"The Thin Red Line" is one of the legends of the history of wars. Although it predated the event that gave birth to the legend, yet it was on one particular occasion that the true legend blossomed.
In 1854 the Crimean War was in full swing. On October 25, the British, French and Turks, on the one hand, were fighting against the Russians. After the initial skirmishes a Russian cavalry corps of over 2,500 men, supported by artillery, moved against the British lines.
Sir Colin Campbell's brigade soon came within range of the Russian guns suffering heavy casualties. Campbell had lined up his men on a smooth knoll. In order to limit the losses, he ordered them to fall prone on the ground. To Campbell's brigade belonged the famous 93rd Regiment of Highlanders , a company of skirmishers, 50 men of the royal guard, and a Turkish battalion of 350 men.
Suddenly they appeared before the four Russian islands. Behind them followed the rest of the Russian cavalry corps. The Turks immediately panicked and left the British alone. As they passed through the Highlanders' camp the wife of a Scots soldier began to beat the fleeing Turks, cursing them, calling them cowards, and throwing objects at them.
Even this humiliation by a woman did not stop the cowards from fleeing. 550 Highlanders and 100 deserters remained on the hill. Campbell seeing the disproportion of forces shouted to his men:“Men, remember there is no retreat from here. You must die where you stand!
The Scots stood up and with their colleagues formed a line of just two even. Their formation was so thin that if the Russians attacked impetuously they would surely break it. But the Scots, knowing that the time had come to die, decided to sell their lives dearly.
The four Russian islands were taken aback by the development. The British, however, were not fazed at all and immediately launched their first volley. Few Russians fell. But the rest were afraid and retreated, but they came back and tried to attack. Then they received a second assault in the face and retreated in disarray.
The Scots then wanted to attack the horsemen with the bayonet, but Campbell stopped them, just in time with... curses. "93rd, 93rd, curse your eagerness," he shouted at them. So the men stopped and fired a third volley. The Russian horsemen could not stand it any longer and fled towards the main body of their cavalry.
The Highlanders broke into cheers. Their "thin red line" had stopped the Russian counterattack. The legend was born. The Times of London correspondent William Russell was the "godfather". "Nothing could be seen between the attacking Russians and the Balaclava but the thin red line of the 93rd with the steel on the rifle barrels," he wrote, creating a legend that endures to this day.
