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Osprey Campaign #6
Balaclava 1854: The Charge of the Light Brigade
Osprey's examination of one of the most important battles of the Crimean War (1853-1856). The port of Balaclava was crucial in maintaining the supply lines for the Allied siege of Sevastapol. The Russian attack in October 1854 therefore posed a major threat to the survival of the Allied cause. This book examines in detail the crucial battle of Balaclava, including: the attack on the redoubts; the action of “the thin red line" in which an assortment of about 700 British troops, some invalids, were abandoned by their Turkish allies; the subsequent charge of the Heavy Brigade; and the most famous part of the battle: the infamous charge of the Light Brigade.
96 pages, Paperback
First published September 27, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 28, 2016
Whenever I see or hear the name, "Balaclava," I can't but help see in my mind the magnificent, stentorian actor C. Aubrey Smith as an old Brit warrior, blustering in senile fashion, boasting over and over about his Crimean War heroics to much eye-rolling ("there 'e goes again") in the glorious 1939 British movie version of The Four Feathers.
Grabbing at a fruit bowl in the drawing room, the old soldier eagerly reproduces the layout of the battle on the tabletop with various produce and nuts. He, of course, is the massive pineapple ("Here, was I!"), at the head of the old "68th", the British infantry line known famously as "Thin Red Line" (represented by a smudge of port wine fingered from the decanter). The opposing Russians are represented by an array of walnuts. (I think the thin red line was actually the 93rd regiment; the number is changed in the movie).
This book about the first engagements of the Crimean War of 1854 highlights some of its most famous early battles, the much-feted Charge of the Light Brigade, and the heroic triumph of the Thin Red Line. It is part of the wonderful Praeger or Osprey (depending on where they are printed, the US or UK, I think) series of compact 100-page titles on military campaigns throughout history, and there hundreds of books in the series.
There are several awesome qualities in these Praeger-Osprey series of books, and whenever I see one on clearance at Half Price Books I try to buy it because these things are real keepers. The books give solid, quick-and-dirty overviews of the context, players, politics, campaigns and battles. They are great primers if you want to know all the important stuff fast. The other great thing about them are the maps, especially the 3-D-style topographical layouts of the battlefields with the combatant lines and battle formations and movements clearly marked. I could look at these maps for hours. They really help orient the reader to the action. There are nice color illustrations also of all the various enlisted and officer uniforms of the armies, and tons of well-selected paintings, illustrations, and photos that further help to make long-dead historical events vivid again. Author John Sweetman does a very good job at compressing the narrative while keeping it lively. The battles are well-described, peppered with ample quotes and eyewitness descriptions.
This war, of course, is most famous for inspiring a Tennyson poem and for the heroics of nurse Florence Nightingale, who is briefly mentioned at the end. It will serve little purpose in this review to detail the particulars of the war, in which British, French and Turkish allies marched against the encroaching Russians (sporting numerical superiority), and how all of these territorial colonial wars dovetailed into the hair-trigger politics of entangling alliances, that well-known later cause of World War I.
The Charge of the Light Brigade, one of warfare's most celebrated debacles, followed on the heels of a great British victory, the lesser known Charge of the Heavy Brigade. The gains and the glory from that earlier success were quickly lost to the more famous suicidal charge by horseman in the famous valley of death, ringed on three sides by rifle and heavy cannon aimed from superior elevated positions. Looking at maps and illustrations of this I couldn't help but laugh. It was so stupid and foolish. The romance and the absurdity of warfare encapsulated all in one battle. Why the Light Brigade did what it did has been debated by war buffs for years. It was the result of miscommunication, confusing chains of command, divided loyalties, the fog of war, egos and rivalries and maybe more. Had Lord Cardigan acted on his initiative earlier and attacked the Russians, still weakened by the charge of the Heavy Brigade, the Brits probably would have won a decisive victory and the light brigade charge fiasco never would have happened. Sweetman does a good job in this book of considering these issues.
Another thing that struck me in reading this was how the specter of Napoleon haunted these battles, with commanders mimicking some of his now-famous military tactics. The glories of its famous cavalry charges are balanced by the realities of its squalor, where disease was just as likely to take a man as combat. What is possibly most interesting to contemplate today is how little has changed politically. Today Russia still has territorial ambitions in its border regions and uneasy alliances led by the leading power (the US this time, not Great Britain) either directly or by proxy fight to combat it.
