![]() ![]() Smith cut a button from the coat of one of them “The next day I cut a button off my own jacket and sewed it on in its place, where it still remains.” Strangest was with two wounded Russians who were from the 11th Russian Hussars. He passed a square of Russian infantry “The ordeal was something frightful, for I expected every moment to be struck.” He was then chased by some Russian lancers, who left him and killed two of his comrades.ĭuring his journey he had several close shaves and strange encounters. Her leg was broken, so Smith quickly jumped down and started to run, carrying his sword: he was about a mile from safety. Smith rode through a group of Russian lancers and then his horse was wounded. The few men left started to return to whence they came. “Colonel Douglas shouted, ‘Then fight for your lives’ Every man was now left to himself to take his own course …” Douglas thought they were the 17th lancers, but one of his officer shouted out that they were Russians. While the two sides stood face to face, more cavalry came behind the British. At this point a stand-off ensued, with the surviving British cavalrymen faced by a large Russian force. He and three men attacked a Russian gun, but were themselves attacked by Cossacks (Russian light cavalry). Smith estimates that there were about 80 of the 11th left by this stage. Smith says: “Colonel Douglas, seeing that there was no time to lose … called out ‘Give them another charge, men, Hurrah’ … Waving our swords over our heads, on we galloped …” The 11th then passed through the Russian lines for another 100 yards (no other regiment got so far), where they saw the waiting Russian cavalry. ![]() The first man of my Troop that was struck was Private Young, a cannon ball taking off his right arm, I being close in his right rear, fancied I felt the wind from it as it passed me, I afterwards found I was bespattered with his flesh.”Īs the charge progressed, “Many riderless horses were now galloping along with us, forcing their way up into the ranks, and keeping their places as though their masters had been on their backs.” Smith lost some of the lace on his cuff to a bullet, but made the Russian gun line in one piece. “As we moved off the Russians opened fire from all their batteries, the round shot passed through us, and the shells burst over and amongst us, causing great havoc. The best account of what happened to the 11th comes from the pen of Troop Sergeant Major Loy Smith, whose diary is in our museum’s possession. With him were 5 officers, a medical officer, Regimental Sergeant Major Bull and 135 men. The 11th was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Douglas, who had first joined the army in 1829, transferring to the 11th Hussars in 1839. The 11th Prince Albert’s Own Hussars were in the second line of the Light Brigade (the 13th Light Dragoons and 17th Lancers were in front, with the 4th Light Dragoons and 8th Hussars behind them). However, a cavalry attack on a regiment of British infantry (the 93rd Highlanders) defending the port of Balaclava was repulsed by the “thin red line tipped with steel”, and a subsequent attack on five British cavalry regiments of Dragoons and Dragoon Guards (The Heavy Brigade) ended with the Russian cavalry being chased from the field. The initial attack was successful, with a line of strongpoints (“redoubts”) along a crest of high ground being captured. For the British and French, the most serious fighting took place in the Crimean Peninsula (recently in the international spotlight again), when they besieged the important sea port of Sevastopol.īalaclava is a small port some distance from Sevastopol, where the British had established their main supply base: in the early hours of the 25th October, the Russians launched a major attack to try and capture the town. This action was part of the Battle of Balaclava, in the ill-fated Crimean War between Great Britain, France, Turkey and their allies against Russia. 25th October 1854 saw one of the most famous military blunders in history – the Charge of the Light Brigade. ![]()
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