Into the Valley of Death: The Charge of the Light Brigade | Military Blunders
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 20 сен 2024
- The story of one of the most famous military blunders in history.
#documentary #historydocumentary #historyfacts #tragedy #history #disaster #documentaryvideo #war #military #militaryblunders #mistakes
DiD Reads Channel - / @didreads
Patreon page - www.patreon.co...
Last chance to submit your questions for Q&A! Reply here...
Suggestion for military blunders: The sinking of HMS Glorious (1940.06.08)
Please consider the Battle of Spion Kop
The beginning of the Marine Corps in 1918 the battle that brought it all too light the Battle of Wolf Hill 142
do you believe in life after love?
Consider reporting on the twin attack in disaster to the Light Brigade assault of the US Civil War in late 1864...the Battle of Franklin, with somewhere around 15 charges by the Confederate Army of Tennessee against fixed Federal (US Army) posiotins simply because the Commanding General of the Confederate force John Bell Hood, inferring his subordinate officers of either incompitence or cowardice in the face of the enemy, as they allowed the federal force to escape PAST this same CSA army that day before (General Hood was asleep under the influence of opiates, to help nullifly the ongoing pain he suffered, because he was an amputee and commanding injured, which no sane army would or should have permitted) If I remeber correctly in the end, the CSA army lost about 1/2 of their effective strength. As an added cherry-on-top, AFTER this horrific event the Confederate army advanced to Nashville Tennessee, and was utterly destroyed by General George Thomas' (the so-called "Rock of Chicamauga") army . This double-disaster effectivley elimated all major CSA fighting units outside or the Army of Nothern Virginia, under siege by 1865 at Richmond.
A very tragic event they will never be forgotten.
I really hope not it's a very important piece of History and Britain The Thin Red Line it can be seen today even no houses stand on that line interesting isn't it
I love the broad range of darkness you descend into DiD, I really liked the "brass balled" narrator flex at the end with a super rendition of Tennyson's epic poem at the end)
Well, I wouldn’t want to get pigeon-holed to only covering one topic, I’d get bored too quickly. The diversification allows me my more room to play.
Fascinating video. Such a tragic event. I was touched that you included the horses that died in the casualty count.
Have to! I love animals more than people, truth be told.
Thank you for this fine accounting of one of the most grievous examples of the “ fog of war.” I have enjoyed your work and am happy that I subscribed to your channel.
A wonderful reading of Charge of the Light Brigade .
Your rendition of Tennysons "Charge of the Light Brigade" was excellent! I found it both stirring and descriptive! Love your channel !
Thank you so much. I appreciate you saying so.
THat poem has gave me goosepimps when my father first gave it to me to read as a kid and now in my 50s it still does. Excellent mate!
It is called the fog of war for a reason, it seems like war is chaos and the military is the most proficient in this endeavor. I enjoyed your rendition of Tennyson's poem, one of my all time favorites, The Charge of the Light Brigade. Noble six hundred 💯 👌
As they say, "No plan survives contact with the enemy".
I believe Murphys law, that anything that can go wrong will, is a military motto as well. IIRC while the saying was around a long time before, dubbing it the well known and popular phrase "Murphys law" was created by the US Air Force team testing the G-limits of the human body in the 40's-60's to compile data used to develop better restraints and ejection seats for jet pilots in the military. Later on this data and the project leader would go on to advocate for seat belts in cars saving hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives.
Either way, IMO few people are as familiar with controlled chaos, working in the dark/"fog", and the endless ways literally anything and everything can go wrong as military personnel.
@@pyro1047 Murphys Law had to be born from combat engineering, if anything can go wrong with battle, it will happen with the engineers! LOL 😆 🤣 😂 😹
What a brilliant rendition of this horror of war, you have another sub, thank you.
Welcome aboard!
I can't say it enough I totally love this channel
😁😁😁
Thank you for the upload DiD. It's 4:38am here and I was looking for something to watch/listen too.
