Charge Of The Light Brigade Essay

In the poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the soldiers illustrate the idea of true heroism, bravery, and self-sacrifice that was common during the 1850s in the Crimean War. Lord Tennyson wrote the poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” about the Battle of Balaclava that took place in 1854 during the Crimean War. This Battle is remembered as a blunder which cost the lives of many soldiers. Throughout the poem the idea of warfare is glorified, and the soldiers are illustrated as true war heroes. The Crimean War was a conflict between Russia and an alliance of the French, British, and Ottoman empires. The Crimean war was one of the first wars that used modern methods of representation, for example, photography,

The soldiers are respected and glorified as noble and as heroes because they died in a wild and reckless manner. Furthermore, in the book “A Short History of the Crimean War” author Trudi Tate discusses the battles and struggles of the Crimean War. The book explains that “The war in the Crimea contributed to a significant change in attitude; in effect it made warfare thinkable again” (Tate 8). This proves that during the Crimean War, warfare was accepted and the soldiers in the military showed their patriotism by being loyal and serving and protecting their country in

The poem does not specify who exactly made that careless mistake. However, it is evident that the Commander was the one who made a mistake because he issued the orders that the soldiers chose to obey without question even though they knew there was a mistake with the charge. Although one might expect the soldiers to question the blunder the cavalrymen didn’t. The cavalrymen showed bravery at that moment because they knew that someone had blundered and that it would get them killed however, they did not question it and rode into the charge dismayed instead. Also, in the book “The Crimean War: Europe's Conflict with Russia” the author Hugh Small speaks about the history of the Crimean War and how it failed. In the book under the section “Inside the Minds of Generals” the author reports that “Raglan had never commanded men in the field before this war and seems to have been learning on the job” (Small). In addition, “This behavior led to so much criticism of ‘lack of generalship’ later that one can assume that his divisional commanders probably complained at the time” (Small). Raglan was one of the commanders during the Crimean War. He showed incompetence and mismanagement on the battlefield because of his inability to lead and handle the soldiers in battle. A reckless battle is just one of the many ways that a general officer in command demonstrates lack of