Battle of Balaclava facts for kids

The Battle of Balaclava was a battle of Crimean war. It was on 25 October 1854 between the alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the French Empire, and the United Kingdom vs. the Russian Empire. The battle ended with a Russian victory. Two of the most important events of the Crimean war took place during the Battle of Balaclava.

The Thin Red Line

The 93rd Highland Regiment (dressed almost all in red) formed a line 2 men thick and stood their ground when the Russian cavalry charged at them.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

This event inspired Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem of the same name. The charge was made by the 4th and 13th Light Dragoons, 17th Lancers, and the 8th and 11th Hussars, under the command of Major General the Earl of Cardigan. Many people died in this charge. 278 of the over 670 soldiers were killed.

Images for kids

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  Allied 'flank march' to the Chersonese Peninsula and Sevastopol, September 1854.

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  Cossack Bay, Balaclava. Photo: Roger Fenton c. 1855.

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  1st Baron Raglan, British commander-in-chief. Photo: Roger Fenton.

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  Alexander Menshikov by Franz Kruger. Russian commander-in-chief in the Crimea.

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  French military map of 1855. The village of Kamara, where the battle began, is in the south-east corner.

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  No.1 redoubt on Canrobert's hill (2020).

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  General Pavel Liprandi. Commander of Russian forces at Balaclava.

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  3rd Earl of Lucan c. 1860. Commander of the British Cavalry Division in the Crimea.

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  Lord Cardigan. Commander of the Light Brigade.

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  Battle of Balaclava. Ryzhov's cavalry attacks over the Causeway Heights at approximately 09:15. Both branches of the attack happened almost simultaneously.

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  The Thin Red Line by Robert Gibb. Campbell's 93rd Highlanders repel the Russian cavalry.

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  The 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons and 5th Dragoon Guards engage the Russians in the Charge of the Heavy Brigade.

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  Battle of Balaclava: The Charge of the Light Brigade

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  Cornet assistant Surgeon Henry Wilkin, 11th Hussars. He survived the Charge of the Light Brigade. Photo: Roger Fenton.

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  Chasseurs d'Afrique, led by General d'Allonville, clearing the Fedyukhin Heights

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  Into the Valley of Death by John Charlton. The 17th Lancers ('the Death or Glory Boys') reach the Russian guns.

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  The Relief of the Light Brigade by Richard Caton Woodville. The 11th Hussars reach the Russian guns.

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  Memorial of the Battle of Balaclava near Sevastopol, Balaclava way

See also

In Spanish: Batalla de Balaclava para niños