Balaclava itself was a real shithole. It was the British port throughout the war, and seeing the pictures of its tiny bay is kind of shocking. How warships and any other vessels were supposed to navigate and dock in this tiny sliver of water is comically absurd to comprehend.
Now that I have read this, I will proceed to the next volume in the series about the battles at Inkerman, also in the Crimea. (I own the Inkerman volume, but the Balaclava one is a library check-out).
I'll admit I'm still piecing together and finding my way through the European 19th-century wars. Since they set the stage for later wars that interest me more (the 20th-century ones), I find myself increasingly fascinated by them.
It's almost a certainty that every Praeger-Osprey military volume will get a standard solid three-star rating from me, since they are all done in the same fashion. They are really the best go-to primers, but people wanting something textually and analytically deeper will obviously need to go elsewhere, too.
(KevinR@Ky)
Grabbing at a fruit bowl in the drawing room, the old soldier eagerly reproduces the layout of the battle on the tabletop with various produce and nuts. He, of course, is the massive pineapple ("Here, was I!"), at the head of the old "68th", the British infantry line known famously as "Thin Red Line" (represented by a smudge of port wine fingered from the decanter). The opposing Russians are represented by an array of walnuts. (I think the thin red line was actually the 93rd regiment; the number is changed in the movie).
This book about the first engagements of the Crimean War of 1854 highlights some of its most famous early battles, the much-feted Charge of the Light Brigade, and the heroic triumph of the Thin Red Line. It is part of the wonderful Praeger or Osprey (depending on where they are printed, the US or UK, I think) series of compact 100-page titles on military campaigns throughout history, and there hundreds of books in the series.
There are several awesome qualities in these Praeger-Osprey series of books, and whenever I see one on clearance at Half Price Books I try to buy it because these things are real keepers. The books give solid, quick-and-dirty overviews of the context, players, politics, campaigns and battles. They are great primers if you want to know all the important stuff fast. The other great thing about them are the maps, especially the 3-D-style topographical layouts of the battlefields with the combatant lines and battle formations and movements clearly marked. I could look at these maps for hours. They really help orient the reader to the action. There are nice color illustrations also of all the various enlisted and officer uniforms of the armies, and tons of well-selected paintings, illustrations, and photos that further help to make long-dead historical events vivid again. Author John Sweetman does a very good job at compressing the narrative while keeping it lively. The battles are well-described, peppered with ample quotes and eyewitness descriptions.
This war, of course, is most famous for inspiring a Tennyson poem and for the heroics of nurse Florence Nightingale, who is briefly mentioned at the end. It will serve little purpose in this review to detail the particulars of the war, in which British, French and Turkish allies marched against the encroaching Russians (sporting numerical superiority), and how all of these territorial colonial wars dovetailed into the hair-trigger politics of entangling alliances, that well-known later cause of World War I.
The Charge of the Light Brigade, one of warfare's most celebrated debacles, followed on the heels of a great British victory, the lesser known Charge of the Heavy Brigade. The gains and the glory from that earlier success were quickly lost to the more famous suicidal charge by horseman in the famous valley of death, ringed on three sides by rifle and heavy cannon aimed from superior elevated positions. Looking at maps and illustrations of this I couldn't help but laugh. It was so stupid and foolish. The romance and the absurdity of warfare encapsulated all in one battle. Why the Light Brigade did what it did has been debated by war buffs for years. It was the result of miscommunication, confusing chains of command, divided loyalties, the fog of war, egos and rivalries and maybe more. Had Lord Cardigan acted on his initiative earlier and attacked the Russians, still weakened by the charge of the Heavy Brigade, the Brits probably would have won a decisive victory and the light brigade charge fiasco never would have happened. Sweetman does a good job in this book of considering these issues.
Another thing that struck me in reading this was how the specter of Napoleon haunted these battles, with commanders mimicking some of his now-famous military tactics. The glories of its famous cavalry charges are balanced by the realities of its squalor, where disease was just as likely to take a man as combat. What is possibly most interesting to contemplate today is how little has changed politically. Today Russia still has territorial ambitions in its border regions and uneasy alliances led by the leading power (the US this time, not Great Britain) either directly or by proxy fight to combat it.
