24 hours at Balaclava, 25 October 1854 - voices from the battlefield

IN 1854 Britain and France were at war to save ‘poor little Turkey’, the crumbling Ottoman Empire, from the menace of Russian expansionism. On 25 October they were nine days into what would become an eleven-month siege, with little to show for it. Suddenly, from behind them came the unmistakeable sound of cannon. The Russians had arrived. Vastly outnumbered, the British gained an unlikely upper hand with the charge of the Heavy Brigade and the efforts of the Thin Red Line. But then, within two hours of achieving near victory, the British squandered it in dramatic style with the charge of the Light Brigade. Using eyewitness accounts, letters and diaries, acclaimed military historian Robert Kershaw presents a new, intimate look at the Battle of Balaclava, from the perspective of the men who ‘saw little and knew even less’. Come down from the Heights and see the real story of one of the most ill-fated military expeditions in British history. The Battle of Balaclava, 1854, is one of the Crimean War's stand out battles. The Russians took advantage of an ill-manned area near Balaclava, forcing the British back to the Thin Red Line. A heroic and unlikely victory from the heavy brigade's charge halted the Russian advance, putting them on the defensive. However, that was before a misinterpreted order from Raglan led to a final Allied cavalry charge, and one of the most famous and ill-fated events in British military history. Here acclaimed military historian Robert Kershaw creates a vivid, intimate account of this famed battle, using human stories from eyewitness accounts, diaries and letters to illustrate the 24 hours of the Battle of Balaclava, and to place the reader shoulder to shoulder with the cavalry as it charged An exhilarating hour-by-hour portrayal of an iconic battle, drawing on the eye witness accounts of those who fought it Robert Kershaw. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.