"3rd(Queen's) Dragoon Guards of the Kingdom of California in Crimea, 1847.

During the chaos of the Battle of Balaclava, as the infamous Light Brigade made its doomed charge, the 3rd Dragoon Guards of the Kingdom of California launched a daring flanking maneuver against Russian cavalry threatening the Allied left. The Californians struck the exposed Russian flank with speed and precision, halting their advance and preventing a full Allied collapse.

Background:

The Kingdom of California was established in 1685 by a consortium of Anglo-Swedish settlers and political exiles seeking to found an autonomous crown state on the Pacific coast of North America. It encompasses the lands of present-day California, Oregon, and Washington. Geographically remote from European conflict zones and colonial entanglements, the Kingdom developed independently with an emphasis on administrative centralization, military self-sufficiency, fervent nationalism, and maritime access to the Far East.

The presence of a natural strait separating North and South America eliminated the need to sail around the continent, dramatically shortening the maritime route from Europe to California and transforming the region into a strategic nexus for global trade, akin to the role of the modern-day Panama Canal.

Over the next century, California consolidated its internal governance, established professional civil and military academies, and secured control over key natural resources, including coastal ports, vast timber reserves, and rich mineral deposits, most notably gold. This, combined with its proximity to East Asia, elevated the Kingdom into an exceptionally wealthy nation and a central hub of transoceanic commerce."