October 25, 1854 · Crimea Theater
October 25, 1854
At approximately 11:10 AM on October 25, 1854, 673 officers and men of the British Light Brigade charged down the North Valley at Balaclava directly into the mouths of a twelve-gun Russian battery, under fire from artillery and infantry on both flanks. They reached the Russian guns, briefly captured them, and were driven back. Of 673 men who rode in, 110 were killed, 161 wounded, and 475 horses killed or lost. The charge lasted approximately twenty minutes.
Commanders