'Balaclava, The Return 25 October 1854. The Charge of the Six Hundred', 1911

Photogravure after Lady Butler (Elizabeth Southerden Butler, née Thompson) (1846-1933), published by 'Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News', December 1911.

The image depicts the survivors from the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War (1854-1856). Lancers, hussars and dragoons, some wounded, some in shock, gather on the edge of the battlefield.

Of all British military engagements during the nineteenth century, the Charge of the Light Brigade remains the most notorious. One of the most spectacular of military disasters, surrounded by controversy as to its cause, the tragic charge of the 'gallant 600', under murderous fire from the Russian guns, was genuinely heroic.

Due to a misinterpretation of orders, the British Light Cavalry Brigade commanded by the Earl of Cardigan charged Russian artillery stationed at the end of a long valley, while exposed to Russian fire on both sides. On reaching the Russian guns, they rode through them to charge Russian cavalry beyond. After some fighting, the remnants of the force returned along the 'Valley of Death' (as described in Tennyson's poem), under continued fire.