Excellent tribute to the blind bravery displayed by those cavalrymen.
As far as other blunders the battle of Karánsebes is tough to beat, or Operation Wikinger for the naval equivalent. For a blunder where the enemy was actually present the failure of the British to prevent the Channel Dash should provide ample opportunity for biting dry sarcasm.
Yes! The channel dash was an absolute farce! Could have EASILY taken out three capital ships in a one-er and it turns out that had they not bothered to react, the exact same result would have been achieved! 😂😂
You couldn’t write it!
Brilliant work as always. Binging in London. 🇬🇧
Thanks for reading Tennyson at the end. Great reading. Nothing beats great poetry and Tennyson is among the best.
Aye, a true wordsmith!
Recently found this channel and I'm glad I did.
If you're dipping into military blunders as well as true crime and engineering disasters, then one incident that absolutely falls into your wheelhouse is the Loss of the Live Bait Squadron on the 22nd Sept. 1914, in which three obsolete British cruisers crewed by naval cadets, many of them little more than children, were sunk in rapid succession by a single German submarine.
Bloodlust and initiative is the greatest asset and fatal flaw of cavalry divisions. Be they riding horses, light armor, or even helicopters they need to be able to seize the initiative. Unfortunatly this also means they're fatally vulnerable to overextension.
Sir Harry Paget Flashman VC, KCB, KCE we salute you 🫡
😂😂😂
I have the full set of the Flashman novels! Well played there!
Am I the only one who was singing "The Trooper" by Iron maiden in their head for the entire video?
😂😂😂
“You take my life but I’ll take yours too!”
@@connormclernon26 "You fire your musket but I'll run you through!"
Apparently not. Lol
No, I was as well...❤🤘
Were you a bit kind on Nolan? He worshipped light cavalry and thought it could do anything and was disgusted that it hadn't done anything during the campaign. He was also utterly contemptuous - perhaps not without reason - of the cavalry commanders. I suggest that this was why he just passed the order to Cardigan and made no attempt to explain it which was a significant part of his duty as a member of Lord Raglan's staff.
I do vaguely remember seeing a doc where Nolan was lambasted for his attitude but I couldn’t find it to confirm, so I erred on the side of caution.
Trust an over exuberant Canadian to thoroughly screw things up in the heat of battle. I'm a Finnish Canadian, and I have as much respect for the 600 as I do the Finnish soldiers who fought the Russians in the Winter War, only to lose out in the end due to numbers.
Very well told, Othias’ rise of the C&Rsenal grows!
I’ve been a subscriber to them on my personal channel from the very early days. LOVE Othias and Mae! Also incredibly jealous that they get to have all those lovely guns and here I am in the UK, completely neutered (so to speak!)
I knew quite a bit of the charge, didn't really know it was that much of a cluster f*#k . Having served in the military I do understand FUBAR . Brave lads . RIP.
A bit late to comment on this wonderful video but another issue that may have influenced events that day, is the relationship between Lucan (Commander of the Cavalry Division), and Cardigan (Commander of the Light Brigade). The two men were barely on speaking terms apparently, as Lucan was married to one of Cardigan's sisters and Cardigan was of the opinion that he did not treat her well. In fact some officers observed that the two men detested each other.
…I waited until the end to see if you’d mention the poem…thanks for doing so
You read that so beautifully. I have been meaning to say your voice reminds me of the voices of actors John Hurt, Jeremy Irons and George Sanders. Mostly Jeremy. You really do have a beautiful speaking voice. And I appreciate you replying whenever I comment. ❤❤
My supreme pleasure. ❤️
Wonderful video. I should suggest listening to the song "Thin Red Line" by the Canadian group Glass Tiger. I was truly moved by your reading of Tennyson's wonderful imagery.
Thank you.
I’ll check it out.
Excellent work as always lad. This was a treat to listen to this morning across the pond!
Always glad to entertain my American/Canadian listeners. 😁
Fantastic information as always. Thank you again for continuing to post!
