POEM CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE MOVIE

Our model estimated British losses would have been 19% higher than the historical ones. Bad odds under all scenariosįor example, suppose the Light Brigade had charged the cannons on the heights.

For each alternative, the model estimated the British losses and survivors. We then adjusted the model to represent three alternative charges: the Light Brigade against the heights both brigades against the heights and both brigades along the valley. This ensured it reproduced the actual charge by the Light Brigade along the valley. In those projects I likewise collaborated with historians to get results that neither of us could have obtained on our own.įor our project on the Battle of Balaclava, we initially calibrated the model with historical troop strengths and losses. Other examples include studies of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg and the 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea. It uses math and computers to investigate a humanities topic. This study is an example of “digital humanities” research. Our model was adapted from earlier research on naval combat involving cruise missiles or aircraft carriers. We began by building a mathematical model of the charge. To answer those questions, I collaborated with history student David Connors and history professor John Bonnett on an interdisciplinary study.

POEM CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE MOVIE

The battle scene as depicted in the movie “The Charge of the Light Brigade” Which leader(s) deserved the blame for the disastrous charge? And could it have succeeded if it had followed one of the other alternatives? The leaders’ bickering ignited two ongoing historical debates. But Lucan halted it once he saw the cannon fire’s intensity. That brigade actually had started to advance. Lucan in turn complained that Raglan’s orders had been unclear and unwise.įor his part, Cardigan complained the Heavy Brigade should have charged too, to support his men. The charge was supposed to target Russian cannons on the heights, not in the valley. Raglan complained the Lucan had ineptly misinterpreted his orders. Either unit could charge cannons, but normally from their defenceless flanks, not head-on into their gunfire. It could overpower lighter cavalry or charge against infantry lines. The Heavy Brigade had larger, stronger horses.

In battle it typically charged enemy troops who were disorganised or retreating. The Light Brigade rode smaller, faster horses. The British army commander, Lord Raglan, had issued notoriously vague orders to his cavalry commander, Lord Lucan: “Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front, and to try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns.”īut which cavalry: the Light Brigade alone or the Heavy Brigade too? Which guns: those in the valley or those on the adjacent Causeway Heights? The British leaders immediately blamed each other for the fiasco. Outnumbered 11-to-1, the 195 survivors retreated. The ‘Valley of Death’ĭuring the charge, Lord Cardigan’s light cavalry brigade attacked Russian cannons in “the valley of death.” The brigade defeated the gunners, but was counter-attacked by roughly 2,160 Russian light cavalry. It quickly inspired a magnificent poem by Lord Tennyson and later a colourful movie. But it became infamous for its brave soldiers, incompetent leaders and senseless bloodshed. That was a small engagement that ended the inconclusive Battle of Balaclava on Oct. However, another of its features also remains in our memories: The Charge of the Light Brigade. That war is largely forgotten now, apart from its famous nurse Florence Nightingale. Those descriptions sound like Russia’s 2014 takeover of Crimea.īut they also applied 150 years earlier during The Crimean War between Russia and a British-French-Turkish alliance. Western nations’ warships in the Black Sea.

Poem charge of the light brigade