"Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front, follow the enemy, and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns. Horse artillery may accompany. French cavalry is on your left. Immediate."
These instructions are pretty straight forward. The only problem is that the man who was carrying the order was killed. We do not know if there were further oral instructions so can only wonder why Cardigan made such a hash of the whole affair.
The charge is often quoted as an example of an order that has been misunderstood.
Lord Tennyson wrote about the Charge of the Light Brigade und used the lines:
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
So if you feel sometimes that that your child has not understood what you have meant - and you wish you could make yourself a little clearer - think about the listening skills of the 600 as they rode towards the Russian cannons.
At least your child will not have to face `cannons to the left and cannons to the right'. Your leadership as a parent will never be questioned as was the judgment of Lord Lucan and the Earl of Cardigan.
It is simply matter of perspective.
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