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Into the Valley of Death Rode the Lush Social Media Team
You’ve probably heard or read Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade. In part, it goes:
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismay’d?
Not tho’ the soldier knew
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.
As I’ve watched the announcement of the Lush UK’s departure from social media, I’m left with more questions than answers. And it seems like a replay of the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War in 1854, which was the inspiration for Tennyson’s poem.
In case you’re not familiar, here’s what went down:
British commander Lord Raglanhad intended to send the Light Brigade to prevent the Russians from removing captured guns from overrun Turkish positions, a task for which the light cavalry were well-suited. However, there was miscommunication in the chain of command, and the Light Brigade was instead sent on a frontal assault against a different artillery battery, one well-prepared with excellent fields of defensive fire. The Light Brigade reached the battery under withering direct fire and scattered some of the gunners, but they were forced to retreat immediately, and the assault ended with very high British casualties and no decisive gains…