The Crimean War is notable as one of the few major European conflicts in the latter half of the 19th century. Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire clashed with the Russian Empire in a conflict triggered by disputes over the rights of Christian minorities in the Holy Land. In the Anglosphere, it is mostly remembered for the poor leadership of British officers and bloody events such as the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava.The Battle of BalaclavaBattle of the Alma by Eugene Lami, 1855. Source: Versailles CollectionThe allied forces landed on the Crimean peninsula September 5, 1854, and within three weeks were besieging Sevastapol, the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Disease quickly began to spread through the besiegers and they struggled to keep their forces adequately supplied through poor harbours like Balaclava. The manpower requirements stretched them thin and it was impossible to hold the siege line in strength due to the losses suffered and the large distances involved.All the armies involved faced difficulties during the campaign. Their recent military experience was largely limited to pacifying large empires rather than fighting set-piece battles. The British and French were busy fighting in Africa and Asia, the Russians in expanding their conquests in Central Asia and the Caucasus, while the Turks had to maintain their control over the Balkans and other fractious regions. All the armies were hamstrung by the appointment of officers to high positions by virtue of their birth rather than their ability or experience. British officers from wealthy backgrounds could purchase their commissions, bypassing more experienced and more deserving officers.Balaclava itself was only lightly defended by six hastily constructed redoubts manned by Turkish troops with some naval guns and British artillery NCOs as advisors. They could also count on the 93rd Highland Regiment of Foot, a cavalry brigade, and some artillery units. This came from a dismissive opinion of their Russian opponents, one that would cost the allied forces in the coming battle.Early Morning ActionRelief of the Light Brigade by Richard Woodville, 1897. Source: National Army MuseumThe seven-mile stretch between the siege lines and Balaclava was the perfect point for a Russian assault. General Pavel Liprandi brought a sizable force of 25,000 soldiers to attack the Allied lines. He had calculated that he would have nearly three hours to exploit this weakness before Allied reinforcements could arrive on the scene. The battle started with a Russian advance on the redoubts at dawn. Five Russian infantry battalions led the way, supported by another six battalions advancing behind them.The redoubts had never been intended to defend against a serious assault. They were constructed out of earth and manned by demoralized Ottoman levies from Tunisia, now stuck in horrendous conditions on the siege lines. A smattering of British artillery NCOs offered technical expertise. Worse again, only two-thirds of the redoubts were manned. Yet the defenders of Redoubt No.1 surprised both Russians and Allies alike, fighting the Russian vanguard while under bombardment from thirty guns. The tenacious Ottomans held out until half seven in the morning, leaving behind over 170 of their compatriots dead in the redoubt when they finally retreated.Unfortunately this show of defiance was not matched by the other redoubts. The garrison of Redoubt No. 2 retreated and was cut down by Cossack cavalry. Nos. 3 and 4 withdrew under the Russian bombardment with some survivors reforming with the 93rd Highlanders. Allied troops were responding slowly to the Russian attack and for the moment, the way to Balaclava seemed open save for a scratch force of British and Ottoman infantry.The Thin Red LineThe Thin Red Line by Robert Gibb, 1881. Source: National Museums of ScotlandThe next celebrated action during the Battle of Balaclava was the stand of the 93rd Highlanders, the famous Thin Red Line. After the taking of the redoubt, all that stood between the Russians and Balaclava were Sir Colin Campbells highland infantry and some Turkish troops he had managed to rally. In total, Campbell had fewer than 500 highlanders and a few hundred Turkish infantry to fight the oncoming Russian squadrons.Campbell was a career soldier who had a poor opinion of Russian cavalry. Conventional wisdom was to form an infantry square when threatened by cavalry but Campbell met them in a double line more suited for fighting other infantry units, hence the name of the action.The Highlanders let the Russian cavalry charge before unleashing two volleys in quick succession. Such was their eagerness to engage that Campbell had to rein them in before they