Charge of The Light Brigade
Literature research papers on the Charge of the Light Brigade by Tennyson explicate the poem from a historical and literary standpoint. Have Paper Masters help with your project. Paper Masters has done quite a few research papers on the poetry of Tennyson. Works such as:
- Ulysses
- Crossing the Bar
- Tears, Idle Tears
- The Lady of Shalott
"The Charge of the Light Brigade" is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, written six weeks after the Battle of Balaclava, one of the more famous conflicts of the Crimean War. At the time of the poem's publishing, Tennyson was the poet laureate of Britain. While the poem praises the courage of the men, the actual military action was a disaster.
Charge of the Light Brigade
During the battle, a miscommunication from British commander Lord Raglan led to the British cavalry initiating a frontal assault against the Russian artillery position. A British light cavalry brigade rode unarmored horses and carries only lances and sabers. They were supposed to be used only for skirmishing and chasing retreating troops. Miscommunication led to this force of 670 men attacking some 20 battalions of Russians and 50 artillery pieces.
The British cavalry rode directly into the valley between the opposing forces, which Tennyson later called the "Valley of Death." 118 men were killed, 127 were wounded and the Russians captured another 60.
Tennyson wrote the poem after reading about the attack in The Times. The poem was immensely popular, and when printed was distributed as far away as the British troops stationed in the Crimea. As a famous poem, it has appeared numerous times in various media, including the line: "Theirs not to reason why/Theirs but to do and die."