Charge Of The Light Brigade
Thu, 2008-06-12 23:18
#1
Charge Of The Light Brigade
Tennyson's rendtion of that famous charge during the Crimean War, still stiffens the hairs on the back of my neck. He enables to see this gallant dash into the guns through the poetic eyes of 19th century Britain admiring her sons "fighting for right." It is worth a google search and a once over.
"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."
The history behind the charge is even more intersting. It might behoove some of our current generation to read about the valor of their ancestors and the need to "fight the good fight."
J.X.M
chuck
Very brave no doubt but didn't they charge the wrong guns?
jxmartin
Chuck,
No, the controversy arose on who gave the order for what appeared to be a suicidal charge. No one is certain, but the Light Brigade had previously been stationed in India during the era of the Sepoy revolt. Many had families slain in an attack on their fort by an Indian Khan who later fled to the Crimea under the protection of the Russians. Historical speculation posits that the Light Brigade was charging into the "valley of death" to avenge the death of their families by the infamous Khan who was then ensconced with the Russians on the heights of Sevastopol.It gives new meaning to the phrase "be careful who your friends are."
Whether the provenenace of the marshalling order is fact or fiction, the magnificent charge electrified England with the heroism of her sons and stands as a heroic emblem of the glory days of the British Raj.
J.X.M
chuck
You may be thinking of the fictional version in the 1936 film staring Errol Flynn. Surat Khan was a fictional character and the Sepoy Rebellion (Cawnpore) actually took place three years after the Battle of Balaklava.
According to the version I read, 'The Reason Why' by Cecil Woodham-Smith, the Earl of Lucan was an over-bearing aristocrat who got promoted because of his social connections. A personal quarrel with his brother-in-law, Lord Cardigan, commander of the Light Brigade, reached the point where their respective staffs refused to co-operate. Cardigan was something of a pompous, vindictive twit himself and only in command because of his title. The messenger who delivered the garbled message from Lord Raglan, Captain Nolan, despised both of them.