CRIMEAN WAR - CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

[Hussard5]

Hi,

I have a question regarding the disposition of the cavalrymen in the starting formation of the Light Brigade at the beginning of the Charge. More precisely,
I would like to know where were located in the lines the officers (captain, lieutenant, cornet, etc...), the trumpeters, the senior sergeants.

Thanks for your help,

Rick

[Mountain Man]

The officers led, the trumpeters stayed close to the officers to transmit their commands and the senior sergeants were in line with their respective squadrons. This was the only practical way to keep control and communications intact, although Lord Cardigan, in the rear overseeing the battle, could dispatch riders to carry orders to commanders forward of him, but with no guarantee they could get through with the orders.

[BELGRAVE]

Originally Posted by Mountain Man

The officers led, the trumpeters stayed close to the officers to transmit their commands and the senior sergeants were in line with their respective squadrons. This was the only practical way to keep control and communications intact, although Lord Cardigan, in the rear overseeing the battle, could dispatch riders to carry orders to commanders forward of him, but with no guarantee they could get through with the orders.

Except that Cardigan was actually in the van, leading the charge from the front.Perhaps you are confusing him with Lord Lucan, at the head of the valley,or the Commander-in-Chief, Raglan ,observing the action from the heights ?

[mconrad]

IIRC, Mark Adkins' book has an elevated sketched view of the line up of the brigade, with every man's position pretty much indicated.

[Tuck's Luck]

Letter sheds light on who was to blame for 'blunder' which sent Light Brigade into the Valley of Death


Most of the blame has been aimed at Lord Raglan, who ordered his men to prevent the Russian army seizing the British guns, and Lord Lucan, the officer who carried out his instructions.

But more than 160 years on, a letter found among documents at the British Library written by one of the soldiers at Balaclava says the cavalry’s rank and file blamed a more junior officer.

The document has shed light on one of the British Empire’s worst military defeats, in which 107 men out of 676 were killed, 187 wounded, 50 captured, and 400 horses slaughtered.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...-valley-death/

[BELGRAVE]

Arguments as to who actually "blundered " have raged ever since the battle. Much has been made of the hostility between Generals Cardigan and Lucan .But if we're really into the blame game, as an ex-Staff Officer, I would allocate responsibility firmly to Raglan's Chief-of-Staff Gen.Richard Airey.
It was his task to transmit Raglan's orders so that they could be readily grasped by the commanders down in the valley. But they were quite ambiguous, especially the famous "fourth order" which actually triggered the charge. The effect of this confusion was exacerbated by the actions of the staff "galloper" Capt.Lewis Nolan who actually carried the written command. While Lucan and Cardigan were trying to decipher what Airey's scribbling really meant,he impatiently gesticulated pointing up the wrong valley, "There, my Lord there,you see, áre the guns, there is the enemy" (Or words to that effect).
There are many books of the Crimean war which give the ORBAT of the Light Brigade.
THe actual charge is well covered by the classic The Reason Why by Cecil Woodham-Smith or if something lighter- much lighter- is wanted then there's always George MacDonald Fraser'sFlashman at the Charge . Delete all reference to Harry Flashman and it's a reasonable account.

Compared with what was to occur in later years, the action certainly wasn't "One of British Empire's worst military Defeats". It owes its notoriety chiefly to Tennyson's epic poem.