BRITISH LIGHT DRAGOONS - CRIMEAN WAR

The Crimean War, fought in 1853-1856, is an armed conflict between Russia and Turkey, and later also France and Great Britain. The main cause of the conflict was the desire of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia of the Romanov dynasty to acquire territorial acquisitions at the expense of Turkey - primarily the capture of the Black Sea Straits. Throughout the war, the British army recruited around 108,000 soldiers and officers, of which as many as 40,000 were wounded or killed or died as a result of diseases. The British cavalry at the beginning of this conflict consisted of the Cavalry Division (commander: General Lord Lucan) divided into the Heavy (General Scarlett) and the Light Brigade (General Lord Cardigan). The Light Brigade consisted of a total of five cavalry regiments, including the 4th and 13th Light Dragoons Regiment. The full names of these regiments are as follows: 4th (The Queen's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons and 13th Regiment of Light Dragoons . It is worth adding here that both regiments had a long tradition dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries, both were also more or less involved in the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) in the war on the The Iberian and the 13th Light Dragoons Regiment also took part in the Battle of Waterloo. During the Crimean War, each of these regiments had about 200-250 officers and soldiers in the field. The basic unit of the light dragoons regiment (called Troop) consisted of 62 soldiers at that time. A squadron was created in Crimea from two such sub-divisions. It is worth adding that the regiments of light dragoons were seen during the Crimean War as fully fit to charge on the battlefield. It is worth adding that the basic armament of the British light dragoons was a saber and a cavalry rifle. Both regiments became famous mainly during the Battle of Balaklava in 1854, taking part in the famous charge of the Light Brigade.