Battle of Balaclava - Aftermath

Aftermath

The loss of the Light Brigade had been such a traumatic event that the allies were incapable of further action that day. Of the 666 men known to have ridden in the charge (sources vary slightly), 271 became casualties: 110 killed (less than 17%), 129 wounded, plus another 32 wounded and taken prisoner. Additionally, 375 horses were killed. Raglan could not now risk using his infantry divisions in any attempt to move Liprandi's forces from the Causeway Heights. Even if the redoubts were retaken, they would have to be defended by men whose priority was the siege of Sevastopol, and he dared not expose his supply base at Balaclava to further Russian attacks. The British 1st and 4th Infantry Divisions, therefore, returned to the plateau, the former without its Highland regiments who were ordered to remain in the valley under Campbell’s command.

To the Russians the Battle of Balaclava was a victory and proved a welcome boost in morale – they had captured the British redoubts (from which seven guns were removed and taken to Sevastopol as trophies), and had gained control of the Woronstov Road. The loss of the outer ring of defences severely restricted Allied movements and confined them to a narrow area between Balaclava and Sevastopol. Nearly all officers received awards. General Semyakin received the Order of St. George of the 3rd degree. Gribbe and Levutsky became the cavaliers of the Order of St Stanislav of the 1st degree, and Colonel Krudener was promoted to Major General. General Liprandi was awarded a golden sabre encrusted with diamonds, and inscribed 'For Bravery'. Semyakin wrote home with news of the action at Balaclava, and what he considered a great success – "Many Turks and English were killed by our Russian bayonets, and many English were pierced with lances of our Uhlans and Cossacks, and by sabres of our Hussars … God grant that the heart of the Tsar rejoices."

All three armies would soon be reinforced: the British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, the Duke of Newcastle, promised Raglan that the 3rd, 62nd, and 90th Regiments, would be despatched to the Crimea with a third battery train; Canrobert, meanwhile, was promised an additional three divisions of infantry from France. The Russians were also receiving reinforcements with the arrival of 10 and 11 Divisions which finally arrived at the beginning of November. These troops brought the strength of Menshikov's field army to some 107,000 men, but the Russian commander was under severe pressure from St Petersburg to attack the Allied lines and break the siege of Sevastopol. The failure of the British and French to beat the Russians at Balaclava immediately set the stage for a much more bloody battle. For weeks it had been known that the Russians would soon begin a full-scale attack on the besiegers. As a preliminary Menshikov launched a reconnaissance in force on the extreme right of the Allied line (against the British 2nd Division) on the Inkerman Heights overlooking the Chernaya river. The attack on 26 October (the battle became known as ‘Little Inkerman’) proved a successful action for the British, but the Russians had gleaned all they needed to know about the position. Using this intelligence, Menshikov launched his main attack on the same position one week later on 5 November in what came to be known as the Battle of Inkerman.