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Added the charge of the heavy brigade to the Flashman reference.
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Author [[James Jones (author)|James Jones]] wrote a novel about [[United States|American]] soldiers fighting in [[Guadalcanal]] during [[World War II]] and entitled it ''[[The Thin Red Line (1962 novel)|The Thin Red Line]]''. The book was adapted into feature films [[The Thin Red Line (1964 film)|in 1964]] and [[The Thin Red Line (1998 film)|in 1998]].
Author [[James Jones (author)|James Jones]] wrote a novel about [[United States|American]] soldiers fighting in [[Guadalcanal]] during [[World War II]] and entitled it ''[[The Thin Red Line (1962 novel)|The Thin Red Line]]''. The book was adapted into feature films [[The Thin Red Line (1964 film)|in 1964]] and [[The Thin Red Line (1998 film)|in 1998]].


[[George MacDonald Fraser]] describes both the Thin Red Line and the [[Charge of the Light Brigade]] in his novel ''[[Flashman at the Charge]]''.
[[George MacDonald Fraser]] describes the Thin Red Line, the [[Charge of the Heavy Brigade]], and the [[Charge of the Light Brigade]] in his novel ''[[Flashman at the Charge]]''.


In ''[[Carry On... Up the Khyber]]'', a soldier draws a thin red line on the ground with paint and brush, arguing that the enemy will not dare to cross it.
In ''[[Carry On... Up the Khyber]]'', a soldier draws a thin red line on the ground with paint and brush, arguing that the enemy will not dare to cross it.

Revision as of 17:16, 19 January 2010

The Thin Red Line, painted by Robert Gibb

The Thin Red Line was a famous military action by the British Army's red-coated 93rd (Highland) Regiment at the Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854, during the Crimean War. In this incident the 93rd aided by a small force of Royal Marines and some Turkish infantrymen, led by Sir Colin Campbell, routed a Russian cavalry charge. Previously Campbell’s Highland Brigade had taken part in actions at Alma and Sevastopol.

The battle

The Russian cavalry force of 2,500 rode down the road to Balaklava.[1] It was early morning and the sole force that lay between the oncoming cavalry and the disorganized and vulnerable British camp was the 93rd Regiment.[2]

Campbell is said to have told his men, "There is no retreat from here, men. You must die where you stand."[This quote needs a citation] Sir Colin's aide John Scott is said to have replied, "Aye, Sir Colin. If needs be, we'll do that." (Campbell's relationship with his men was almost family-like.) Campbell formed the 93rd into a line two deep — the "thin red line". Convention dictated that the line should be four deep, however Campbell, a grizzled veteran of 41 years military service, had such a low opinion of the Russian cavalry that he did not bother to form four lines, let alone a square, but met the charge head on with the 2-deep firing line.[citation needed] Contrary to popular belief, the 93rd discharged three volleys, at 800, 500 and 350 yards, and not one at point-blank (as at Minden in 1759). However, despite the casualties inflicted, the Hussars and Cossacks would undoubtedly have overrun the British line; it was good fortune that saved them, as the Russian commander, seeing so thin a line of British infantry, concluded that this was a diversion and that there was a much stronger force behind the 93rd, and ordered the cavalry to withdraw.[3] At that, some of the Highlanders started forward for a counter-charge, but Sir Colin stopped them with a cry of "93rd, damn all that eagerness!"[4].

The Times correspondent, William H. Russell, wrote [5] that he could see nothing between the charging Russians and the British base of operations at Balaclava but the "thin red streak tipped with a line of steel" of the 93rd. Popularly condensed into "the thin red line", the phrase became a symbol for British sangfroid in battle.

The battle is represented in Robert Gibb's 1881 oil painting of the same name, which is displayed in the Argyll and Southern Highlanders Museum in Stirling Castle [6] . It is also commemorated in the assembly hall of Campbell's former school Glasgow High School, where there is a painting of the action hung in the grand position, a tribute to one of the school's two generals, the other being Sir John Moore who was dismembered by a cannonball during the Peninsular War.

Later uses of the term

The term "the thin red line" later referred to the British Army and their job to defend the Empire and the United Kingdom. The derived term "The Thin Blue Line" refers colloquially to the police.

Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem Tommy that has the lines "Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? / But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll," – Tommy Atkins being slang for a common soldier in the British Army.

Author James Jones wrote a novel about American soldiers fighting in Guadalcanal during World War II and entitled it The Thin Red Line. The book was adapted into feature films in 1964 and in 1998.

George MacDonald Fraser describes the Thin Red Line, the Charge of the Heavy Brigade, and the Charge of the Light Brigade in his novel Flashman at the Charge.

In Carry On... Up the Khyber, a soldier draws a thin red line on the ground with paint and brush, arguing that the enemy will not dare to cross it.

In the PC game Age Of Empires III, "Thin Red Line" is an ability only the British can use which significantly strengthens infantry unit hitpoints, but slows them down.

The Thin Red Line can also be used for the memory of firefighters lost in the line of duty with the red symbolizing Firefighters and the black symbolizing the memories of firefighters killed in the line of duty.

Musical references

  • The action was the origin of the now-traditional Scottish song, A Scottish Soldier (The Green Hills of Tyrol).[citation needed] The Green Hills of Tyrol is one of the best known tunes played by pipe bands today. It was originally from the opera William Tell by Rossini, but was transcribed to the pipes in 1854 by Pipe Major John MacLeod after he heard it played by a Sardinian military band when serving in the Crimean War with his regiment, the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders.
  • Composer Kenneth Alford (also known as Major Fredrick Joseph Ricketts) wrote his march The Thin Red Line in 1908 (published in 1925) to commemorate the "thin red line".
  • The band Steeleye Span references the term in their song "Fighting for Strangers" from the album Spanning the Years.
  • The stand made by Gen.Wolfe outside Quebec's Citadel in 1759 when the British took over New France from the French.

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ This original Russian cavalry force divided itself into two smaller groups, and only about 400 of them were involved in the "Thin Red Line" incident. These 400 Russians were the Cossacks and Ingermanlandsky hussars of the 6th Hussar Brigade, commanded by General Rijov. The rest of Rijov's force attacked the British Heavy Brigade. Rijov's command was part of General Pavel Liprandi's 23,000 strong army at Balaclava.("Crimea: The Great Crimean War, 1854-56", by Trevor Royle, pages 266 - 268)
  2. ^ The 93rd Highlanders involved in the "Thin Red Line" incident probably numbered no more than a few hundred infantrymen. This was part of the British, French and Turkish forces at Balaclava which totaled approximately 20,000 strong.
  3. ^ B. Perret, "At All Costs!"
  4. ^ B. Perrett, "At All Costs!" Cassel Military Paperback, 1994
  5. ^ The war in the Crimea - from our special correspondent - Heights Before Sebastopol, The Times 14 November 1854, Times Archive
  6. ^ http://www.stirlingcastle.gov.uk/home/story/royalcastle/argyllandhighlandersmusuem.htm

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