2-913-957 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Light Cavalry Charge at Balaclava, 1854. Crimean War: disastrous communication breakdown. 'When Lord Lucan received the order from Captain Nolan, and had read it, he asked, "Where are we to advance to?" Captain Nolan pointed with his finger to the line of the Russians, and said, "There are the enemy, and there are the guns, before them; it is your duty to take them" or words to that effect, according to the statement made since his death. Lord Lucan, with reluctance, gave the order to Lord Cardigan to advance upon the guns, conceiving that his orders compelled him to do so. The noble Earl, though he did not shrink, also saw the fearful odds against him. Don Quixote in his tilt against the windmill was not near so rash and reckless as the gallant fellows who prepared without a thought to rush on almost certain death'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.