hi I'm Griffin Johnson and this is armchair history this video today is in collaboration with my friend Brandon you can find his channel by searching Brandon F on YouTube I highly recommend subscribing or at least checking out his videos that go hand in hand with this one he'll be covering the broad cultural aspects of the event I'm here to discuss today the charge of the Light Brigade it was the second year of the Crimean War and British forces were strangling the Russian garrison defending Sevastopol in a desperate attempt to break the siege the main Russian army launched an attack on the British occupied port city of balaclava to break the allied supply line in reaction British and Turkish forces were deployed to face off with the Russians these hack opened up with the Russian army quickly capturing the first line of defense surrounding the port city but by the time they made it to the main defensive line held by British and Turkish forces they fell flat on their face the British Heavy Brigade the armoured counterpart to the Light Brigade would end up seeing a lot of action early in that day action the Light Brigade was restricted from taking him they were on orders to remain static this added another layer of frustration onto the famed cavalry expert Captain Nolan a key figure in this battle discontent with the lack of exercise from the Light Brigade he would beg the head command relentlessly to utilize the light brigades brisk potential but wouldn't have any success at least initially the man responsible for the inaction of the Light Brigade was head commander Lord Raglan aware of the competence of the Light Brigade he was hesitant to deploy them as losing his best cavalry may leave his army vulnerable to react to immediate threats but as the Russian attack grew weak he finally found opportune conditions to put the Light Brigade to use the order was sent the Light Brigade would need to eliminate a group of disorganized Russian soldiers attempting to carry away British artillery on the abandoned outer defences Nolan the cavalry man who would be in charge of delivering the order no one approached Lord Lucan the head commander of both the heavy and the Light Brigade to issue it the order had quite ambiguously stated that the Light Brigade would go in and attack a band of Russian soldiers head-on the five minutes later the Heavy Brigade would follow up sweeping up any resistance and prevent the Light Brigade from being counter attacked by Russian forces no one would not actually give Lord Lucan the written order instead he told it verbally adding on even more ambiguity to the stipulations of the order and confusion Lord Lucan asked no-one to specify where exactly he wanted to send the brigades as there were no Russians in sight from his position no one gestured broadly with his arm pointing in the incorrect direction the direction that the entire Russian army was positioned and it just so happens that there was a large element of Russian artillery that had been set up with the bulk of the army allowing for easy misinterpretation of this order it is here where historians begin to dissent so listen carefully there's reason to believe that no one may have pointed the wrong direction on purpose in order to exercise the light brigades full potential against a Russian position no one had spent his entire life writing numerous books on the use of cavalry and frequently advocated for direct attacks with them it does sound a little peculiar however that no one would intentionally misdirect the cavalry towards ostensibly certain death but we'll get back to that later as the order was meant to be executed quickly and without question the commander of the Light Brigade Lord cardigan would deploy before there is any realization or protests at the blunder with the order received the stage is now set and it is time for the Light Brigade to see action forward the Light Brigade is called by command the bugles sounded 600 Force begin a set pace to a drop of skewer the Horseman's targets are far in the distance they approach the entrance of the valley and what can be distinguished now are large formations of enemy troops lining to the hills the brigade enters this development of guns but there's no noise yet in fact it's quiet but soon a faint noise can be heard calling from behind its captain Noland Salas who rides in front of the 600 shouting at the same time the Russian guns in the crust now rupture volcanic with cannon shot the horses quickly begin a gallop as fire rains down on them before Nolan's decry can be decrypted and exploding shell burst in front of him killing him instantly he is among the first casualties of those charging molten smoke pours into the valley from the guns gunpowder law at a constant rate the sky is swept into darkness as the noble 600 close in on the enemy carnage the liver gave attenuates bone fragments and shrapnel from landed shells to equal the damage of the cannibals themselves the horsemen now closer to the guns than ever are met with another wave of fire volleys from the Russian infantry melt off the outside layers of the Light Brigade just when all hope seems lost however French cavalry storm behind a battery of Russian guns silencing them immediately the Light Brigade finally reaches their target now it's their time bloodthirsty they unleash fury at the bulwark of artillerists and russian horsemen it's a slaughter both sides cutting one another down like animals and the Russians on the brink of retreat will soon be met with relief from their own reinforcements but if the order Nolan delivered is followed exactly the Heavy Brigade should come in to assist their comrades as the fighting continues the Heavy Brigade cannot be found however and to make matters worse the main Russian cavalry force is now blocking the light brigades escape Lord cardigan commander of the Light Brigade is nowhere to be seen and so alone abandonment surrounded the Light Brigade must fight its way back to friendly lines an opening is found however where the French cavalry had mounted their assault and so the remaining Light Brigade retreat quickly through the gap to take heavy casualties that mile back to allied lines the field falls silent all that can be heard now or just a few guns going off sporadically in just 20 minutes hundreds of men have been slaughtered on the field without either side achieving really any practical gains the charge is over Russian lieutenant Cuba de vich would go on to say the English fought with astounding bravery and when we approached their dismounted and wounded men even these refused to surrender and continue to fight to the ground was soaked with their blood the soldiers in the Light Brigade had been furious not at their order but rather at the heavy Brigade who failed to arrive many speculate that it was because of the feud both commanders had with one another that had been going on for thirty years if they had arrived the British cavalry may have single-handedly won the entire engagement and back on to the point of Captain no one no one really knows what he was yelling when he came out to join the charge but it remains suspicious that he ran out in front of all of the cavalry as if he was leading the charge instead of approaching the commander to order a retreat historians will forever continue the debate on Nolan's intentions as there's no real evidence to prove either conviction thank you for watching I'd like to thank my patrons on patreon Emmanuel James Emerson Adam Derek and Alex and those working on the armchair history team Tiberi Vata manu my graphic artist michael susan and my animator Marcel for making this video possible if you want to know more about the significance of this conflict join me next time for my video on the impact of the war and don't forget to subscribe to Brendan f and myself thank you again and I'll see you next time