On 25 October 1854, the Battle of Balaclava was fought in the Crimean Peninsula between an Allied army of British, French and Ottomans under Lord Raglan and a Russian army under Pavel Liprandi during the Crimean War.
Why did it happen & Who was involved?
The Crimean War began in 1853 when the Russian Tsar Nicholas I quarreled with the Ottoman Sultan over the right to protect the Orthodox Church within the empire. After the Russians defeated an Ottoman navy at the Battle of Sinope, the British and French declared their support for the Ottomans. In September 1854, an Anglo-French expeditionary force landed on the Crimean Peninsula in support of the Ottoman Empire. After winning the Battle of Alma on 20 September, the Allied army besieged the Russian held city of Sebastopol. The British under Lord Raglan took over the southern port of Balaclava to both supply and protect the Allied siege operations. A 25,000 strong Russian army under Pavel Liprandi decided to break the siege before the Allies could entrench themselves and attacked Raglan’s force of 4,500 at Balaclava on 25 October.
What happened?
After occupying the Fedioukine and Vorontsov Heights, the Russian infantry began the battle by attacking the Ottoman held redoubt on Canrobert’s Hill, which, despite brave Ottoman resistance, they managed to capture. The Russian cavalry then attacked the 93rd Highland Regiment under Sir Colin Campbell, who were guarding the road to Balaclava. Organising themselves into a ‘thin red line’, Campbell’s Regiment fired volleys of rifle fire into the Russian cavalry’s ranks until the Russians were driven off by the British Heavy Brigade. Meanwhile, Lord Raglan, who had positioned himself on the Chersonese Uplands, sent orders for the Light Brigade under Lord Cardigan to “advance rapidly to the front, follow the enemy, and try to prevent the enemy from carrying away the guns.” However, by the time Cardigan got the message, it had been shortened by several commanders to “advance rapidly.” Obeying orders, Cardigan led the Light Brigade of 673 cavalry in a charge straight down the centre of North Valley towards the Russian battery. The Famous “Charge of the Light Brigade” resulted in 247 casualties and convinced Raglan to order his infantry to fall back towards Balaclava to defend against any further Russian attacks.
What changed as a result?
Although the battle ended indecisively, the Russians claimed victory because the positions they had gained severely hindered the Allied Siege of Sebastopol. What is more, the Russian victory had exposed the Allies’ weak supply routes and left them vulnerable to attack. On 5 November, the Russians attempted to take the Allied positions at Inkerman. In the resulting battle, the Russians were defeated and both sides focused on the Siege of Sebastopol, which held out to the Allies until September 1855. The Crimean War ended in 1856 at the Treaty of Paris whereby the new Russian Tsar, Alexander II, recognized the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire and gave up his guardianship of the Orthodox Church within it.
Bibliography
Antill, Peter. “Battle of Balaclava, 25 October 1854.” History of War. Last revised June 20, 2001. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_balaclava.html
Grant, R.G. 1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History. London, Cassell Illustrated, 2011.
Grant, R.G. Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
Mackenzie, John. “Battle of Balaclava.” British Battles. Accessed March 12, 2020. https://www.britishbattles.com/crimean-war/battle-of-balaclava/