Marching to the Drums: Eyewitness Accounts of War from the Charge of the Light Brigade to the Siege of Ladysmith

Book Description

This text includes accounts focusing on the experience of battle, during such pivotal military events such as the Sikh Wars, the Afghan Wars and the Boer War.

The Reason Why: The Story of the Fatal Charge of the Light Brigade

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Not what I wanted...
Into the valley of death rode the six hundred
The reason why
The Cardigan Sweater
Arrogance and stupidity...

The Reason Why: The Story of the Fatal Charge of the Light Brigade
Cecil Woodham-Smith
Manufacturer: Penguin Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140012788

Customer Reviews:

Not what I wanted..........2007-08-20

The actual events of the fatal day are covered in a chapter. The first few hundred pages set the scene. She spends a lot of time discussing personalities and the lives of 2 of the principle characters...but neglects other important characters and disregards any discussion of other interpretations. If you want to read a lot about why Lord Cardigan was disliked, read this book. If you want to know what happened, red 'Hell Riders'.

Into the valley of death rode the six hundred.......2006-11-14

At the battle of Balaclava during the Crimean war, two incompetent, megalomaniacal aristocrats led a brigade of cavalry into a deadly gauntlet of Russian artillery. The charge of the Light Brigade has been immortalized by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Cecil Woodham-Smith seeks to explain how such a tragedy occured.

Lord Lucan and Lord Cardigan were brothers-in-law who detested each other. Each possessed deep character flaws. To make matters worse, neither had led as much as a single soldier in battle and were completely unfit for command. Yet, British army command was based on social rank, not experience, thus these two supercilious fools were to attain positions of power that inevitably led to slaughter.

Lucan was appointed divisional command of calvary while Cardigan, his brother-in-law and enemy, received command of the light brigade. Two people completely incapable of working together would comprise a superior/subordinate relationship. Woodham-Smith provides interwoven biographies of both which culminate on that fateful day of 1854.

The Reason Why: The Story of the Fatal Charge of the Light Brigade is an excellent book. Swiftly-paced, well-written, and suspenseful, Woodham-Smith's effort contains that quintessential British literary charm found in historical works of mid-20th century and earlier. It's a charm which lends itself to extended and pleasurable reading. As a history buff, I can't get enough of it and appreciate the abundance I found here. 5+ stars.

The reason why.......2006-03-14

Outstanding. An in depth look at the actual people involved. Everybody knows what happened, here's how, or why if you will.

The Cardigan Sweater.......2005-09-10

Theirs not to reason why
Theirs but to do an die.
Into the valley of death
Rode the 600.
------------- Alfred Lord Tennyson

So went Tennyson's heroic poem "Charge of the Light Brigade". Every School boy used to know it. But few know who ordered and led the light brigade of cavalry to slaughter in the Crimea in 1854.

It was in fact a British aristocrat named James Thomas Brudenell, the duke of Cardigan (yes, the sweater's named after him). The story goes he fell off his horse as a child and injured his brain but not his birthright nor bank account with which he bought command of the light brigade.

The charge into the Russian cannon was a mistake. His sail to the crimea was so ill-prepared that his horses arrived half starved and his men sick and hungry. Of the 600 who rode out, Cardigan included, only 200 returned, all wounded except for Cardigan who strode his horse in lordly style up the defile and back to return unscathed to his yacht in the harbor.

Real history here? Likely mostly. Brudenell was a stupid martinet, much despised, bitterly ridiculed in the press. He was relieved of his command and the British policy of buying commands changed. Other versions of the event can be had, too. Read both sides with skepticism

Arrogance and stupidity..........2004-06-17

Cecil Woodham-Smith's story of the Charge of the Light Brigade is the biography of two men: Lords Lucan and Cardigan; brothers-in-law whose hatred for each other was surpassed only by arrogance and ineptitude as officers. Woodham-Smith's book is the story of two men cradled by an absurd system of rank and class, who came together as two of the highest-ranking officers in one of the worst-run campaigns in British military history, which resulted in one of the most legendary blunders in all of military history.

In the lifetimes of Lucan and Cardigan (the late eighteenth and early nineteeth century), the best way to get ahead in the British Army was to purchase your rank. The purchase system, as it was called, was basically a way for England's wealthy classes to keep the most powerful positions in the army for themselves, and exclude those individuals who were not of the same social stratum. This system was supported by Britain's greatest military mind, the Duke of Wellington, who, it is explained, somehow managed to hide the deficiencies of the system behind his military brilliance. However, by the time Lucan and Cardigan came into a position of authority, Wellington had long since passed away, none of the high officers involved in the Crimean campaign had heard a shot fired in anger, and the only combat-experienced officers in the British Army (those who had served in India) were unwanted.

