'The 93rd Sutherland Highlanders at the Battle of Balaclava 25 October 1854. The Thin Red Line'

Watercolour by Richard Simkin.

'The thin red line' specifically refers to the crucial stand of the 93rd (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot at the Battle of Balaklava in 1854. Deployed in line to meet the advancing Russian cavalry, the 93rd were described by William Howard Russell, the Times' correspondent in the Crimea, as that 'thin red streak, topped with a line of steel'.