As the smoke of battle cleared, 113 men of the Light Brigade were counted dead and 134 wounded. Horses, big targets, suffered 475 killed. Another 43 were shot later as "unserviceable."

Russell - following instructions to "tell the exact truth" - concluded his dispatch: "Our Light Brigade was annihilated by their own rashness, and by the brutality of a ferocious enemy."

Despite this and other early reverses, Great Britain maintained its record of losing all the battles except the last one.

The Russians finally burned the fortress town of Sebastopol and surrendered. The Black sea was opened to commerce of the world for another generation.

A decade later, Tennyson penned his famous poem. A few lines are especially memorable:

Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward.

All in the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

Someone had blundered.

Their's not to make reply.

Their's not to reason why.

Their's but to do and die.

When can their glory fade?

Honour the charge they made!

Honour the Light Brigade.

Noble six hundred!

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February 17, 2002