Often in war a miscommunication can have unforeseen, if not also dire, consequences.  I thought it might be interesting to look at the order to Wood, and the order to Lord Cardigan in the Crimea, 1854.

Attack of the Heavy Brigade Map of the area First of the fateful orders to Lord Lucan Second order to Lord Lucan Captain Nolan as messenger My ‘similarities’ summarized

In October 1854 the British were fighting the Russians in the Crimean Peninsula, while much of the war is forgotten, one action stands out as both wanton and ‘glorious’; The Charge of The Light Brigade. Below are a few lines from Tennyson’s poem ‘The Charge of The Light Brigade’.

Their’s not to reason why’ Their’s but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.   Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them, Cannon in front of them Volleyed and thundered: Stormed at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred.

The British forces were commanded by Lord Raglan, and his cavalry element, commanded by Lord Lucan, consisted of the Heavy Brigade under Brigadier-General Scarlett and the Light Brigade under Lord Cardigan (James Brudenell). Lords Lucan and Cardigan could not abide each other (a story too long for this section) and their animosity towards each other would cause problems for Lord Raglan.  An excellent book covering the whole subject is ‘The Reason Why’ by Cecil Woodham-Smith.

I have included this page because I felt there were similarities between the way in which the order was transmitted to Wood following an incorrect assessment of the situation given to Rosecrans by Captain Kellogg, and the order given by Lord Raglan to Lord Lucan.  I will not try here to recreate the war in the Crimea, only the events around the Charge.

On the 25th October, 1854 the redoubts and their naval guns on the Causeway Heights were manned by Turkish troops and when the Russian troops moved against the Heights, the Turks abandoned their positions to the Russians. The Russians were in a strong position numerically against the British and began to move over the Heights to the South Valley, where they could then move against the British supply base at Balaclava. In their way were the men of the Heavy Brigade, about 500 troopers against 3,000 - 4,000 Russians, and the Heavies would have to move uphill if they were to charge.  Charge they did, and threw back the Russians over the Heights to the North Valley. Watching the action, from the flank, was Lord Cardigan with his Light Brigade.  Although urged by one of his most experienced officers to assist the Heavy Brigade, he maintained his position. His justification was that he had been; “ordered into a position by Lieutenant-General the Earl of Lucan, my superior officer, with orders on no account to leave it, and to defend it against any attack of the Russians; they did not however approach the position.” In Lucan’s opinion Cardigan should have used his brigade to assist and he sent an angry message to Cardigan to the effect that when he (Lucan) was attacking in front, it was his (Cardigan’s) duty to support him by a flank attack. These two proud, stubborn, men were not working in harmony.  The threat to Balaclava had receded, thanks to the action of the Heavies.

Map of the area

Earlier in the day Lord Raglan had ordered two divisions of infantry, the First under the Duke of Cambridge and the Fourth under Sir George Cathcart, to descend into the plain, but Cathcart refused to move (shades of Bragg’s problems with Polk). After the action by the Heavy Brigade Lord Raglan had expected that in the couple of hours since ordering the infantry forward, that they would have done as commanded.  He was furious that this was not happening. We now have the first of two orders that were to have fateful consequences.

Lord Raglan’s position was some 600 feet higher than that of either Lord Lucan or Lord Cardigan, consequently he could see what they could not, but also, the ground below him seemed more level than it did to those on the valley floor.  Undulations in the ground hid troop movements that were visible to Lord Raglan.  The order he sent to Lord Lucan was “Cavalry to advance and take advantage of any opportunity to recover the Heights.  They will be supported by infantry, which have been ordered to advance on two fronts.”  Lord Raglan intended Lord Lucan to interpret the message to mean that he should advance and recapture the redoubts at once without waiting for infantry support, but that the infantry had been ordered and could be expected later.  Lucan read it that he should wait for the infantry support to arrive, cavalry did not assault artillery batteries unsupported. [The wording of Rosecrans’ order to Wood was ambiguous, requiring mutually exclusive military moves.]

Believing that any frontal attack by his cavalry on the Russian guns would be sheer recklessness, Lord Lucan waited for nearly an hour for the infantry to come up in support. So far, nothing. From their position on the Heights Lord Raglan’s staff could see the redoubts, suddenly they saw something that caused an exclamation, “By Jove! they’re going to take away the guns”.  Lord Raglan, could not allow the Russians to remove the naval guns, that would be humiliating. The second of the two fateful orders was about to be sent to Lord Lucan.

Just as Rosecrans had Major Bond write the fateful message to Wood, Lord Raglan had General Airey scribble his order to Lord Lucan; “Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front - follow the enemy and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns. Troop Horse Artillery may accompany. French cavalry is on your left.  Immediate. (Sgd.) Airey.” From his vantage point Lord Raglan meant the guns in the redoubts, but Lord Lucan could not see these from his position in the valley. The only route from Lord Raglan’s position to Lord Lucan was down a precipitous path to the plain some 600 feet below.  Captain Nolan, a brilliant horseman and one who believed passionately in the role of cavalry, demanded to be allowed to deliver the order.  As he galloped off Lord Raglan called after him, “Tell Lord Lucan the cavalry is to attack immediately.”

Nolan was a light-cavalryman, and had no respect for Lord Lucan, who he blamed for the inactivity of the Light Brigade. This dislike of one for the other was to become another ingredient in the cause of the coming charge.  Receiving the message from Nolan, Lord Lucan was confused, he could not see the guns on the Heights, and he did not read this order as building on the one he had received previously, as had been Lord Raglan’s unstated intention. Irritated by the tone with which the subordinate, Nolan, had delivered the order, Lord Lucan said angrily; “Attack, sir? Attack what? What guns, sir?” Nolan’s ‘moment in the sun’ had arrived.  Flinging out his arm in the vague direction of the Heights, but also including the head of the North Valley (David Hemmings played Nolan in the film of the Charge), Nolan retorted. “There, my lord, is your enemy;there are your guns.”

Having received one order to attack the Heights, but with infantry support, he was now ordered to attack guns, “immediately”, and still with no sign of the infantry. He found Nolan’s tone insolent, but according to Queen’s Regulations “all orders sent by aides-de-camp ... are to be obeyed with the same readiness, as if delivered personally by the general officers to whom such aides are attached.” He had to obey, he also had to speak to his commander of the Light Brigade, Lord Cardigan.  Lord Cardigan, saluting, pointed out to Lord Lucan when told to attack “Certainly, sir; but allow me to point out to you that the Russians have a battery in the valley on our front, and batteries and riflemen on both sides.”  “I know it”, said Lucan, “but Lord Raglan will have it. We have no choice but to obey.”  Lord Cardigan approached his second-in-command remarking “Well, here goes the last of the Brudenells.”

Resplendent in his uniform of the 11th Hussars, riding his favourite charger, Ronald, Lord Cardigan led his Brigade steadily towards the Russian guns, which soon opened fire on the advancing Light Brigade. As the Brigade moved to the trot Captain Nolan suddenly broke with all etiquette, he galloped out from the side, across the front of Lord Cardigan, gesticulating towards the Heights. He would seem to have suddenly realised that the message he had delivered had been misinterpreted by Lord Lucan, instead of going for the redoubts, the Brigade was going into the mouths of the massed Russian batteries. At that moment an exploding Russian shell killed Captain Nolan.  The Brigade continued;

 “Into the mouth of Hell”

Some 700 horsemen had charged, 195 returned. The Light Brigade had become a bye-word for impetuous folly

I hope that I have not stretched similarities too thinly, but as I read the literature on Chickamauga I could not help being struck by some of the threads.

Rosecrans and Bragg both suffered subordinates (Wood and Polk) who did not move at the speed expected when carrying out orders. Lord Raglan was infuriated at the slow response of his infantry. Lack of respect between senior officers and subordinates was apparent at Chickamauga, but probably not to the extent that it existed between Lords Lucan and Cardigan.

Rosecrans in his orders to Wood had a poor appreciation of the disposition of his forces, and from his HQ could not see them.  Lord Raglan could see his, but from his viewpoint he could not appreciate the ground as seen by his subordinates.

Captain Kellogg at Chickamauga rides to Rosecrans and gives him an incorrect interpretation of the position on the ground, causing Rosecrans to order Wood to fill a non-existent gap in the line, and through misinterpretation of the order, he created one.  Captain Nolan rode to Lord Lucan and through his theatrical “There is your enemy”, and his disdain for Lord Lucan, causes the Light Brigade to storm the wrong objective.

Both Rosecrans and Lord Raglan issued orders that were unclear and ambiguous. 

In both cases, at Chickamauga and Balaclava, the results were fatal. At Chickamauga the result was a breakthrough for the Confederates, at Balaclava the destruction of the Light Brigade and the creation of an unlikely hero, Lord Cardigan. But that is another story.