Hell Riders : The True Story about the Charge of the Light Brigade

by Terry Brighton

• ISBN13: 9780805079357
• ISBN10: 0805079351
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2005-09-01
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

"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. Terry Brightonis the curator of the Queen's Royal Lancers Museum, the direct descendants of the 17th Lancers who led the charge of the Light Brigade. He is a member of the Crimean War Research Society and an authority on the Crimean War. He lives in England. 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 Riderstakes 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. "Brighton recounts the events as the survivors themselves remembered them . . . Readers who wish to avoid revisionist history will find the firsthand accounts difficult to resist."Military History "Excellent . . . Brighton has provided a battle history as it should be written."Richmond Times-Dispatch "An outstanding work that strips away much of the nonsense that has surrounded a tragic military blunder . . . [A] splendid examination."Booklist "An example to all popular historians of how to combine a gripping yarn with deep insight into the social and cultural forces driving the action."Publishers Weekly

Author Biography

Terry Brighton is the curator of the Queen’s Royal Lancers Museum, the direct descendants of the 17th Lancers who led the charge of the Light Brigade. He is a member of the Crimean War Research Society and an authority on the Crimean War. He lives in England.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	xi
List of Maps	xv
Acknowledgements	xvii
Introduction	xix
ONE The Invasion of the Crimea
1. The Bear Hunt	3	(15)
The Light Brigade prepares for war
2. The Ruling Asses	18	(13)
Their lordships Lucan and Cardigan take command
3. Journey into Hell	31	(15)
Three trials en route to the Crimea
4. The Invasion of the Crimea	46	(17)
From Kalamita Bay to Balaklava
5. Reconnaissance and the Cossacks	63	(18)
The secret intelligence that could have saved the Light Brigade
TWO The Charge of the Light Brigade
6. Towards the Valley of Death	81	(24)
The Russian attack, the thin red line and the Heavy Brigade
7. The Charge	105	(37)
Seven minutes into hell with the Light Brigade
8. Behind the Guns	142	(28)
The Light Brigade pursues the Russian cavalry
9. The Return	170	(19)
The survivors fight their way back
10. Experience and Observation	189	(16)
Death in the valley and glory on the heights
THREE The Last of the Light Brigade
11. The Miserable Remains	205	(18)
The Light Brigade in winter
12. After the Crimea 1.	223	(6)
From the battlefield to the workhouse
13. After the Crimea 2.	229	(10)
From the facts to the legend
FOUR Investigating the Charge
14. Finding Fault	239	(23)
Did Captain Nolan - or one of their lordships Raglan, Lucan and Cardigan - lose the Light Brigade?
15. The Balaklava Bugle Controversy	262	(16)
Did Henry Joy or Billy Brittain - or no one at all - sound the charge of the Light Brigade?
16. Lord Cardigan's Retreat	278	(12)
Did Cardigan desert the Light Brigade at the Russian guns?
17. Not the Six Hundred	290	(5)
Counting them out and counting them in
18. Death or Glory?	295	(8)
Did the charage succeed or fail?
19. The Truth about Scutari	303	(13)
Was Florence Nightingale - or Mary Seacole - the true nursing heroine of the Light Brigade?
20. Light Brigade Scandals	316	(15)
Murder, suicide and the Victoria Cross
CONCLUSION	325	(6)
Appendix 1. Researching the Light Brigade
Did your ancestor ride in the charge?	331	(5)
Appendix 2. Roll of the Light Brigade
An alphabetical list of officers and men	336	(25)
Bibliography	361	(4)
Index	365