I can’t see myself stopping anytime soon, to be fair. This is what I intend to do for as long as I’m physically and mentally able. 👌🏻
Thanks for another brilliant video, once again the dry humour is of rib fracturing intensity. Top notch!
Enjoy your holiday. Your videos are always great. I love the format and am looking forward, eagerly, to your next content.
The poem is so moving. Thank you for including it. I had it in mind throughout the video!! Great work!!👏👏👏👍👍
✌️❤️😁
I would like to see a picture of the narrator. He sounds a lot like Richard Burton, who is one of my favorite actors. I love these videos.
I’m definitely not him but I am deeply honoured to be compared to him. 😊
Half a league, half a league, half a league onwards...
Kickass. Video.
I once had that poem memorized…
Godspeed.
Excellent!!
Love the ending!
Also, my mum's dad was in the Royal Scots Greys in WWII. Hence, my ears pricked up when you mentioned them in this video.
An illustrious regiment with glory behind their name. 😁
Very well done sir! Myself I think the blame lies in a odd complacency that can crop up in the military. Orders are orders, someone up the chain of command sees something or knows something that isn't clear to those receiving the orders. "There must be a good reason..." can overrule objections raised by common sense.
It could be blamed to on the fog of War
The thousand yard stare is just adrenaline wearing off
16:45 You're right of course 😮
Not much has changed in war, commanders still make blunders, but for the magnitude of pointless deaths and utter lack of brass balls of military leaders.
Always seems to be the case.
Gotta give a like and comment just for the Donnie Brasco reference.
Had to be done. Who doesn’t love a punch of salt?
"It's magnificent, but it's not war" -French officer observing.
Interesting side-note. The Crimea was the first war ever photographed!
Yes, I forgot to mention that part!
I don't think people realise just what chaos a field of battle used to be until very recently. The transmission of orders was never guaranteed, let alone the correct transmission of orders. For one thing, the messenger could very easily be killed on the way. The Charge is a prime example of that. Nobody was to blame, really. In my opinion, at least.
Assuming the tale was accurate, the messenger who pointed in the wrong direction is primarily to blame.
It reminds of Custer. What the soldier thought, for they where to wait for backup. But Custer charged anyway. When I hear that poem, I think of the soldiers.
New subscriber excellent..
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh those rushuns
Ra-Ra-Rasputin, lover of the Russian queen, there was a cat that really was gone!
Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Tim the Turtle and pommy humour... Bless 'em!
You could cover different countries bloodiest days or worst disasters. Just two ideas I think you could pull off. History in general. Great video by the way.
Whenever I see that Ottoman map, I think of EU4.
Brilliantly dome mate
I have joked, in the past, that should a documentary of my life ever be made (as if) that I would like David Attenborough as the narrator. Now I'll have to change it to that DiD guy. Glad to have stumbled onto your content.
Send me a script! 😂👍🏻
"fog of war" is not an excuse. scouting should have revealed the dead ground from Cardigan's point of view and the orders drafted accordingly. just another example of officer incompetency tolerated by the practice of purchasing commissions not done away with until 1871.
Agree there. The Cardwell reforms really did the forces a huge favour by making it a meritocracy!
But yes, scouting should have done better and Nolan should have simply said the ones on the heights. Simple enough.
Another piece of history that I knew nothing about, thank you, this is educational for me.
Being an animal lover though, I cannot help but think about the terrorized horses they used in these battles, I know that's the way it was, not only in this battle but just about everywhere else - like the American West. And until today it goes on in some places.
Bad enough the violence humans cause to other people in war.
So it is not easy listening for me, I actually prefer the videos about serial murderers.
I’m the same. I can read about or even watch videos the most deplorable things done to people (excluding children, of course) and it doesn’t phase me.
Yet when it comes to animals or children getting abused, my blood boils INSTANTLY!
@@DiD86 ❤
19:25
If I'd been born in that town, I wouldn't shut up about how "I'm still technically at war with Russia, you know?"
😂
Yeah, it’s quite a flex!