Balaclava itself was a real shithole. It was the British port throughout the war, and seeing the pictures of its tiny bay is kind of shocking. How warships and any other vessels were supposed to navigate and dock in this tiny sliver of water is comically absurd to comprehend.
Now that I have read this, I will proceed to the next volume in the series about the battles at Inkerman, also in the Crimea. (I own the Inkerman volume, but the Balaclava one is a library check-out).
I'll admit I'm still piecing together and finding my way through the European 19th-century wars. Since they set the stage for later wars that interest me more (the 20th-century ones), I find myself increasingly fascinated by them.
It's almost a certainty that every Praeger-Osprey military volume will get a standard solid three-star rating from me, since they are all done in the same fashion. They are really the best go-to primers, but people wanting something textually and analytically deeper will obviously need to go elsewhere, too.
(KevinR@Ky)
August 29, 2011
Not much to say about this one, it's another Osprey Campaign book - if you have read one, you know what to expect from the rest. If there's anything special about this book, then it's the fact that it doesn't focus entirely on the famous and ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade, but gives equal space to the rest of the battle. I'm not all that familiar with military history between 1816 and 1914 and I found this one rather usefull in filling a small hole in my knowledge of military history.
May 13, 2018
A pretty good summation of a short and sharp battle known for its dramatic moments. The maps were useful. The text though is brief even by Osprey standards.
December 16, 2019
I have wanted a review of this battle for a long time. The detail and pictures were great!
March 4, 2017
A review of the battles around Balaclava (Crimea) in 1854. The day of the Russian assault near Crimea is probably best remembered for the Charge of the Light Brigade, but there were a number of engagements before this point in the battle, and this books reviews them all.
Starting with a good introduction to Crimea War (although you do need some additional background knowledge as pages available make this section short), it quickly moves to the events of 25th October and includes The Fall of the Redoubts, the Thin Red Line, the Charge of the Heavy Brigade and the Charge of the Light Brigade all with the detailed explanations, maps, and pictures you would expect from an Osprey book.
Definitely for those with an interest in the era or warfare in general, but none-the-less recommended.
Starting with a good introduction to Crimea War (although you do need some additional background knowledge as pages available make this section short), it quickly moves to the events of 25th October and includes The Fall of the Redoubts, the Thin Red Line, the Charge of the Heavy Brigade and the Charge of the Light Brigade all with the detailed explanations, maps, and pictures you would expect from an Osprey book.
Definitely for those with an interest in the era or warfare in general, but none-the-less recommended.
April 4, 2018
Balaclava has a lot of mythology to offer. The six hundred rode into the Valley of Death hot on the thin red streak of the 93th/ Sutherland Highlanders, and the survivors were awarded comfy wool caps. As is my understanding.
It's a lot to stuff into 93 pages and just TOO damn much if you have to go through the entire Crimean War 101 class first...often paired with, but a cut underneath, Inkerman 1854: The Soldiers' Battle.
It's a lot to stuff into 93 pages and just TOO damn much if you have to go through the entire Crimean War 101 class first...often paired with, but a cut underneath, Inkerman 1854: The Soldiers' Battle.
July 27, 2011
When I picked this book I could not forget about Errol Flynn's movie "The charge of the light brigade" and I had great memories of it while reading the great description of the battle phases by Sweetman. Well done book, not too short not too long, not only describes the battle phases in great detail but it also touches on the British officers careers and area providing a good enviroment to the readers enjoyement.
October 4, 2015
Nice book. Somewhat quick to criticize France in the introduction though. I reckon we froggies do not share this point of view. I guess old enmities die hard... Nevertheless the battle itself is clearly explained and worth reading.
November 8, 2016
Excellent little monograph about a series of actions in the Crimean war. It is standard Osprey fare, clear, concise and with beautiful maps to accurately describe a series of confusing actions on 25OCT1854. It is absolutely the place to begin any serious study of the "Charge".
November 24, 2024
The book doesn't introduce the armies of the conflict and technologies used. The battle happens in an a quite odd period of history which makes a bit hard to understood how the battle was fought.
There's a description of battlefield but no map by it, had to refer to further map i
There's a description of battlefield but no map by it, had to refer to further map i
March 4, 2016
A good overview of the time and location as major players. It is a great place to start and well-illustrated.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews