![]() Third, there are vineyards there now, just as before. Second, it is cultivated ground today – just as in 1854 – and this makes the going soft. First, it is a distinct upward slope, and it is hard to get much momentum when spurring a horse uphill. I have many times walked the ground over which he and his men charged, and I always marvel at it. The position of the 93rd Foot is also indicated. Plan showing the Charge of the Heavy Brigade, 25 October 1854. Watching obliquely and rather further down the northern slopes of South Valley was Brigadier-General Scarlett, commander of the five under-strength regiments of the Heavy Cavalry Brigade. What was to follow was the most significant but least understood action of that day. ![]() It will never be known whether it was artillery- or rifle-fire that made the Russians turn back, but as one force trotted away towards the Causeway Heights, Ryzhov poured more horsemen back down into the valley. A Russian officer later said, ‘few of us were killed, but almost every man and horse was wounded… Our horses could not stand the fire and we sheered off.’ Much has been made of the ‘Thin Red Line’, but it was simply two or three volleys fired by the 93rd at the advancing hussars, the effect of which was to empty a few saddles. Just here, the 93rd (Sutherland) Highlanders were ordered to stand and, in concert with W Battery and C Troop Royal Horse Artillery, open fire on the Russian horsemen. ![]() Today, it is still very obvious where the hillock called Kadioki lies, despite many new buildings around it, and the way in which it blocks the route that leads to the harbour. Meantime, on the Russian side, Lieutenant-General Ryzhov sent several hundred cavalry to probe towards the approaches to Balaklava Harbour. Raglan sent orders for Cathcart’s 4th Infantry Division to move down from their encampment and siege-works, and for the Brigade of Guards to hurry along from their camp further down the Sapoune. In fact, the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders fired two or three volleys and emptied a few saddles, but then played no further part in the battle. The ‘Thin Red Line’ immortalised in paint. ![]()
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