Charge of the Heavy Brigade

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The Charge of the Heavy Brigade was a British cavalry charge led by Sir James Yorke Scarlett during the Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854.

It was a rather more successful action than the Charge of the Light Brigade, which happened on the same day. The Charge of the Heavy Brigade was also commemorated by Alfred Lord Tennyson in The Charge of the Heavy Brigade, a poem written in 1882 at the suggestion of Alexander William Kinglake. It failed to achieve either popularity or lasting fame, being overshadowed by the other commemorative poem written by Lord Tennyson, The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Against convention, Scarlett charged uphill while being advised to stand his ground.

The poem focuses on the "three hundred" of the Heavy Brigade who participated in its charge, namely the Scots Greys and the 2nd squadron of Inniskilling Dragoons. The "Scarlett" referred to in the poem was Sir James Yorke Scarlett, who led the charge.

Also on the same day in the Crimea was the action by the 93rd (Highland) Regiment which was immortalised as The Thin Red Line.