WASHINGTON, D.C. — “It's the charge of the light brigade!" Rep. Michele Bachmann yelled to an assembled crowd of tea party activists in Upper Senate Park Tuesday, which responded with rapturous applause. Little did they -- or Bachmann -- apparently know that she had just compared them all to a unit about to die in battle in one of the most spectacular blunders in military history.

Informed of that comparison by MinnPost today, Bachmann backed off. "Oh, what did I say this time?" she asked with a laugh.

The infamous "Charge of the Light Brigade," immortalized in a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, happened during the Crimean War when a group of British cavalrymen charged headlong into a valley of certain death, ordered into the death charge as a result of a catastrophic miscommunication by their commanders. About a third of them were killed or wounded in the fight, which is now regarded as one of the worst military operations in history.

"I can only hope is that this won't be a failure," Bachmann responded. "It's a charge. My goal is to get people inspired, charged up, and hopefully they talked to their United States senator, but I hope that your historical analysis is not true and reflective of today's events."

Vid of Bachmann here.