轻骑兵的冲锋（Charge of the Light Brigade），指在1854年十月二十五日的克里米亚战争巴拉克拉瓦战役中，由卡迪根勋爵（Lord Cardigan）带领英军轻骑兵向俄军发起的冲锋。当时，英军总指挥拉格伦勋爵（Lord Raglan）派遣轻骑兵夺取战线附近正在撤退的俄军大炮，通讯人员却错误传达了他的命令，仅装备马刀的轻骑兵因此在易守难攻的地形上，正面冲向准备充足的俄军炮兵。轻骑旅在猛烈的火力下，成功冲入炮兵阵地，但因为伤亡惨重，被迫撤退。在战斗中，英军付出了沉重的代价，却没有实际得益。丁尼生勋爵为此写下了作品轻骑兵的冲锋（The Charge of the Light Brigade），在字里行间中突出了轻骑兵的英勇，诗作亦成为这场冲锋受后人铭记的原因。至于各界对通讯人员的批评，则存在一定争议，因为拉格伦下达的命令本身就是模糊不清的，十分容易造成误解，最终引致严重后果。

The Charge of the Light Brigade was a charge of British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854, in the Crimean War. Lord Raglan, overall commander of the British forces, had intended to send the Light Brigade to pursue and harry a retreating Russian artillery battery, a task well-suited to light cavalry. However, due to miscommunication in the chain of command, the Light Brigade was instead sent on a frontal assault against a different artillery battery, one well-prepared with excellent fields of defensive fire.