charged forward to meet the horsemen. The determination of the Highlanders made the Russian officers second-guess themselves as they assumed there must be other units in support for them to act so boldly. The Russians were hampered by the local geography just as much as their opponents, the rolling terrain of the battlefield obscuring view and concealing possible threats. Liprandi stalled his advance, not willing to risk his cavalry venturing into unknown territory with the chance of more Allied troops overwhelming them. The 93rd had checked four Russian cavalry squadrons but the main force of Russian cavalry was still proceeding forward at a cautious pace.A Clash of PersonalitiesJohn McDermond winning the VC at Inkerman by Louis Desanges, 1860. Source: National Army MuseumBefore describing the cavalry actions of the day, it is necessary to discuss some of the peculiar personal aspects of the battle. The British system of purchasing commissions had resulted in some officers wholly unsuited for command. Similarly, the lack of conventional conflicts in recent history had resulted in an elderly group of senior officers. Four out of five infantry division commanders were well into their sixties while the chief engineer for the army was in his seventies. Lord Raglan, the commander of the British forces, had served as Duke of Wellingtons military secretary at the Battle of Waterloo four decades earlier. He had a habit of referring to the enemy as the Frencha recipe for confusion since the French were allied to the Britishand was prone to giving contradictory or obscure orders.In the Cavalry Division there were further problems. Its commander, Lord Lucan, had received the nickname Lord Look-On after he obeyed Raglans orders not to pursue retreating Russians at the Battle of the Alma. Not regarded as particularly intelligent and possessing a violent temper; to his credit at least he had seen active service.In the Light Brigade, Lord Cardigan was of a similar background. Like Lucan he had purchased his commission and made it his business to hound officers out of his unit that he felt were of inferior breeding. He clashed repeatedly with Lucan, despite the fact that the latter was his superior officer and brother-in-law. Cardigan also slept each night in his own private yacht while his commander roughed it with the troops.Charge of the Heavy BrigadeCharge of the Heavy Brigade by Godfrey Giles, 1897. Source: National Army MuseumThe British heavy cavalry also had their moment at Balaclava, though their successful charge is less well known than the ill-fated action involving their light cavalry cousins. Unlike the rest of the cavalry, it had a relatively normal commander, Scarlett, who recognized his own shortcomings and took the advice of experienced officers. Arriving too late to fight alongside the 93rd, they spotted the main body of Russian cavalry on their flank. Scarlett hurriedly ordered his squadrons to form up in anticipation of a charge. The Russian advance boasted more than 3,500 cavalry, yet they stalled at the sight of the small groups of British horses calmly reforming their ranks.Again, the Russians presumed there must be more soldiers in reserve as the few hundred British cavalry present were no match for the force opposite them. They were shocked then to find the front three squadrons charging at them closely followed by another two. The British heavy cavalry are described as crashing into the enemy ranks, the English with a cheer, the Irish with a yell, and the Scots with a snarl. The Russians had remained stationary and suffered for it.Lucan was watching the melee and ordered the remaining heavy cavalry to charge. The resulting shocks shattered the Russian cavalry and they began to stream away in disorder. The action had taken only five minutes. It was marred only by the failure of the Light Brigade to pursue the defeated Russians, they had remained stationary, less than half a kilometer away, despite the protests of Cardigans subordinate officers.A Collection of BlundersJames Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan by Sir Francis Grant, 1841. Source: National Portrait Gallery, LondonIt was not just one mistake that would prove fatal for the Light Brigade but a collection of them. From their commanding position, Lord Raglan and the other British senior officers had a clear view of the battlefield. So far, the battle was still mostly in the Russians favor, the British successes had checked their advances. Worse again, the local commanders had only limited visibility, what was obvious to those on the heights was not so for those on the valley floor.It was half ten in the morning and the battle was mostly over. Liprandis cavalry had been defeated and the massing Allied forces would