Graphic of man on horse, shield with skull and crossbones etc. Oct 25 th 1854 by Thomas Morley 17 TH Lancers The Man of the Hour Entered at Stationers Hall.  All Rights Reserved....

( SEE 19th CENTURY , MAY , 1892 .) Drawing of Thomas Morley THOMAS MORLEY, Late Sergeant of 17th Lancers, Captain of Cavalry through American Civil War....

The charge of the Light Brigade, one of the most magnificent assaults known in Military annals, and one of the greatest blunders known to military tactics, has never yet been properly described.  This may be accounted for by the party bias which has colored all accounts of the battle according to the views entertained by the various writers.  Having seen so many of these accounts for the last forty four years in various newspapers and Magazines, and having been interviewed myself many times I ha

Lord Lucan knew that the Russians were in strong force near his pickets, and yet he did not strengthen them or patrol the small front he had to protect, while his cavalry pickets knew nothing of the Russian advance until the Turks opened fire, they just saved themselves from capture or annihilation by being better mounted than the enemy. The Turkish General seemed to have understood his duty better than either Lord Lucan or Sir Colin Campbell, for he advanced his pickets, sent out patrols, and h

The British Army and the Turkish Infantry were in the south valley.  The Russian General, not seeing the enemy in his front, thought he had a clear road to Balaclava Harbour.  He began to advance his army toward it.  He sent four strong squadrons of cavalry from near number 1 redoubt which he had just captured to reconnoitre, and they advanced toward Balaclava Harbour.  Sir Colin Campbell commanding the Infantry, had taken up his position on a knoll and ordered his command to lie down, the comma

Captain Nolan after receiving the last order galloped down the steep heights from the position of Lord Raglan and staff, finding Lord Lucan the Cavalry Commander with the Heavy Brigade in the South Valley near the scene of their engagement of two hours before.  The Causeway Heights were between the two Brigades so that they were out of sight of each other though only five hundred yards apart.  The Light Brigade were in position at the head of the North Valley, with the Chasseurs d’Afrique statio

Lord Lucan (on horse) The phrase “Someone had blundered” is familiar to every one, but the condition of affairs which precipitated the blunder are not known and have never been stated in history. After the Heavy Brigade made their glorious charge, the Light Brigade was placed in the North valley by order of Lord Raglan, Lords Lucan and Cardigan being absent congratulating the Heavy Brigade officers.  Both Commanders-in-chief and Staffs had assembled at the top of Sebastopol Heights and were watc

Before Sebastopol, Dec. 16th, 1854. Field-Marshall Lord Raglan to Duke of Newcastle, Sec. for War. My Lord Duke, I regret to be under the necessity of forwarding to your Grace the copy of a letter which has been addressed to me by Lieutenant General the Earl of Lucan. When I received it I placed it in the hands of Brigadier-General Airey, the Quartermaster-General, and requested him to suggest to his lordship to withdraw the communication, considering that it would not lead to his advantage in t

To Lord Wolseley, Commander-in-Chief. 909, Steuben Street , N.W., Washington , D.C., U.S.A., November 12th, 1896. My Lord , I beg leave to renew my application for the Victoria Cross, basing my claim upon gallantry of conduct during the Charge of the Light Brigade, 25th October, 1854, and the Battle of Inkerman, and will give proofs that corroborate my own statements. My previous applications for the Cross have been brief.  With your Lordship’s permission I will now give a more detailed statemen

Sir ,—I am a sergeant of nearly three years, lately retired from the 17th Lancers, at the early age of 25 years, solely in consequence of being passed over most unjustly in the rewards and honours that have been bestowed.  I am now made drill sergeant in the Sherwood Rangers, Mansfield, by its noble colonel, His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, and, wishing my fellowmen to know how unjustly I have been treated, I beg of you to allow me a place in your columns, so generously open to private as well a

To the Editor of the Nottinghamshire Advertiser . Sir ,—Having perused in your last week’s impression, a letter under the above heading, from the pen of a participator in the perils of the late war, complaining of the neglect he had suffered at the hands of those who must, or ought to be, well acquainted with the incidents he relates.  I am inclined to think with him, that the strictly “discretoniary decorations” will, after all, form a too striking constituent in our modern system of distributi

Death or glory flags, skull etc. No British soldier that I ever read about did more distinguished proved valour.  I received a letter from Major Jervis, late 13th Light Dragoons, dated December 5th, 1876.  He says amongst other things “that he well remembers a young corporal of the 17th Lancers helping him to take the gun,” and from the fact named in my letter, it could be none other than myself. I received a letter from Lord Tredegar, dated December 9th, 1876.  In which he says, “that he well r

Never before been published. Death or glory flags, skull etc. To be obtained of all Booksellers in the United Kingdom and United States of America. PRICE SIXPENCE. Post Free in the United Kingdom, 7d.  United States, 14 cent. stamps. WHOLESALE AND RETAIL OF THOS. MORLEY, 39, Dame Agnes Street, Nottingham, England. Printed by Arthur Johnson, Maypole Yard, Nottingham, England....