Talk:The Thin Red Line (1854 battle)
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[edit] 25,000????
This article says a Russian cavalry force of 25,000 attacked the British. That sounds a wee bit high considering that there were 25,000 Russians in total at the battle of Balaklava and I doubt they were all cavalry.
Response:
You are correct. About 20,000 Russians were present at Balaclava under Liprandi, but most of them were infantrymen stationed on the heights around the battlefield, and they didn't see any action.
Only several thousand Russians actually engaged in the fighting.
Note that it is an open question as to what Liprandi's intentions were: the Russians claim that Balaclava was merely a probing action, not an attempt at a decisive attack. Only in the West is it written that Balaclava was a serious attempt at capturing the Allied position.
Finally, it is wrong to regard the repulse of the Russian cavalry as having had a decisive outcome. After being roughed up by the British, the cavalrymen merely retreated to the safety of their own lines and the battle continued.
Regarding merging this article with the Battle of Balaclava:
Probably it would be better to let this article stand alone, but to eliminate the campaign box so that the reader doesn't mistake it as standing for the entirely of the Battle of Balaclava.
An paragraph could be added to the top explaining that this incident was part of the Battle of Balaclava, and a link to the main battle article should be included.
It sounds like the author's intention was to describe and celebrate the exploits of the 93rd Highlanders during the Crimean War. Perhaps he could round the article out by telling us more about this regiment, its history, and the history of Highlander infantrymen?
Certainly the 93rd Highlanders' performance at Balaclava is very famous, so that alone warrants an independent article about them.
Kenmore 08:04, 8 December 2006 (UTC)kenmore
