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In 1854 the Crimean War began. Britain, France and Turkey were fighting Russia. The Crimea was part of Russia. British soldiers went to the war in ships. One of the reasons Britain went to war was because they thought if Russia got more powerful it might try to conquer India as well as spread into Europe.
One person involved in the Crimean War who made a name for himself was a soldier called Lord Cardigan. Unfortunately, he didn't make a good name. He lead a charge of British cavalry which wasn't supposed to happen resulting in massive losses. However, the reason he made a name for himself was that he wore a knitted waistcoat and, when others wore something similar, it was called a cardigan.
The overall commander of British troops sent an order which was supposed to tell Cardigan to make sure the Russians didn't capture any of the guns left behind by Turkish soldiers. However, by the time the message reached Cardigan, don't forget no phones, no radios, just word of mouth and a bit of paper, he thought he was supposed to make a full charge at the Russian positions. It was a total failure and ended up with the loss of many lives. Of the 660 or so men and horses who charged off, only 195 were left after the first charge.
The very famous poet, Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote a poem about the event less than six weeks after it happened. It was called "The Charge of the Light Brigade”. You can find it here.
Commanding officers in the army had, until now, been able to buy their positions. After the Crimean War this practice ended.
The war ended in 1856 with the Russians being defeated.
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