25/10/2022
Today is ‘Balaklava Day’, an important date for the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (and other regiments). It marks the anniversary of the Battle of Balaklava when the Scots Greys, as part of the British Heavy Brigade, halted and routed a 3,000 strong Russian cavalry force attempting to capture the British base at Balaclava.
In the aftermath of the battle Captain George Buchanan wrote to his mother giving a sense of the brutal battle, 'I have only time to write you a short letter, to let you know I am safe. I have just come in from outpost duty, and having been out 26 hours, am dead beat; but as there is a post going, I write to let you know I am well. We had a fearful engagement at Balaclava on the 25th of last month. The Light Brigade of cavalry are quite cut up: some of the regiments do not now muster 30 men. We lost 46 killed and wounded - for the Greys not bad, as we did not go into the field more than 300 strong. I assure you it made me sad, to see our beautiful grey horse cut to pieces with shot and shell. We were exposed to a most terrific fire for four hours... We charged a Russian regiment of cavalry; they were more than six to our one. We went through them, and cut them to pieces. My second dragoon who was in my troop, was killed; I escaped, with the exception of a cut to my hand, which is now healed. Lord Raglan sent down to day , "Well done, the Greys!" and he came down in the evening, and complimented our behaviour.'
Like many soldiers that fought in the Crimean War he was later inflicted by dysentery. He doesn't appear to have ever fully recovered and left the Regiment in March 1863 'through extremely delicate health' and would sadly die in November.
The painting shown is the “Charge of the Heavy Brigade” by Felix Philippoteaux, 1876 and its part of the Regiment’s collection. The painting depicts the Regiment thick in the fight against the Russian cavalry at Balaclava.