A moment of silence for Timothy.
As a kid you blame the men, as a teen you blame their clothing designer leader, and now I blame an impatient Canadian, except he paid the price immediately, so it's just a tragedy of damned war.
“It is perhaps best that war is so terrible, lest we should grow too fond of it.”
- General Robert E Lee
Interesting story.
Especially compared to more, shall I say, " current events", in the same part of the world..
Military Blunders Arnhem would be a good start
Absolutely! What a shitshow! All because Monty couldn’t handle the fact that the Americans were in charge!
I'm disappointed you did not mention the exploits of Sir Harry Paget Flashman VC, KCB, KCIE and his unfortunate bout of flatulence propelling him on. Although a cad & coward, in him there was also much capability and courage. Always enough to save his own skin...
Excellent work, thank you. As you mentioned, the balls on them....
I have the full collection of the Flashman papers as well! 😂
Should have had more ferrets
I think you do Cardigan something of an injustice. Though in many ways a dreadful character, Cardigan did remonstrate with Lucan when given the order to charge, only to be silenced with "I know it, but Lord Raglan will have it" (or words to that effect). Lucan in turn also queried the order, which culminated in Nolan's rash "There, my lord, are your enemy. There are your guns". Given than military etiquette dictated that orders received by an ADC were to be treated as if from the mouth of the GOC, Lucan had no option to obey when he perceived as the order from Raglan. If I had to lay blame, it would lie jointly between Raglan and Airey for issuing an imprecise order and Nolan, for losing his temper and blurting out what amounted to a challenge to Lucan in front of the cavalry division. Sadly, this was not the last such error of orders in the Victorian era. At the Battle of Hlobane in the Zulu War of 1879, the officer commanding saw that the main Zulu army, 20,000 strong, was approaching rapidly to reinforce thee Zulus on the top of Hlobane mountain. He sent an order to the commander of the Border Horse to retreat "via the right side of the mountain". The officer issuing the order was facing West and so the right side of the mountain was north, but the commander of the Border Horse was facing East when he received the order, and so led his commande South, straight into the right horn of the Zulu army, where they were massacred.
Awesome Awesome Awesome...😊
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you 😊 😂
Crimea has been a point of contention for many many years.
Salutations DiD, excellent as always. I believe many of us agree with Boney M. At 3:35 A very succinct & accurate comment. Very enjoyable sitting here is Cardigans invention hearing about his & fellow inventor Captain Morgan's military adventures. Not surprising he took to the rum. Blame? I think it falls on Cananda. Clearly. Respect Timothy. I would love to hear about the Battle of Rock's Drift. Tennyson is riveting. Thankfully after all those years of turmoil Crimea is
at....nevermind.
Suggestion? Perhaps The Tet Offensive.
The Tet offensive is a brilliant one!
I particularly enjoy military stuff as weapons and tactics are a particular specialism of mine.
Rorke’s Drift and Isandlwana are right up there for sure. Isandlwana being an AWFUL blunder that deserves coverage.
@@DiD86 thanks. I'm looking forward to whatever really.
I was listening to 25:36 and had a moment of "Hold up..."
*That's* the poem Geoffrey was reciting on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air?
It was like getting an answer to a question, that was about three decades old, that I didn't know that I needed answered
😂😂😂
Battle of Arnhem would make for an interesting DiD video, for something more modern but still with enough time passed for the "dust to settle" a little might be the Battle of Mogadishu. The Battle of Mogadishu is in some ways close to The Charge of the Light Brigade, as a lot of it stemmed from Mission Command and Execution.
Both great suggestions. I am fairly well versed with Arnham/Operation Market Garden, so that would be quite an easy one to write. 👍🏻😁
The worst part about The battle of Mogadishu is just how preventable it all was, from AH-1s carrying out a TOW missile strike on a meeting of "Enemy commanders" that turned out was actually the meeting of Elders discussing how to settle the situation, to Washington denying the Rangers air support because AC-130s would be "Bad Optics", to 10th Mountain not being informed of the raid and to ready a QRF just in case, etc.
