Lord Tennyson wrote the poem 'The Charge of the Light Brigade some weeks after the ill-fated assault in the Battle of Balaclava in October 1854. The poem celebrates the courage and commitment of the light brigade in following orders though they were aware that they were charging towards almost certain death. Men of the light cavalry were slaughtered and the Light Brigade destroyed. However, the heroism displayed by the men of the Light Brigade, their unflinching courage and their unquestioning allegiance to their duties inspired Lord Tennyson to write this rousing and moving poem. An infamous error and its consequences led to the penning of one of the most popular and best-loved poems of all time.
The Result of the Charge:-
Around, 260 men of the Light Brigade’s 673, killed or injured. Horses lost 475.
British casualties - 615 and almost the same number of Russian casualties.
'They that had fought so well'
Full poem:
I
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.
II
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered.
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.
III
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred.
IV
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered.
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
V
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell.
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
VI
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!
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