The biography portion of the book gets a little bit cumbersome at times, especially for those of us who aren't entirely familiar with the British nobility system, but it provides an interesting backstory to the disaster in the Crimea. How two men so completely arrogant and inept came to a position of power in the British Army is shocking, especially when one considers that it was widely known that neither man was fit to command cavalry squadrons, let alone brigades and divisions.

Ultimately, Woodham-Smith's argument is effective: the purchase system, coupled with the British class system, was ripe for a disaster. By allowing incompetency to buy its way up the ranks while more competent solders were bypassed and more experienced soldiers were shunned, it was only a matter of time until the British experienced a debacle such as Balaclava and the entire Crimean Campaign. Unfortunately for the British, it took two spectaculary arrogant and stupid men to breed such a disaster, and when it finally happened, it happened in spectacular fashion.

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Excellent! A great read!

Charge of the Light Brigade (Hell Riders)

Brittannia rule the waves

A Rivetting Account Of The Ill-Fated Charge

You are there

Hell Riders: The True Story of the Charge of the Light Brigade
Terry Brighton
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Reason Why: The Story of the Fatal Charge of the Light Brigade

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Crimea: The Great Crimean War, 1854-1856

Battle for Europe: How the Duke of Marlborough Masterminded the Defeat of the French at Blenheim

Death or Glory: The Legacy of the Crimean War

ASIN: 0805077227
Release Date: 2004-10-14

Book Description

On the 150th anniversary of the world's most famous cavalry charge comes a revisionist retelling of the battle based on firsthand accounts from the soldiers who fought there

In October 1854, with the Crimean War just under way and British and French troops pushing the tsar's forces back from the Black Sea, seven hundred intrepid English horsemen charged a mile and a half into the most heavily fortified Russian position. In the seven minutes it took the cavalry to cross this distance, more than five hundred of them were killed. Celebrated in poetry and legend, the charge of the Light Brigade has stood for a century and a half as a pure example of military dash and daring. Until now, historical accounts of this cavalry charge have relied upon politically motivated press reports and diaries kept by the aristocratic British generals who commanded the action.

In Hell Riders, noted historian and Crimean War expert Terry Brighton looks, for the first time, to the journals recorded by survivors-the soldiers who did the fighting. His riveting firsthand narrative reveals the tragically inept leadership on the part of the British commander in chief, Lord Raglan, whose orders for the charge were poorly communicated and misinterpreted, and an unfathomable indifference on the part of British officers to the men who survived the battle and were left to tend their wounds and bury the dead in the freezing cold. While the charge overran the Russians, it gained nothing and the war continued for another two years. In finally capturing the truth behind the charge of the Light Brigade, Brighton offers a stirring portrait of incredible bravery in the service of a misguided endeavor.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent! A great read!.......2007-08-20

Sometimes good history books are also a bit boring. This one covers the history, but is a fascinating read as well. I was hard pressed to put it down - and it is the best I've read on the Light Brigade.

Charge of the Light Brigade (Hell Riders).......2007-08-01

Excellent insight of what really happen, with all the history, and social norms, and customs of the time, that allow this tragedy to happen

Brittannia rule the waves.......2005-04-03

I found this hard to put down, that plus the background detail for the Crimean War, nineteenth century England, and the inefficiency of armies, makes for an interesting book. I had been an unknowing receiver of the Tennysonian myth created by his famous poem written shortly after the famous charge, and it is actually quite illuminating to check the mental phantom of the saga against the facts. With imperial overtones, the Crimean War begins as gunboat diplomacy. The depiction of the officer class is a snapshot of the British class system, and the defunct policy of allowing the aristocracy to purchase offer commissions. With the resulting sadsacks in charge the misteps towards the famous cavalry charge are set. The ambiguity lies in the blunder mixed with Tennysonian echoes (triggered by the reports of the famous Times journalist William Russell). The minute by minute account of the dread seven minutes of the fatal attack is almost cinematic, and fairly well wraps up the tale.

A Rivetting Account Of The Ill-Fated Charge.......2005-01-25

Brighton briefly sketches the events that led to the Crimean War, but never loses focus on the Light Brigade. His account of the famous Charge is very detailed, and extends for over 100 pages. He skilfully allows the original participants (through their memoirs) to describe the action, and thus his descriptions have a first-hand 'feel' to them absent in some other books on the Charge. Brighton weaves these accounts together effectively. Despite the extraordinary detail of the section on the Charge, I never lost interest -- and was filled with admiration for the cavalrymen who rode up the valley and then down it in the hellfire of the Russian guns. Brighton examines Nolan's actions in (and after) relaying Raglan's orders to Lucan, and although apportioning most of the blame on Lucan, doesn't adopt a one-eyed strategy of making scapegoats of people. Instead, his discussions appear to be well balanced.

