Tuesday 30 March 2010

The Charge of the Light Brigage

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 soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's 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 turn'd 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 and 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!


At the Battle of Balaclava in 1854 during the Crimean War, the Light Brigade, consisting of British cavalry regiments, charged down a narrow valley against Russian Troops who had captured some British guns. The Russians were at the end of the valley as well as on each side of it. The attack should never have been made, it had no chance of success: It was due to a blunder brought on by misunderstanding an order sent by the commander-in-chief. The obedience and courage of the soldiers, of whom less than a third survived won great fame for the Light Brigade. For those were different times, times when loyalty mattered.

4 comments:

Quiet_Man said...

It's also the same day (October 25th) as the battle of Agincourt.

13th Spitfire said...

Ahh that I did not know, well spotted.

opsimath said...

Although it is seldom mentioned, the Heavy Brigade also made an historic charge in that war - you should look it up.

13th Spitfire said...

crap I did not know that either, will certainly look that up.

cheers