Been a long time since I read the book on it and other research so I might've got some details wrong, but I remember there were a lot of higher-up decisions made pretty much guaranteeing it'd be a CF or close to it.
Very good video as usual. I've never understood why Russia was so keen to get the Dardanelles passage which only went out into what was another effetively landlocked bit of water. Also, while I don't disagree that it was a disaster was it really that bad in historic terms? Only 600 or so men were involved, Cannae it was thousands, Coldharbor was pretty large, 1st July 1916 even more, Adrianople, The Second Pacific Squadron and Tsushima, Tannenberg (either one), Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia? A point for discussion perhaps.
well, i'm a year late but if you're gonna mention c&r and boney m within a minute then how am i not gonna subscribe?
RE: The Victoria Cross, and salvaged metal from guns; Funny eh, but it seems to me that the British Empire was well drilled in saving the proverbial brass from successful campaigns here and there. So it doesn't bother me to think that it wasn't all Russian guns used in the manufacture of VCs.
With that being said, the British Empire wasn't always fighting an enemy at the same technological level, and so there was mighty little brass to come by in terms of captured cannons; and by the time of the First World War, the metal of choice had switched to forged, stamped, and machined steel for the weapons, and brass for the cartridges.
RE: The "Greatest Military Blunders" Short-List; while not strictly a "blunder", I think that Douglas Haig should get an essay as a suitably Dark personage. Oh,. he's not a mass murderer like the Yorkshire Ripper, true, and yet there's that Somme thing. He also has his name on all sorts of WW1 War Memorials. And while I'm at it, add the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 to the "Blunder" column.
RE: War Memorials; the one I know best is this one. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_War_Memorial_(Newfoundland)
Absolutely. Although, I believe the VC are bronze but the point still stands, nonetheless.
Gallipoli is ABSOLUTELY the worst! Completely pointless campaign, poorly planned, poorly executed and many paid for it with their lives.
Haig’s problem was that he was stuck in the previous century and still expected open battle with cavalry and proper manoeuvres. Damned fool!
Dear DiD..........Lord Lucan 😉
He’s a candidate for a future video for sure!
Speaking of military blunders, how bout Confederate general JB Hood’s blunder @ Franklin Tn on Nov 30,1864.
Great suggestion, I particularly love the American Civil War as a topic of study.
@@DiD86 I’m related to General Hood.
My family land is the 2nd day battle of tupelo/Harrisburg, Mississippi fought July 14/15,1864. Where I live now is on the west side of tupelo, where General Forrest had his field hospital set up, and they’re now just fixing to excavate for a confederate mass burial site
Oh wow! That’s fascinating!
Really want to visit the states some day soon. Really want to see a few ACW battlefields.
To provide a background from what was the Irish province of the empire, about half the soldiers and horses were Irish and Ireland was only recovering from the worst famine in its history in the previous decade with the death of an estimated one million people from starvation and disease and the flight of another million to America, and to roam the streets of England in search of a life. Life for the English landless people was equally bleak while the landlords and royalty carried on their wars to expand their own wealth and power.
Absolutely! The British army has always leaned heavily on Ireland as source of recruits who saw the regular pay as a way of escaping the poverty of their situation.
The famine is of course a dark, indelible stain on Britain and one that absolutely will be getting covered. As well as various other atrocities such as Drogheda and the infamous Black and Tans.
Ireland has long been the punching bag of Britain and it’s stories deserve to be told.
I have never realised that so many parts of Tennyson’s work was used in todays pop culture
I could have sworn Tennyson mentioned Dundee and Magdelene Green?