soon regain the ground they had lost. Yet Raglan was obsessed with the Napoleonic conceit of never losing a gun in battle. He grew increasingly frantic at the sight of the Russians retrieving the abandoned guns in the redoubts. He sent off incomprehensible orders that confused the commanders in the valley, ordering them to stop the guns being carried away.Finally, a galloper was sent, Captain Louis Nolan. Renowned as the finest horseman in the army, he had a fiery temper and was contemptuous of both Lucan and Cardigan. He handed yet another confusing order to Lucan and when questioned, gave his own interpretation. When Lucan rightly asked which guns he was referring to, Nolan angrily gestured towards the Russian batteries at the end of a valley, rather than the captured guns in the redoubts, There my lord is your enemy! There are your guns!The Valley of DeathCharge of the Light Brigade by Richard Woodville, 1895. Source: National Army MuseumLucan was stunned, the proposed target was over two kilometers away and charging them would mean being exposed to fire from Russian batteries to the left and the right. Yet Nolan spoke with Raglans authority so he ordered the Light and Heavy Brigades to form up. Nolan joined the charge but realized too late that Lucan had misinterpreted him. He attempted to redirect the attack but was killed by an artillery shell. Already there was a fearsome toll being taken so Lucan pulled the Heavy Brigade out of the charge but the Light Brigade surged onward. The charge appalled French observers, who ordered their cavalry to charge one of the flanking Russian batteries so the survivors might have some chance at retreating. The Lights were being hit from left, right, and center.For all the casualties they had suffered, the tattered remnants of the Light Brigade tore through the Russian battery and even routed the bewildered Russian cavalry behind it. The squadrons behind killed the rest of the gunners while the Russian infantry hurriedly formed a square to protect themselves. The remainder of the Lights milled around the ruined battery without further orders from Cardigan. Lord Paget, the second-in-command, ordered the retreat as the Russians belatedly realized how few they were in number.The retreat was as bloody, the Lights moving back across the valley while under continuous fire. If it had not been for the supporting charge of the French cavalry, it was unlikely any would have survived the charge. Of the estimated 600 horsemen that had charged into the valley, almost half became casualties, including more than 100 killed.The Blame GameBalaclava by Elizabeth Butler, 1876. Source: Manchester Art GalleryNeither side pressed forward after the charge and the Russians withdrew as evening fell. They were astounded by the action and initially believed the enemy cavalry were drunk. They treated their prisoners with surprising care, going so far as to punish their own troops for any ill-treatment, so impressed were they by the courage displayed. Whatever personal doubts they might have had, the British light cavalrymen had dutifully carried out their garbled orders without question. In the immortal words of Alfred, Lord Tennyson:Theirs not to reason why,Theirs but to do and die.Into the valley of DeathRode the six hundred.Fitzroy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan by William Salter, c. 1840s. Source: National Portrait Gallery, LondonThe dodging of responsibility began almost immediately after the action. Cardigan was exonerated immediately as he had merely followed a direct order. Yet he was to be criticized years afterward for his conduct of abandoning his men in the battery after the charge. Lucan was quick to deny any blame, foisting it on Raglan. Raglan, despite being the commander, tried to blame Lucan, stating that if the order was unclear, it should not have been followed. He also claimed the order had been written out incorrectly by Airey, the quartermaster general, as Raglan had merely dictated it. All were quick to blame Nolan, the galloper who had delivered the fateful order and put his own twist on it. The fact that Nolan had been killed in the action and was in no position to defend himself made him a convenient scapegoat.Unflattering reports were sent home both about the conduct of the British senior officers and the poor conditions in which the soldiers were fighting. Yet the Charge took on a mythology of its own, a testimony to discipline and courage. Although the action accomplished little, it contributed to the romanticism of the cavalry. Celebrated cavalry actions such as Charge of the Light Brigade and Von Bredows Death Ride during the Franco-Prussian War helped to ensure that European armies entered World War I with large cavalry contingents.