“Lord Raglan’s orders are that the cavalry should attack immediately,” the aide shouted. Lucan’s hesitancy was infuriating to the aide. It was well known that the aide and Lucan had history between them and despised one another. The aide descended the bluff to the valley below and quickly made his way to Lord Lucan, the commander of the cavalry. As the aide galloped away, Raglan shouted “Tell Lord Lucan, the cavalry is to attack immediately.” Lord Raglan handed the orders to an aide on horseback who immediately set off. If you find the orders to be a bit opaque and confusing, you’re not alone. “Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front – follow the enemy and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns. The Light Brigade was stationed in the valley below and was unaware of the activity on the heights. Next, Raglan ordered the Light Cavalry brigade to finish the job by ascending the heights and securing the area so the Russians could not carry off their guns.
The battle was turning in Raglan’s favor. The Heavy Brigade successfully forced the Russians to retreat and abandon the cannons. He ordered the Heavy Cavalry brigade to attack the Russian guns on the hills high above the valley, directly opposite from the hill he was standing on. Raglan’s strategy was therefore to first take out the Russian guns on the heights. After all, the Russian controlled the heights on both sides of the valley. Raglan understood a direct assault on the Russian forces would be disastrous. Separating the two armies was a level plain one mile in length. On the far end of the valley, the Russian army was entrenched with artillery and cavalry. On one end, the area closest to him, amassed the bulk of the British army. To control the movement of troops and execute his strategy, he issued orders on scraps of paper which his aides delivered by horseback to the various commanding officers. From these heights, he could see the movements and positions of not only the British infantry and cavalry, which he commanded, but those of the enemy Russian forces as well. He had taken up this position for its sweeping view. On October 25, 1854, Lord Raglan stood high on a bluff and surveyed the battlefield spread out on the plain 600 feet below. The mistakes made that day are revealing and serve as a cautionary tale for leaders today. It was the end result of a brilliant strategic decision followed by poor communication and execution. The charge itself should never have happened. The poem mostly celebrates the bravery and glory of the officers who participated in the charge, but in a famous line, Tennyson makes it clear that those who died that day did so because “someone had blundered.”
The Charge of the Light Brigade on Octowas a disastrous mistake, the result of misinformation and miscommunication.Īlfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade, immortalizes an ill-fated British cavalry charge during the Crimean War.
0 kommentar(er)
