Recently-discovered letter finally reveals who was to blame for the British Army’s notorious Charge of the Light Brigade
Near-suicidal charge saw more than 100 Brit cavalrymen cut down by Russian artillery guns during the Crimean War
A CENTURY-old mystery behind the British Army's most notorious cavalry charge could finally have been solved.
The Charge of the Light Brigade saw 600 Brit cavalrymen embark on a near-suicidal charge towards a fearsome Russian gun battery during the Crimean War.
And until now, doubts remained as to who gave the fateful order for the charge, made famous by poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
But a recently-discovered letter reveals rank-and-file troops blamed one junior officer for their plight at the Battle of Balaclava.
Captain Louis Nolan, 36, has now been named as the figure reviled amongst soldiers for the massacre near Russia's Black Sea coast.
He had carried the orders of commanding officer Lord Raglan to "follow the enemy and prevent them carrying away the guns".
The note, penned by his comrade Lieutenant Frederick Maxse suggests young Nolan exaggerated his order, leading to the futile charge.
And Nolan, who insisted on joining the attack, would later pay dearly after he was hit in the chest by shell shrapnel.
Maxse wrote: "On looking to the left, saw poor Nolan lying dead who ten minutes before I had seen eager & full of life, galloping down to Lord Lucan, anxious & determined to make him do something with the cavalry (of which he is a member).”
He later added: "If he was to blame he has paid the penalty.”
Another comrade Nigel Kingscotee insisted Nolan would have been court-martialed had he survived the attack.
Commanding general Lord Raglan had for more than a century been widely-blamed for the massacre.
Brit cavalry found themselves facing shellfire from three directions as they tore into "the Valley of Death".
The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
1
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.
2
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier 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.
3
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.
4
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.
5
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.
6
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made,
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.
Of the 676 who charged at the Russian lines that day, 107 were killed, 187 wounded, 50 captured and 400 horses cut down.
It became a patriotic symbol for Brit valour on the battlefield.
Despite a strategic defeat at Balaclava, Britain and its French and Ottoman allies would go on to defeat Russia's forces.
The conflict, which lasted between 1853 and 1856, became famous for Florence Nightingale's campaign to modernise nursing techniques.
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