It was the 17th Lancers who bore the brunt of the fusillade as they led the charge directly into the Russian guns. When the Charge of the Light Brigade was over, only 195 of the 673 men who made the charge were alive.
Events at the Battle of Balaclava in 1854, during the Crimean War, have been well documented. What may be less well known is what happened to the soldiers afterwards.
According to a new history of Collins Barracks in Cork, the Lancers were sent to Cork after the battle. When they disembarked bands played and the assembled crowds cheered. It must have been some sight as the applauding crowds acknowledged a singular act of bravery on the field of battle - even if it didn't amount to much as a military tactic.
The Barracks - A History of Victoria-Collins Barracks in Cork (£25, Mercier Press) is written by Capt Dan Harvey and his colleague, company quarter master sergeant Gerry White. It is the product of four years of work.
It is a proud history and an illuminating one. It deals with the British years - 1806-1918; the fight for freedom; the Civil War; the Emergency and the post-war years; the barracks in the modern era; and the honourable tradition of overseas peacekeeping by the men and officers who served there. Even before its formal launch the book has been an outstanding success. Some 800 copies have been pre-sold prior to the arrival on the bookshelves of the initial 2,000 hardbacks.
The book runs to almost 300 pages and chronicles some important dates - the fact that next year will be the 40th anniversary of overseas service by Irish troops and the 20th anniversary of their presence in Lebanon.
The barracks was completed in 1806 when it was known as the New Barracks, subsequently, the Cork Barracks, and by the turn of the century Victoria Barracks, following the death of the British monarch in 1901. The mission of the garrison was twofold: to defend the city in the event of invasion, and, from its lofty perch on Cork's northside, to remind the somewhat querulous locals that they too, were subject to the rule of London. One of the first major ceremonial occasions at the barracks took place on April 26th 1808 when Gen Floyd, the British commander in Cork, presented new regimental colours to the 71st Regiment, later designated, according to the book, the 1st Battalion, The Highland Light Infantry.
Three months later, Sir Arthur Wellesley and his entourage arrived in Cork. In the year that Gen Floyd presented the colours, Wellesley, who later became the Duke of Wellington, was appointed lieutenant-general and placed in command of a force being assembled in Cork that would serve under him in the Peninsular War. Many famous regiments passed through the Cork barracks. They included the Scottish Rifles which fought at the Battle of Landen in 1693 during which Patrick Sarsfield met his end; the 2nd Battalion, the Welsh Regiment, which fought under Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo; and the 8th King's Rifles Hussars, which took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade. They were stationed at the barracks from 1847 to 1848.
The book discusses in some detail the Fenian threat to the barracks which led to 63 political prisoners becoming the last convicts transported to Australia, and the events of Shrove Tuesday on March 5th, 1867, when over 2,000 Fenians, bent on insurrection, were mobilised. It also looks at the role of the barracks in the agitation during the Land War of 1879-1882; its effect on the social life of the city, as well as the ceremonial occasions that attracted the locals to turn out in force. It discusses too, the very real threat, as it was perceived then, of a German invasion after the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in June, 1914.
On July 22nd 1960, 210 officers, NCOs and privates from the Southern Command's 32nd Battalion became the first troops to depart from Collins Barracks for the Congo. Col Pat Curran addressed the troops and spoke of the honour everyone felt at being chosen by the United Nations for overseas service. He was confident, he said, that at all times, their behaviour would reflect the greatest credit on both the Army and their country.
At the conclusion of the address, the barrack chaplain, Father Crowley, blessed the company pennant which was to accompany the troops to the Congo. Subsequently, the 32nd Battalion always considered itself to be the "pathfinder" of overseas service.
Two of the pathfinders were company sergeants, Dan Condon and Joe Spillane.
Later, in a joint article to mark the 50th anniversary of Ireland's membership of the United Nations, they recalled their Congo days, writing about the delay in mail getting through and the difficulties in getting hold of the local brew. It was all very different from going to the local pub for a pint, they said.
But morale was always boosted, they added, when the mail did get through. "However, our morale declined to its lowest level when we received news that nine of our comrades from the 33rd Battalion had been killed by local tribesmen in Niemba," they record.
"Despite the tragic incident, we didn't harbour any ill-feeling towards the local population and carried out our mission to the best of our ability."
This is a fine history and a work well done.
It will be a reference source for future historians.