The Charge of the Light Brigade
By Rider, 1 December 2006; Revised
I intended to take my task lighter this time, choosing a well known poem for the text column. The poem ’Charge of the Light Brigade’ made the British disaster in the Crimean War known to many people around the world.
But when we start talking of the true war and Battle of Balaclava, I wonder how much truth does the poem contain?
How much truth?
NOTE: I’ll present each strofe and evaluate the contents.
Half a league half a league
Half a league onward
All in the Valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigad
Charge for the guns' he said
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Now, we can see that the author, Lord Alfred Tennyson has stated the length of the valley (in which the charge was committed) as half a league (what is around 2.8 kilometers). It depends from the way you measure the valley but I’d agree at that point. Although I understand that the next fact, the number ’six hundred’ isn’t to be taken literally, there were 676 horsemen. The order of Field Marshal Raglan is poetized and so we can’t take it literally but it is as random as the true command, "Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front, follow the enemy, and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns. Horse artillery may accompany. French cavalry is on your left. Immediate.", was. And yet, the commanders couldn’t question the order (although they wanted to, as it was such nonsense... to charge through a long valley towards artillery and under artillery fire against a superior enemy).
'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldiers knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
The description is good: ’Not tho’ the soldiers knew, someone had blunder’d.’ Yes, indeed, someone had blundered, and it was Field Marshal Raglan who ordered such nonsense. Yet, the men were obedient and although there were some smaller quarrels, the Brigade charged. In the first minutes of the Charge, the man | Painting by R.C. Woodville |
who had given over the order of Raglan and knew what he really intended, got killed by a cannon. Now there was no man that could question the charge.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
Again, the lines are extremely correct, and it is quite amazing that the Brigade yet managed to go forward, when Russian cannons and Turkish ones (which Russians had taken) were firing upon them.
Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turned in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
The men were brave and good fighters, a surviving Russian officer later said that he had never seen such a bold move and when the Brigade had reached the target, cannons, they didn’t start to take them away but rather ran after the Russians killing them. The officer also said that Russians lost their courage for a moment as it seemed that nothing could stop the Brigade. But the men soon regained their courage and assaulted the British. The cavalry had nothing more to do, than to escape. And it is also true that there were not six hundred men coming back from the artillery batteries.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot & shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them
Left of six hundred.
And again, even during the retreat the cannons fired volley after volley, with no mercy. Therefore, there was a better chance in coming alone through the valley than in a group. The first man that came back was the commander of the Light Brigade, the Earl of Cardigan. And so came back, alone or in small groups all that was left of the Light Brigade, there were no more of those men than 195. During the day, more men returned to the camp. The total number of fallen men was 294, of these 113 were killed, 134 wounded and many fell prisoner.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
Too resides truth in these last words, for it is unlikely that few will forget this disasterous charge. And I agree with Lord Tennyson – these men were indeed noble and brave.
The poem fully
Half a league half a league
Half a league onward
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade
Charge for the guns' he said
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldiers knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turned in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot & shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them
Left of six hundred.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
Sources
„Military Blunders“, Saul David
„The Charge of the Light Brigade“, Lord Alfred Tennyson |
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