The village of Balaklava
There were two splendid cavalry charges at the battle of Balaklava, one by 300 heavy dragoons under command of Major-general Scarlett and the other by the light cavalry under command of the Earl of Cardigan. The former, from a military standpoint, was remarkably successful, because three squadrons of Englishmen surprised, demoralized, and practically put to rout two brigades of Russian cavalry, numbering nearly three thousand men. The latter, although one of the most spectacular displays of human daring in all history, was of comparatively no effect and was the result of a misunderstanding of orders.
The scene of those two cavalry charges is a wide and beautiful valley between two low ridges about two miles south of the picturesque little port of Balaklava. The British troops had taken possession of the ridge north of this valley, were throwing up earthworks, and completing their camp, when, on the evening of Oct. 24, 1855, Rustem Pasha, in command of the Turkish contingent, sent word to Lord Raglan, in command of the British troops, that the Russians were preparing for a surprise attack the next morning. As there had been already more than one false alarm, Lord Raglan contented himself with asking for an immediate report of any further news and no extra precautions were taken.
Shortly after daylight the next morning General Scarlett, with eight squadrons of heavy dragoons, started out on a reconnoissance, and as he passed over the ridge came plump upon the flank of a brigade of Russian cavalry, about three thousand strong, which was advancing quietly upon the British position. Both forces were moving without scouts or flankers, and thus neither of the cavalry generals, whose men were soon to be in close personal conflict, was aware of the movements of his adversary. When General Scarlett realized the situation he immediately gave the command to charge and plunged directly into the centre of the Russian line, which was only about two hundred yards distant. But the order was heard by only three of the eight squadrons, the other five having passed on the other side of a narrow vineyard. Scarlett’s movement, however, was distinctly seen by the rest of the army and the witnesses say that when the three troops of dragoons dashed into the Russian ranks they were entirely engulfed, but, with their sabers they hacked their way through with such impetuosity that in eight minutes they were entirely clear. The shock and the surprise threw the Russian troops into such confusion that they practically fled from the field, pursued on both flanks by the other British troops.
Scarlett lost seventy-eight men in the charge. The Russians lost about six hundred.
During this extraordinary episode the Light Brigade, under the command of Earl Cardigan, remained motionless because the commander believed that Lord Lucan, in command of the cavalry, had given him orders to defend the position on which he stood against any attack, and on no account to leave it.
The Earl of Cardigan was an Irish peer, fifty-seven years old, rich, reckless and popular, notorious for his love affairs, famous as a sportsman and as a rider to hounds, resolute in purpose, a dare-devil with a terrible temper, and entirely without military experience. He owed his rank and prominence in the army to the purchase system and to the favour of the Duke of York, and although he had a passionate love for military affairs, unfaltering courage and a strong sense of duty, his inexperience alone would have unfitted him for any responsibility. He had fought two duels. One of the quarrels was over the colour of a bottle; the other was over the size of a teacup. At the time of the famous charge, although a brigade commander of troops in the field, he was living on board a yacht in the harbour of Balaklava by permission of Lord Lucan, his brother-in-law, commander of the cavalry, while the officers and men under him as well as his superiors, were cheerfully bearing the hardships and privations of camp life.
Thus the Earl of Cardigan had nothing to recommend him for his command but his courage and horsemanship.
The Light Brigade had seen their comrades of the Heavy Dragoons achieve one of the most brilliant cavalry victories ever recorded, and were naturally impatient to emulate their example, when an order was brought to Lord Lucan by a young lieutenant, named Nolan, which read as follows: