Lord Cardigan and the Charge of the Light Brigade: The Battle of Balaclava, 1854
James Thomas Brudenell (b.1797-1868), 7th earl of Cardigan, known popularly as Lord Cardigan, commander of the 600 or so British cavalrymen who participated in the Charge of the Light Brigade , at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War in 1854, is perhaps singularly one of the most controversial figures of his day and in modern military history circles as well. Amongst the many histories, homages, and works of art devoted to the Crimean War and the Charge of Light Brigade, one of the most famous and endearing must be Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem of the same year, The Charge of the Light Brigade . Lord Cardigan, commander of the Light Brigade Modern interpretations put Lord Cardigan at the center of one of the most misunderstood but oft-cited events in military history. What is known of the Charge of the Light Brigade is that the British commander Lord Raglan (b.1788-1855), who had an lost arm serving with Wellington at Waterloo , ordered Lord Lucan, the cavalry comm...