There are useful maps at the beginning of the book (though one showing the 'Thin Red Line' and the Heavy Brigade's repulsing of the Russians, prior to the Light Brigade's famous charge, would have been useful); and Brighton includes a list of those who rode in the Charge.

A great read and history 'brought to life' by those who created it.

You are there.......2005-01-12

Terry Brighton's writing of the actual minute by minute unfolding of the charge was so well written I felt I was in the middle of it. Utterly captivating.
As for the rest of the book, he does an excellent job looking at the causes of the Crimean War, and delves into things I would never have thought about; transporting all the horses by ships for one thing.
Two chapters that could have been left out were about who blew the bulge for the charge and about Florence Nightingale's involvement after the charge. Both interesting, but they seemed to be vestigial.
I am not a big fan of military history, but this was an engrossing book.

The Charge of the Light Brigade (Battles of the Nineteenth Century)

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The Charge of the Light Brigade (Battles of the Nineteenth Century)
Deborah Bachrach
Manufacturer: Lucent Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 1560064552

POCKET HERCULES, THE: Captain Morris and the Charge of the Light Brigade

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POCKET HERCULES, THE: Captain Morris and the Charge of the Light Brigade
MJ Trow
Manufacturer: Pen and Sword
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1844153789

Book Description

William Morris was in the front rank during the Charge of the Light Brigade. He was one of the first horsemen to reach the Russian guns. This is his story. M.J. Trow's vivid biography of this typical Victorian soldier gives a fascinating insight into the officer class that fought the Crimean War. In recording Morris's experiences during a notorious campaign, the author reveals much about the hidebound character of the British army of that era. The portraits of Morris's fellow officers and commanders - men like Nolan, Raglan and Lucan - are telling, as is the contrast between Morris and his incompetent superior Cardigan. The author meticulously recreates Morris's life and, through him, the lives of a generation of professional British soldiers.

Hell Riders: The Truth about the Charge of the Light Brigade (John MacRae Books)

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Life to Tennyson Poem
Not quite the whole Truth

Hell Riders: The Truth about the Charge of the Light Brigade (John MacRae Books)
Terry Brighton
Manufacturer: Holt Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Reason Why: The Story of the Fatal Charge of the Light Brigade

ASIN: 0805079351
Release Date: 2005-08-11

Book Description

“An outstanding work that strips away much of the nonsense that has surrounded a tragic military blunder . . . [a] splendid examination.” —Booklist

On October 25, 1854, acting in defense of their base at Balaklava during the Crimean War, the Light Brigade of the British Cavalry Division made the most magnificent and brutal charge in military history. Seven hundred men armed with sabers and lances charged straight at the muzzles of Russian cannons. In the slaughter that followed, many fell to roundshot and shell. Those who survived took a terrible revenge on the enemy.
In this vivid and extraordinarily detailed account of the charge and the bloody melee that followed, Terry Brighton draws on twenty years of research to tell the story in the words of the survivors themselves for the first time.
Hell Riders takes the reader closer than ever before to the experience of charging into the valley of death, and reveals the horrific truth about the charge of the Light Brigade exactly as the survivors lived it.

Customer Reviews:

Life to Tennyson Poem.......2006-11-11

I read the book simply for informational purposes. I had read and known Alfred Lord Tennyson's famous poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade"...but aside from the poem, I didn't know that much about the actual event itself. I found Brighton's book at a local bookstore and after reading a few random selections, I decided to purchase the book as I found the writing style easy to read.

This book deals with the actual events surrounding the disastrous cavalry charge led by Lord Cardigan during the Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854 in the Crimean War. The Brighton puts forth his opinion, but is careful to admit it is his opinion and even offers a few other conventional views on where the blame may or may not lay. Each view balanced with the pros and cons of the varying opinions.

Brighton's writing stle is easy to follow and read. I actually read through this book much faster than I had originally anticipated. Even though the subject matter only had a slight interest to me, I was taken in by the storylines surounding the events and opinions as to what actually happened and why. As an added bonus, Brighton added a short epilogue for the characters and follows a few of them into their future beyond the battle to inform the reader as to what eventually happened to many of them. This in some cases serves as a stark reminder of "how soon we forget" as many ended up in disappointing life situations later in their lives.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in getting a sense of the event itself delivered in a very readable format.

