Battle of Balaclava Flashcards
What was the hierarchy of command of the British army at this time?
Lord Raglan was the British Commander. He had Sir Colin Campbell in charge of the 93rd highlanders and Lord Lucan as leader of Cavalry. Below Lucan there was Sir James Scarlett as leader of the heavy brigade and Lord Cardigan was leader of the Light Brigade. Captain Nolan was a messenger for Lord Raglan.
What was the crucial error that the British army made?
The charge of the Light Brigade
What caused the charge of the light brigade?
Raglan, who was looking from high ground over the entire battlefield, sent a verbal message to Lord Lucan telling the cavalry to occupy the area that the Russians had retreated from. Lucan chose not to treat this is an order as he did no have infantry support. As a result Raglan sent a written message, carried by Captain Nolan telling Lucan to ‘advance rapidly’ and ‘prevent the Russians taking the British guns’. This message was given very vaguely by Nolan. Lucan was surprised by this and so questioned Nolan. Nolan replied even more vaguely by waving at the end of the the valley and said ‘there is your enemy, there are your guns.’ Lucan therefore ordered Lord Cardigan to attack the Russian guns, even though they both knew it was a stupid idea.
What was the outcome of the charge?
The charge of the light brigade led to a huge British massacre. Of 673 men; 113 were killed and 134 were wounded.