😂😂😂😂
I absolutely love Timothy...if they were in the same sets as lord Haigh, lady Haigh, and their tortoise, Allen?😂❤
😂😂😂
Timothy! 🩷
You'll take my life, but I'll take yours too
You'll fire your musket, but I'll run you through
So when you're waiting for the next attack
You'd better stand, there's no turning back
The bugle sounds, the charge begins
But on this battlefield, no one wins
The smell of acrid smoke and horse's breath
As I plunge on into certain death
The horse, he sweats with fear, we break to run
The mighty roar of the Russian guns
And as we race towards the human wall
The screams of pain as my comrades fall
We hurdle bodies that lay on the ground
And the Russians fire another round
We get so near, yet so far away
We won't live to fight another day
A further hint through history of the lack of the French willing to get involved in a fight there? I sense a pattern.
But they did get involved, they were still making mincemeat of the gunners on the northern summit.
I love this channel, I am a big Mark Felton fan, wish you 2 could do a collab, I enjoy the theater you put into your videos Mark is awesome, but sometimes a bit dry.
I would LOVE to do a collab with him! I don’t think it’s really his bag though. Haven’t seen him collab before. Who knows? Maybe one day? 😁
Sound familiar..?
Interesting, that you use the term, "allied forces," considering that by my knowledge anyway, that term was not used during those times. ( coined during WWI as far as I know)
Well, it would’ve been a ball-ache to constantly list them all off.
Retreat from Kabul
Oh, GREAT suggestion! 👍🏻
How about MacArthur and Batan
Christ! Where to begin with that fool?!
If / when you do rorkes drift. Put on the song sabaton did about it with the same name. You can thank me later...
I know it VERY well!
Zulus attack, fight back to back! 😏
Have you ever seen the 1968(?) movie? If so what's your opinion on it?
I haven’t, I’m afraid.
Godfrey Morgan
later the lord tredger was owner of a vast amount of land in the ebbw and sirhowy valley's in South Wales and made a vast fortune in the coal industry
strange but true
i met the current lord lucan about 15 years ago the great great grandson of the lord lucan of charge fame and son of the notorious lord though he informed me that likes to be addressed as George nice enough guy though very pleasant
The charge of the light brigade narration at the end sounds very similar to Richard Burton,s narration at the end the end of he film Zulu
first class
😮
👍
And some say women don't know jacksht, A women would have done it a little different. Sorry i forgot how to speak english.
Don't fight the Russians as they don't give up 😑
They did then. And in Afghanistan.
@@DiD86Who is in the Crimea now, I said don't fight the Russians, I didn't say don't defend yourself from them 😐
They also gave up in 1917, but today Germany's border is on the River Oder, they also destroyed France as the supreme power in Europe, the Germans just picked at the bones, don't fight the Russians, they are in process of collapsing imperial America and Britain shouldn't take part in that fiasco 😑
Wasn't it noticed during the Crimean war by the army that the Russian dead come back to life and keep fighting, they'll outlast NATO and the EU, as they did the Mongols, there's no profit in fighting them, I suppose we can go and get their gas if you think it's worth your kids lives to do so rather than just buy it 😐
As for Afghanistan, you raise an interesting point, like Vietnam it's senseless to try and occupy such areas as it's not worth the effort and at some point ground forces are forced to withdraw for one reason or another, best thing to do is make rouges squeal if they cause trouble, it's called a policy of containment in polite circles, what it actually means is you carpet bomb a town or two if they sponsor terrorism and the like 😑
Yeah, it’s a funny old world, as they say.
You have to wonder where this all ends with the current situation in the area. Eventually something’s got to give.
As a Russian, we have a totally different perspective of the events. The politics of "containing" Russia carries on to this day and the resistance is viewed as aggression.
The fact that journalists kept repeating "Unprovoked aggression against Ukraine" should ring the alarm bells, why use the word unprovoked so much? How about report the news and let the people decide, but it seems like the media isn't free anymore, even in Britain and USA. There is a strict narrative and any other opinion or a view from a different perspective is not welcome.
You are right. There is more to the current situation than meets the eye. I would love to investigate it properly for myself once it is all over, regardless of outcome. I would like to hear the Russian perspective as we never get to hear it in the West. It is still of great interest, though.