What biblical and beastly link is there with the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War ?

There was a poem wrote on the light Brigade that in part goes :

"Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Some one had blundered:
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.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred. "

The poem is a bit inexact.Think biblical and all will be revealed !

You can find the remaining of the poem on this page (bottom).

Perhaps are you referring to the "David & Goliath" story? not sure if it can be referred to it .

From the poem the term "Valley of death" is in the Bible.

The answer is not in the poem, though the poem is close to it, but in a Revelation

Interesting aside, perhaps:

The Edison National Historic Site website has a recording made in 1890 by the trumpeter who sounded the order to charge.

You can hear the 1890 recording:
HERE.

Third item from the top.


From the website:

Trumpeter Landfrey's Charge of the Light Brigade
Played by: Trumpeter Landfrey
Recording date: August 2, 1890
Location: London, England
Record format: Edison brown wax cylinder (unissued)
NPS object catalog number: EDIS 39848
** Historical note: Landfrey was a bugler in the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava, October 25, 1854, of the Crimean War. On this recording Landfrey plays a trumpet that was used at the Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815, of the Napoleonic Wars.

Oddly, rock music's Iron Maiden, famed for worshipping the "Number of the Beast", wrote their song "The Trooper" based on the Tennyson poem and the aforementioned battle in the Crimean War. Is THAT beastly enough for you ?

Oh, if I were to guess. Since sources vary on how many men were in the charge, I would guess that it was actually 666 men who did so. Anyhow, interesting question and I am looking forward to the answer.

Question: How many soldiers took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade and who were they?

Answer:The rolls of the regiments that formed the Light Brigade and took part in the charge are preserved in detail and can be examined at the Public Record Office, at Kew.

A total of 666 men formed up for the charge. About 1,000 were on the rolls on October 25, 1854, but many were sick, injured, or assigned to other duties and no precise roll was taken just before the charge. But there are precise records of those who were killed, wounded or taken prisoner.Others known to have charged were subsequently admitted to the Balaklava Commemoration Society or identified from letters or accounts written by men known to have charged.

These various sources provide a comprehensive, though possibly still incomplete, list of those who rode 'into the valley of death'.

[ Answers to Correspondents, in the Daily Mail of October 1st, 2008.This text is taken verbatim from the answer published.It's by a specialist on this aspect of the Crimean Wars, Tony James of Southwick, West Sussex.]

666: the 'beastly number' in a biblical book of Revelation