Fact Check: 125 Horses Trip Wired in Light Brigade
Question asked:
“In the Charge of the Light Brigade, 125 horses were trip wired, leading to the deaths of 25.”
Summary
The figure of 125 horses being tripped with wires and 25 of them dying pertains only to the staged charge in the 1936 film *The Charge of the Light Brigade*. Historical accounts of the 1854 battlefield charge do not record any such horse‑killing method or numbers. Therefore, the claim does not apply to the actual Charge of the Light Brigade.
Sources 60 searched
- Battle of Balaklava | National Army Museum
The Battle of Balaklava took place during the Crimean War (1854-56) on 25 October 1854. It witnessed one of the most famous acts of battlefield bravery, the Thin Red Line, and one of the most infamous blunders in military history, the Charge of the Light Brigade.
- Order that launched the Charge of the Light Brigade, 1854 | Online Collection | National Army Museum, London
The horsemen charged in the wrong direction straight towards the entire Russian army, rather than towards the guns the enemy had captured earlier. The casualties sustained, along with the loss of 475 horses, meant that the Light Brigade was almost wiped out as an operational force.
- The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936 film) - Wikipedia
The battlefield set was lined with tripwires to trip the charging cavalry horses. For the filming of this climax, 125 horses were tripped; of those, 25 were killed or put down afterward. Errol Flynn, an accomplished horseman, was outraged by the animal cruelty and by director Michael Curtiz's ...
- Charge of the Light Brigade - Wikipedia
The Light Brigade was the British light cavalry force. These cavalrymen were armed with lances and sabre, and rode light and fast horses as they were optimized for maximum mobility and speed, with primary duties of reconnaissance and skirmishing. They were also ideal for pursuing enemy infantry ...
- Battle of Balaclava - Wikipedia
When the proper interval between themselves and the Lights had developed, Lucan led the Heavy Brigade forward. The Heavies were also hit—Lucan himself was slightly wounded, and his horse hit twice – but these men would have suffered more casualties had it not been for the charge of the 150 ...
- 20 – Sir Briggs — The War Horse Memorial
The horsemen charged in the wrong direction straight towards the entire Russian army, rather than towards the guns the enemy had captured earlier. The casualties sustained, along with the loss of 475 horses, meant that the Light Brigade was ...
- 200 horses and 1 stuntman killed during charge scene - The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) Discussion | MovieChat
Most agree 25 horses were killed during the filming of Charge of the Light Brigade. Some of the stunt men suffered non-life threatening injuries but the stunts look much more dangerous than they are because the film has been sped up.
- When Horse Cruelty Was Common – Hollywood Elsewhere
I’m speaking of the notorious ... The Wikipedia entry explains it concisely: “For the filming of the climactic charge, 125 horses were tripped with wires; of those, 25 were killed or had to be put down afterward....
- THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1936): Separating Fact from Fiction - ONE WAY STREET
Although it is possible that more horses could have been killed in Light Brigade, there is not a scintilla of evidence that other animals died or that Warner Bros. orchestrated a cover-up.
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