A heavy brigade is a formation made up from 'Heavy' Cavalry; i.e. Dragoon Guards and Dragoons. The Heavy Brigade was a British heavy cavalry unit commanded by General Sir James York Scarlett at the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. The Brigade made a gallant uphill charge to defeat a superior force of onrushing Russian cavalry, an amazing instance of the triumph of the individual skill of the Victorian British soldier, as well as of British discipline and unit cohesion.