Bugle which sent 673 cavalrymen into the 'Valley of Death' in the Charge of the Light Brigade turns up on Antiques Road Show

Via WiscoDave

 

The bugle that sounded the catastrophic orders for the Charge of the Light Brigade has emerged on TV’s Antiques Roadshow.

The instrument was carried into the suicidal battle of the Crimea War in 1854 by Private William Brittain, Lord Cardigan’s duty trumpeter.

He took orders directly from Lord Cardigan, who led the cavalry, and blew on his bugle several times to signal the men to walk, canter, trot and charge at the Russian guns.

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The Charge of the Light Brigade

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

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1. Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. "Forward, the Light Brigade! "Charge for the guns!" he said: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. 2. "Forward, the Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldier knew Someone had blunder'd: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. 3. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred. 4. Flash'd all their sabres bare, Flash'd as they turn'd in air, Sabring the gunners there, Charging an army, while All the world wonder'd: Plunged in the battery-smoke Right thro' the line they broke; Cossack and Russian Reel'd from the sabre stroke Shatter'd and sunder'd. Then they rode back, but not Not the six hundred. 5. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell, They that had fought so well Came thro' the jaws of Death Back from the mouth of Hell, All that was left of them, Left of six hundred. 6. When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered. Honor the charge they made, Honor the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred.

Copied from Poems of Alfred Tennyson,
J. E. Tilton and Company, Boston, 1870