The Gallant Six Hundred
Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 1:04 am
Finished reading 'The Gallant Six Hundred: A Tragedy of Obsessions' by John Harris. Older book on the charge published 1974. Picked up at the local library.
Good book focusing on the cavalry (and the four characters - Raglan, Lucan, Cardigan and Nolan) to Balaclava.
The description of the charge itself increased the heart rate. The arthur puts most of the blame on Nolan and Raglan. It is a favourable assessment of Lucan as a divisional commander.
Intersting, have you watched the movie 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' where Nolan realizes his mistake and tries to correct it but is killed by the first shell. This comes from Kinglake who was a patron of the Raglan family who put this foward in his book on Raglan. However the arthur - John Harris - puts foward examples of participants of were part of the charge that did not believe this to be true.
Fitz Maxse (Officer, 13th Light Dragoons)
Letter to The Times: " He had no recollection of Nolan's divergence in the line of the advance....either by deed or gesture until after he was killed"
Letter to his brother: "Nolan, was killed close to me and Kinglake's account is...absurd (this word heavily underlined) as to Nolan wanting to charge any other guns but which he did'.
Nolan began the charge next to his friend Morris who believed that Nolan merely spurred ahead in his wild excitement and was intending to charge the guns down the valley.
All intersting stuff, we will probably never know.
cheers
Edward
Good book focusing on the cavalry (and the four characters - Raglan, Lucan, Cardigan and Nolan) to Balaclava.
The description of the charge itself increased the heart rate. The arthur puts most of the blame on Nolan and Raglan. It is a favourable assessment of Lucan as a divisional commander.
Intersting, have you watched the movie 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' where Nolan realizes his mistake and tries to correct it but is killed by the first shell. This comes from Kinglake who was a patron of the Raglan family who put this foward in his book on Raglan. However the arthur - John Harris - puts foward examples of participants of were part of the charge that did not believe this to be true.
Fitz Maxse (Officer, 13th Light Dragoons)
Letter to The Times: " He had no recollection of Nolan's divergence in the line of the advance....either by deed or gesture until after he was killed"
Letter to his brother: "Nolan, was killed close to me and Kinglake's account is...absurd (this word heavily underlined) as to Nolan wanting to charge any other guns but which he did'.
Nolan began the charge next to his friend Morris who believed that Nolan merely spurred ahead in his wild excitement and was intending to charge the guns down the valley.
All intersting stuff, we will probably never know.
cheers
Edward