The Charge of the Light Brigade took place in 1854.

A complex combination of religious concerns, national and territorial interests and economic considerations led up to the Crimean War, a disastrous conflict in its human costs. There were a number of participants in the war: the British and French, who joined with the Turks against the Russians, and the Prussians and Austrians, who did not engage in direct combat, but whose hostile actions on Russia’s borders affected the outcome of the war. Although the allied Anglo-French-Turkish forces eventually defeated the Russians, there were many military blunders during the campaign, the most famous of which was the "Charge of the Light Brigade." At the Battle of Balaclava, which the British had been winning, Lord James Cardigan received an order to make a frontal assault of the Russian positions. He led his cavalry in a charge into the valley, where they were decimated by Russian artillery, taking 40 percent casualties. As often happens in the "fog of war," the order had been given in error, the result of confusion. In spite of the blunder, Lord Cardigan and his cavalry were hailed and remembered as heroes.

EDSITEment
In Pictures in Words: Poems of Tennyson and Noyes (6–8), students explore how poets Tennyson and Noyes use words to paint vivid and memorable pictures in "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and "The Highwayman."

The allied armies departed from the Turkish city of Constantinople (present day Istanbul) on their way to Balaclava. In On the Road with Marco Polo: From Hormuz to Venice (3–5), students explore the final section of Marco Polo's return journey, from Hormuz to Venice, focusing on the very strategic Turkish city of Constantinople.