commander was prevented from engaging the Russians by the See also:

TENOR (through Fr. and It. from Lat. tenor, holding on, course, sense of a law, tone)

tenor of his orders. One of his brigades, the Heavy (4th and 5th See also:

DRAGOON (Fr. dragon, Ger. Dragoner)

Dragoon See also:

GUARDS, AND HOUSEHOLD TROOPS

Guards, 1st, and and 6th Dragoons) under Brigadier-General J. Y. See also:

SCARLETT, SIR JAMES YORKE (1799-1871)

Scarlett, was in the Balaklava plain; the other, the See also:

LIGHT

Light See also:

BRIGADE (Fr. and Ger. brigade, Ital. brigata, Span. brigada; the English use of the word dates from the early 17th century)

Brigade under See also:

Lord See also:

Cardigan (4th and 13th Light Dragoons now Hussars, 8th and 11th Hussars and 17th Lancers) in the valley to the See also:

north of the Vorontsov ridge. All these regiments were very weak in numbers. The Russian cavalry mass, after See also:

CROSSING

crossing the ridge, moved towards Balaklava; a few shots were fired into it by a Turkish See also:

BATTERY (Fr. batterie, from battles, to beat)

battery and a moment later the Heavy Brigade charged.

The attack was impeded at first by obstacles of ground, but in the melee the See also:

WEIGHT

weight of the British troopers gradually See also:

broke up the enemy, and the See also:

charge of the 4th Dragoon Guards, delivered against the flank of the Russian mass, was decisive. The whole of the Russian cavalry broke and fled to the ridge. This famous charge occupied less than five minutes from first to last, and at the same See also:

time some of the Russian squadrons, attempting to charge the 93rd Highlanders (who were near Balaklava) were met by the steady volleys of the " thin red line," and fled with the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest. The defeated troops retreated past the still inactive Light Brigade, on whose See also:

LEFT

left a French cavalry brigade was now posted. The Russians were at this juncture reinforced by a mixed force on the Fedukhine heights; Liprandi's See also:

INFANTRY

infantry occupied the captured ridge, and manned the guns taken from the Turks. The cavalry defeated by the Heavy Brigade was re-formed in the See also:

NORTHERN

northern valley behind the field guns, and infantry, cavalry and See also:

ARTILLERY (the O. Fr. artiller, to equip with engines of war, probably comes from Late Lat. articulum, dim. of ars, art, cf. " engine " from ingenium, or of artus, joint)

artillery were on both the Fedukhine and the Vorontsov heights. Thus, in front of the Light Brigade was a valley over a mile See also:

long, at the end of whichwas the enemy's cavalry and twelve guns, and on the ridges on either side there were in all twenty-two guns, with cavalry and infantry. It was under these circumstances that an See also:

order was given by the British headquarters, which led to the charge for which above all Balaklava is remembered. It was carried to Lord Lucan by See also:

CAPTAIN (derived from Lat. ca put, head, through the Low Lat. capitanus)

Captain L. E. Nolan, 15th Hussars, and ran as follows:—" Lord See also:

RAGLAN, FITZROY JAMES HENRY SOMERSET, 1ST BARON (1788-1855)

Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns ... French cavalry is on your left." Lucan, seeing no See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt on the See also:

PART

part of the enemy to move guns, questioned Nolan, who is said to have pointed down the valley to the artillery on the plain; whereupon Lucan rode to Lord Cardigan, the commander of the Light Brigade, and repeated Lord Raglan's order and Nolan's explanation.

The Light Brigade then advanced straight to its front, and soon came under See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire from the guns on both flanks. Nolan was killed as he rode across the front of the brigade, perhaps with the intention of changing its direction to the Vorontsov ridge. Five minutes later the guns in front began to fire with telling effect. The See also:

pace was increased, though the " charge " was not sounded, and Cardigan and those of his men who remained mounted, rode up to and through the Russian line of guns. Small parties even charged the Russian cavalry in See also:

REAR

rear and on either flank. The French 4th Chasseurs d'Afrique made a dashing charge which drove the Russians off the Fedukhine heights, though at considerable loss. Lucan had meanwhile called up the Heavy Brigade to support the Light, but it lost many men and horses and was quickly withdrawn. Only two formed bodies of the LightBrigadefoundtheirwayback. The.13th Light Dragoons mustered but ten mounted men at the evening See also:

PARADE (Fr. parade, an adaptation from Ital. parada; cf. Span. parada, from Lat. parade, to prepare, equip, furnish)

parade ; the brigade as a whole had lost 247 men and 497 horses out of a See also:

TOTAL

total strength of 673 engaged in the charge, which lasted twenty minutes from first to last. The two infantry divisions which now approached the field were again halted, and Liprandi was left undisturbed on the Vorontsov ridge and in See also:

possession of the captured guns. The result of the See also:

day was thus unfavourable to the See also:

ALLIES, THOMAS WILLIAM (1813-1903)

allies, but the three See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief incidents of the engagement —the two cavalry charges and the fight of the 93rd Highlanders —gave to it all the See also:

PRESTIGE

prestige of a victory. The impression created by the conduct of the Light Brigade was forcibly expressed in See also:

TENNYSON, ALFRED TENNYSON

Tennyson's well-known ballad, and in spite of the equally celebrated remark of the French general See also:

BOSQUET, PIERRE FRANCOIS JOSEPH (1810-1861)

Bosquet, C'est magnifique mais ce n'est pas la guerre, it may be questioned whether the moral effect of the charge did not outweigh the very serious loss in trained men and horses involved.

End of Article: BALAKLAVA

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