Not quite the whole Truth.......2005-11-02

This book by Terry Brighton (TB) is well-written and would appear to be the last word on the Charge of the Light Brigade. Not so, in my opinion, as it is contemporary and follows on closely from another recent book on the same topic (The Charge - Why The Light Brigade was Lost by Mark Adkins). One should read the other book by Mark Adkins (MA) as well to get the full flavour of this dramatic event.
The MA book had a really interesting approach - once the positions of individuals or units were determined, their schematic locations were drawn onto perspective diagrams which were based on real photographs as seen by Raglan. Having determined that there were four individuals by which History will always judge to have been responsible, MA then shifts the blame onto Nolan's lap by postulating that Nolan had meant to mislead.
TB's book is an analysis of the charge as recorded by the individuals involved, another interesting approach. He debunks MA's theory as mere speculation (rightly so) but that is to do disservice to MA's book which was a well-crafted book in its own right. TB's book states that Lucan was responsible, and so the blame game goes on.

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Gallipoli

Manufacturer: Angus & Robertson Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: 020714673X

Product Description

Gallipoli is the tremendous, page-turning epic of two young sons of Western Australia who left their homes for the heady adventure of war and the dream of pushing the Turks from the Dardanelles back to Constantinople, who joined the heroic 10th Light Horse and participated in the tragic events that overtook that Brigade on the night of August 7, 1915. This book is based on the screenplay by David Williamson for the film produced by Robert Stigwood and Patricia Lowell, directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson as Frank Dunne and Mark Lee as Archy Hamilton. Book published in Australia.

The Charge of the Light Brigade (Turner Classic Movies British Film Guides)

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The Charge of the Light Brigade (Turner Classic Movies British Film Guides)
Mark Connelly
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1860646123

Book Description

Tony Richardson's 1968 The Charge of the Light Brigade, with its star cast, lavish sets and location shoots, was one of the most expensive British films ever made. Mark Connelly examines the film and its difficult production history, the role of its stars David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave and John Gielgud, and director Richardson's running feud with the press, all culminating in the film's subsequent fame. He shows the film to be representative of its time, in its visual style and its use of sixties themes such as youth, sexual infidelity and class, to discuss how Charge of the Light Brigade, while meticulously reconstructed from authentic sources, reveals the horror of war to a world struggling to come to terms with American involvement in Vietnam.

Crimean Journal: An Eye-witness Account of the Charge of the Light Brigade

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Crimean Journal: An Eye-witness Account of the Charge of the Light Brigade
Fanny Duberly
Manufacturer: Long Riders' Guild Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1590482352

The Charge of the Light Brigade and Other Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)

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Best Poet Ever (In my opinion.)
A superb collection!
'Tho much is taken, much abides' Ulysses above all
The great British poet laureate of the Victorian age
"His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd..."

The Charge of the Light Brigade and Other Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486272826

Book Description

Treasury of verse by the great Victorian poet includes the famous long narrative poem, Enoch Arden, plus "The Lady of Shalott," "The Charge of the Light Brigade," "Break, break, break," "Flower in the crannied Wall" and more. Also included are excerpts from three longer works: The Princess, "Maud" and "The Brook."

Customer Reviews:

Best Poet Ever (In my opinion.).......2007-04-04

The man was genius, and this collection of his work is one of the best I have seen yet. AMAZING!

A superb collection!.......2007-02-20

By the way, this Penguin book has the COMPLETE text of "In Memoriam." The Everyman's edition does not.

'Tho much is taken, much abides' Ulysses above all.......2005-02-06

This is a rich collection of the work of Tennyson, and those who care for his verse will derive great pleasure from it. For myself most of Tennyson's longer poems have been more skimmed and tasted by me than really chewed and digested. Tennyson lives as a poet to me primarily through one poem, 'Ulysses'. This poem to my mind perfectly embodies a certain heroic stance toward life. It does this in immortal lines. The poem tells the story of the great Ulysses returning home after having voyaged and become ' a part of all I have met' . He is now not the youth who set out in the beginning but an elderly veteran. He begins with , 'Though much is taken much abides' And so in mid-life or in late- life having come home he is not content to rest. But is an ' old man explorer' who sets out again to meet and make his destiny. ' Though much is taken much abides, and though we are not that strength, which in old days, moved earth and heaven, that which we are we are, one equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will, to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.'
This kind of determination not only spoke to the Victorian world, and to Tennyson's own life- situation with its great losses and difficulties, but I believe will speak to mankind for so long as we are human.

