Echelon: The Light Brigade Action at Balaclava - A New Perspective

By James W Bancroft

Lord Cardigan’s cavalry charge on 25 October 1854 at the battle of Balaclava ‘into the valley of death’ is surely one of the most famous actions in military history. Is there anything new to say about it in print? Yes there is, because most publications have concentrated on commanding officers Lucan, Cardigan and the fatal actions of Nolan. But there were 670 men in the charge and by collating the evidence from the many eyewitnesses James Bancroft offers a new and more accurate appraisal of events. Cardigan’s description of the action was quoted at length in the House of Commons: ‘… with the batteries vomiting forth upon us shells and shot, round and grape, with one battery on our right flank and another on the left … when we came to within a distance of fifty yards from the mouths of the artillery which had been hurling destruction upon us, we were, in fact, surrounded and encircled by a blaze of fire.’ One question of course – which the author, who has been studying the subject for many years, addresses – is how anyone survived.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Sep 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9780750980616

James W Bancroft

In the four decades JAMES W. BANCROFT has been writing he has produced more than 100 books and articles, the subjects of which reflect his varied interests. He contributed a number of articles for The New Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and his book Rorke's Drift: The Zulu War, 1879 has been re-printed seven times. When he is not writing, James enjoys singing and playing and listening to music.