Atlas of Battles

battle, landmark, nineteenth century

Battle of Balaclava

Battle of Balaclava was a battle fought on 25 October 1854 at Balaklava, in what is now Russia. It was part of the Crimean War, which ran from 1853 to 1856. The recorded result: Indecisive.

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The Charge of the Light Brigade by Richard Caton Woodville Jr., oil on canvas, 1894. Commissioned by the Illustrated London News, the artist completed The Charge of the Light Brigade as part of a comm
The Charge of the Light Brigade by Richard Caton Woodville Jr., oil on canvas, 1894. Commissioned by the Illustrated London News, the artist completed The Charge of the Light Brigade as part of a comm. Richard Caton Woodville Jr., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought25 October 1854
WhereBalaklava, Russia44.572N, 33.573E
OutcomeIndecisive
BelligerentsUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; Second French Empire; Ottoman Empire; Beylik of TunisagainstRussian Empire
Casualties and losses598 to 850and550 to 627
Part ofCrimean War1853 to 1856

Where it sits in the Crimean War

Battle of Oltenița, 1853Battle of Pitsunda, 1853Battle of Akhaltsikhe, 1853Battle of Shekvetili, 1853Battle of Sinop, 1853Battle of Başgedikler, 1853Battle of Cetate, 1853Siege of Sevastopol, 1854Siege of Silistra (1854), 1854Battle of Nigoiti, 1854Battle of the Choloki, 1854Battle of Kurekdere, 1854Siege of Petropavlovsk, 1854Battle of Alma, 1854Battle of Balaclava, 1854Charge of the Light Brigade, 1854Thin Red Line, 1854Battle of Inkerman, 1854Battle of Eupatoria, 1855Battle of Malakoff, 1855Battle of Suomenlinna, 1855Battle of the Chernaya, 1855Battle of the Great Redan, 1855Battle of Kanghil, 1855Battle of Kinburn, 1855Battle of Enguri, 1855Siege of Taganrog, 1855Siege of Kars, 185518531855Battle of Balaclava, 1854
28 placed engagements of the Crimean War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date25 October 1854
PlaceBalaklava, Russia
44.572N, 33.573E
KindBattle, nineteenth century
Strength28,000 in all; 20,000 British, 41 guns; 7,000 French; 1,000 Turkish; 6,600 initially in position; total engaged unknown25,000 and 78 guns in all; 16,000 in the detachment, with 54 guns
Casualties and losses598 to 850550 to 627
Commanders
  • Pavel Liprandi
Battle of BalaclavaBattle of BalaclavaBattle of InkermanBattle of MalakoffSiege of SevastopolCharge of the Light BrigadeThin Red LineBattle of MalakoffCharge of the Light BrigadeSimferopolYevpatoriyaDzhankoy100 km44.572N, 33.573E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Balaclava
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 25 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Balaclava today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-09-23. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 170 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 249 m, 249 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 37% tree cover, 31% grassland, 30% built-up.

tree cover: 37%grassland: 31%built-up: 30%tree cover 37%grassland 31%built-up 30%
west to east, 10.0 km5 to 196 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 236 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 9 times between 1434 and 1941.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1854

Battle of Balaclava is one of 3,507 engagements of the 19th century in the atlas and one of 350 in present-day Russia.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q464512, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Balaclava, revision 1373774434, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.