The great British poet laureate of the Victorian age.......2004-03-19

This little book is a good and inexpensive introduction to Tennyson, who was every Victorian lady's favorite. From a purely technical level, he was absolutely ingenious, perhaps the best poet of Victorian times. His poems were also easy to remember and recite aloud. For example, "The Lady of Shalott." Give this poem a try and you'll see what I mean.

David Rehak
author of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"

"His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd...".......2002-06-23

This is an excellent collection of Tennyson's poems,
very representative, very inclusive. In order to make
room for so many poems with full texts, the editor has
chosen not to include an Introduction. This, of course,
for the non-Tennyson reader or person wishing to know
more about him presents something of an obstacle. However,
a bit of rambling to one's own library, or a municipal
one, can solve that.
There is included a Chronology of important dates and
events concerning Tennyson's life. From this, a few of
the important facts seem to be: 1809--born at Somersby,
fourth son of Revd George Clayton Tennyson, Rector of
Somersby; 1816-1820--pupil at Louth Grammar School,
subsequently educated at home by his father; 1827--
publishes _Poems by Two Brothers_ with his brother
Charles, also enters Trinity College, Cambridge University;
1829--meets Arthur Henry Hallam, also a student at Trinity,
who was to become Tennyson's close friend and the fiance
of Tennyson's sister Emily, also wins the Chancellor's
Gold Medal with his prize poem "Timbuctoo", and becomes
a member of the "Apostles," a Cambridge debating society;
1830--publication of _Poems, Chiefly Lyrical_; 1831--death
of Tennyson's father, he leaves Cambridge without a
degree; 1833 (September) death of Hallam, his close
friend, from a cerebral hemorrhage while on holiday in
Vienna; 1840--beginning of almost a decade of depression
and ill health for Tennyson; 1850--marries Emily
Sellwood, appointed Poet Laureate of England; 1852--birth
of first son whom he names "Hallam"; 1883--accepts offer
of title of Baron, taking his seat in the House of
Lords in March 1884; 1892--dies on 6 October.
The poems in this anthology come from the major
publishings of Tennyson's poems. The first two:
"Timbuctoo" was published in the _Cambridge Chronicle
and Journal_ (1829) --and "The Idealist" was not
published during Tennyson's lifetime [this information

comes from the very good notes supplied by the Editor
Aidan Day at the back of the volume].
The poems included in this volume which the scholar or
general reader might wish to know are here collected
in one edition [full texts], along with many more
than these mentioned, are: The Lady of Shalott; Oenone;
The Palace of Art; The Hesperides; The Lotos-Eaters;
Morte d'Arthur; Ulysses; Locksley Hall; short poems
from _The Princess_; IN MEMORIAM, A.H.H. (1850);
MAUD (1855); Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington;
The Charge of the Light Brigade; Tithonous; Lucretius;
To E. FitzGerald; Tiresias; The Ancient Sage; Locksley
Hall Sixty Years After (1886); Demeter and Persephone;
Crossing the Bar. These poems are presented in
chronological order in the text, and the very good
Table of Contents in the front of the book tells
the poetry collection and its date from which the
poems come.
Tennyson is one of those interesting poets that take
a bit of time (at least for me) to get used to -- to
want to read, to really listen to. Having had the
experience of being required to memorize some of
Tennyson for my early academic training in school
at least got me acquainted with the more accessible,
but somewhat less deep poems. But it has taken several
years, much experience, and depressed grief over the
loss of a beloved, to bring me into synch with
the deeper poetry...or at least, being able to hear
it with deeper understanding, deeper reading.
From these poems it is hard to pick "favorites," and
that almost seems too trite a word. Maybe "meaningful"
would be more appropriate as a term. The two I would
select out would be "The Palace of Art" (1832; rev.
1842) and IN MEMORIAM, A.H.H. (1833), on the death
of his dear, beloved friend Arthur Hallam.
From "The Palace of Art," these lines resonate:
* * * * * * * * *
And with choice paintings of wise men I hung
The royal dais round.

For there was Milton like a seraph strong,
Beside him Shakespeare bland and mild;
And there the world-worn Dante grasp'd his song,
And somewhat grimly smiled.

And there the Ionian father of the rest;
A million wrinkles carved his skin;
A hundred winters snow'd upon his breast,
From cheek and throat and chin.
......
And thro' the topmost Oriels' coloured flame
Two godlike faces gazed below;
Plato the wise, and large-brow'd Verulam,
The first of those who know.

-- Arthur Lord Tennyson.
* * * * * * * *

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