Half a league, Half a League....

[PoliticalChic]

Today is the anniversary of the dramatic and heroic 'Charge of the Light Brigade'


The Charge of the Light Brigade was a charge of British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854, in the Crimean War. Charge of the Light Brigade - Wikipedia.

The events are best remembered as the subject of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's narrative poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (1854). Published just six weeks after the event, its lines emphasize the valour of the cavalry in bravely carrying out their orders, regardless of the obvious outcome


Charge of the Light Brigade - Wikipedia

Medal struck for a brave Light Brigade horse - FeaturesWorld - www.theage.com.au




One little known tribute to the famous battle, and charge, was by Iron Maiden.


Iron Maiden's attempt to capture the Battle of Balaclava in their music....."The Trooper"

 

[PoliticalChic]

And....Lord Tennyson's tribute.....

I
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!” he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

II
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

III
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to 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.

IV
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered.
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

V
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell.
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

VI
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!


I'm gonna stick with this one, over Iron Maiden's....

 

[Moonglow]

All over a war with Turkey,,,,mmmmm, turkey........The war was about christian rights in the Holy Land..One denomination over another.....yet the christians claim no such wars ever existed....

 

[PoliticalChic]

All over a war with Turkey,,,,mmmmm, turkey........The war was about christian rights in the Holy Land..One denomination over another.....yet the christians claim no such wars ever existed....

C'mon....you know the real point, the reason we still speak of the episode, was that the battle need never have taken place.

That's the pathos.



"....the Battle of Balaclava, in the Crimean War, came to be accidentally launched.

The charge saw the light cavalry mount an assault into a valley flanked, on three sides, by Russians. Lord Raglan, overall commander of the British forces, had intended to send the Light Brigade to pursue and harry a separate, retreating Russian battery, but due to a breakdown in communications, the unit headed off on the near suicidal mission – attacked from all sides by artillery, infantry and cavalry. Of the 600 who set off, more than 100 were killed, with a similar number wounded.

Blame has remained a controversial issue, being apportioned variously among Raglan himself, the Earl of Lucan, who commanded the cavalry, the Earl of Cardigan, in charge of the Light Brigade, and Captain Louis Nolan who brought the order from Raglan to the cavalry."
New accounts emerge of Charge of the Light Brigade

 

[PoliticalChic]

Wait 'til you see the last panel I'm putting up in this thread.....

 

[PoliticalChic]

And....Lord Tennyson's tribute.....

I
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!” he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

II
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

III
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to 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.

IV
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered.
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

V
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell.
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

VI
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!


I'm gonna stick with this one, over Iron Maiden's....

Man, do I love Tennyson.....but Kipling ain't too shabby either.

This was his word-picture of the situation of the British soldier trying to leave, retreat, from Afghanistan....when they were ambushed by the savages:

'When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
So-oldier of the Queen!'
From 'The Young British Soldier," by Kipling.


Remember this scene....the same kind of image by American Indian savages...





Same thing by the Aztec savages in "Apocalypto."



Imagine.....we live in a country run by contemporary savages who want to destroy western civilization.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Do you Democrats realize that Jimmy Carter wouldn't have had a sweater had it not been for that battle????



"On Feb. 2, 1977, just two weeks after being sworn in as the 39th President, Jimmy Carter delivered a fireside chat from his West Wing study. Carter, a peanut farmer from Plains, Ga., was using the power of network television to "keep in close touch with the people of our country, to let you know informally about our plans."

What caught the attention of viewers that night wasn't necessarily what Carter said, but what he wore: an unbuttoned beige wool cardigan,....."

On Feb. 2, 1977, just two weeks after being sworn in as the 39th President, Jimmy Carter delivered a fireside chat from his West Wing study. Carter, a peanut farmer from Plains, Ga., was using the power of network television to "keep in close touch with the people of our country, to let you know informally about our plans."

What caught the attention of viewers that night wasn't necessarily what Carter said, but what he wore: an unbuttoned beige wool cardigan,...."

Top 10 Political Fashion Statements - TIME

James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan