Charge of the Light Brigade
Charge of the Light Brigade is in Battle of Balaclava.
Adeline Horsey Recollections. Among those who came to our house at 8 Upper Grosvenor Street, the Earl of Cardigan (age 50) was my father's (age 58) particular friend, and in consequence we saw a great deal of him. Lord Cardigan (age 50) has sometimes been described as a favourite of fortune, for he possessed great wealth, great personal attractions, and he was much liked by the late Queen Victoria (age 28) and Prince Albert (age 28). Commanding the 11th Hussars, he was the first person to welcome the Prince (age 28) at Dover, Kent [Map] when he arrived to marry the Queen (age 28), and his regiment was afterwards known as Prince Albert's own Hussars.
His Lordship (age 50) was a typical soldier, and after the Crimean War there was perhaps no more popular hero in all England. So much has been written about him that it is unnecessary for me to retell matters that are well known. I have often been asked whether he confided to me anything particular about the Charge of the Light Brigade, but the truth is that he never seemed to attach any importance to the part he played. Such matters are the property of the historian, and as his widow I am naturally his greatest admirer.
On 25 Oct 1854 James Brudenell 7th Earl Cardigan (age 57) led the Charge of the Light Brigade.
On 25 Oct 1854 George Charles Bingham 3rd Earl Lucan (age 54) led at Balaclava during the Charge of the Light Brigade.
On 25 Oct 1854 Hedworth Joliffe 2nd Baron Hylton (age 25) took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade.
Godfrey Morgan 1st Viscount Tredegar (age 23) was in command of a section of the Light Brigade. His horse "Sir Briggs" survived, died aged twenty-eight and was buried in the Cedar Garden at Tredegar House, Monmouthshire where there is a monument to him.
Thomas Hutton took part. He was shot through the right thigh during the advance, and on returning from the guns he was again severely wounded through the left thigh.
George Orby Wombwell 4th Baronet (age 21) took part and survived. His horse was killed under him and he was shortly after pulled off and taken prisoner, his sword and pistols being taken from him by some Russian Lancers. He managed to escape, catch another loose horse and ride back to the British lines, pursued by Russians.
Fiennes Wykeham-Martin Cornwallis (age 22) took part.
1905. John Charlton (age 56). The Charge of the Light Brigade, the Battle of Balaclava, 15th October 1854, with Godfrey Charles Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar (age 73), Astride His Horse, "Sir Briggs".
Adeline Horsey Recollections. I believe my husband replaced a great deal of the original furniture at Deene [Map] with more modern examples, but many valuable old pieces still remain. The pictures are very beautiful, including a priceless Vandyke representing Queen Henrietta Maria, in the happy days of her early married life, as a regal, gracious figure arrayed in shimmering satin. There is a lovely portrait of Louise de Keroualle and her son, the Duke of Richmond, who married a Brudenell, and there are many examples of Lely, Sir Joshua Reynolds and other eighteenth- and nineteenth-century artists. One painting by Sant represents the Prince Consort and the Royal children listening to the account of the Charge of the Light Brigade by Lord Cardigan, and there are also some interesting pictures of hunting-field incidents, depicting Cardigan and his friends on their favourite mounts.
Adeline Horsey Recollections. The White Hall is full of Balaclava relics, including my husband's uniforms, and the head of "Ronald", the horse he rode when he led the Charge of the Light Brigade. I gave one of "Ronald's" hoofs, mounted as an inkstand, to the King, who expressed a great wish to have it as a souvenir. The illuminated addresses received by Lord Cardigan are in the Great Hall, and some of them are really works of art.
Adeline Horsey Recollections. After my husband's death I decided to have the parish church of St. Peter [Map] restored, and an altar tomb erected to his memory. The church adjoins the park, and was originally a quaint Early English structure of which little now remains.
The restoration cost me £7000, and I built the Brudenell Chapel, which contains my husband's beautiful tomb by Boehm. His recumbent figure is full of dignity and I had my own marble effigy placed by his side. At each end of the tomb are bas-reliefs representing the Charge and the address to the troops, and at the sides are many armorial bearings. The late Mr. G. Bodley, R.A., was responsible for the restoration and redecoration of the church, which was finished in 1869. On the occasion of the inauguration of the church, the Bishop of Peterborough preached, and I afterwards entertained 300 people at a banquet in the ball-room. During the afternoon "Ronald" (who lived for some years after) was led about the grounds, and many of those who saw him sighed as they thought of his gallant master, now sleeping "far from the stress of war's alarms".
Adeline Horsey Recollections. One fine March morning he told me that he was going to ride and see a gamekeeper who had accidentally shot himself.
He asked me and Sir Henry Edwards (age 55) to accompany him, but when we reached the keeper's cottage he told us to return to Deene [Map], saying that as he intended to sit an hour with the man he would come on later. We declared our willingness to wait, but Cardigan would not hear of it, and so we somewhat reluctantly rode home without him.
The luncheon hour arrived, but Lord Cardigan did not come; the afternoon dragged on, and still there were no signs of him. I had a horrible presentment that something must have happened, and at once ordered some of the servants to go in search of his Lordship.
My fears were only too well grounded; my husband was found lying insensible on the roadside, nearly lifeless. A roadmender told us afterwards that Lord Cardigan had passed him and spoken a few words and seemed apparently quite well; the horse he was riding shied at a heap of stones and commenced to rear and plunge rather wildly, but my husband kept the animal well under control, for the roadmender saw him ride quietly away. The effort must, however, have afterwards brought on a seizure, for Cardigan fell from his horse, and lay helpless until he was found and brought back to Deene [Map].
For three dreadful days and nights he lay quite unconscious, gasping for breath, and the knowledge that he could not speak to me and did not recognise me intensified my grief a thousandfold. But mercifully his suffering was not prolonged, and on March 28, 1868, my beloved husband passed away.
There are some griefs that are too deep to speak of, even after Time's soothing touch has taken away the first deadly pain of a great sorrow. When I look back and remember the kindness and love which my husband lavished on me, I feel proud to think he often said that the happiest period of his life was after he married me, and that his great possessions and military fame were as nothing compared to the wife he adored.
Lord Cardigan's body lay in state in the ballroom at Deene [Map] for twelve days, during which time six thousand people came to look their last at the remains of the leader of the Charge of the Light Brigade. On April 9 he was buried in Deene Church [Map]; the whole regiment of the 11th Hussars attended the funeral, and he was carried to his last resting-place by eight of his old officers.
When the will was read, it was found that he had left everything to me.
