Found this in at http://www.lewestoday.co.uk/mk4custompages/CustomPage.aspx?PageID=46372OCTOBER 25 marks the 150th anniversary of the one of the most famous military actions of the British Army in the Victorian period – the Charge of the Light Brigade.
This event, variously described as a massive blunder or a brilliant victory against all odds, took place at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War with Russia during the years 1854-56.
Some 55 Sussex men served in the Light Cavalry Brigade made up of five regiments – the 4th and 13th Light Dragoons, the 8th and 11th Hussars and the 17th Lancers. All told, approximately 670 men of these regiments took part in the celebrated Charge at the Don Cossack battery of Guns in the Valley of Death on October 25, 1854 at about 11 o'clock, charging as a result (some say) of a misunderstood order from Lord Raglan in the face of murderous artillery and infantry fire from the opposing Russian positions. Twenty minutes later, half of the men and 70 per cent of horses were casualties and the survivors, many on foot, made their way painfully back up the valley, still under fire.
Many of these men resided in or had been born in Sussex, according to Framfield historian Roy Mills. Notable was one
Corporal Richard Davis of the 11th Hussars who lived at 9 Park Cottages, Lewes, and was confined to his room for the last few months of his life before his death on December 27, 1897. He was a well-known local man who worked on the railways and is buried at St John's, Lewes, but has no headstone.
Another man,
John Hughes of the 4th Light Dragoons, born in Firle, was severely wounded and was discharged from the Army a year later, returning to Lewes and dying in London in 1857.
Other Lewes men at Balaclava were
George Herriot of Rodmell who served in the 17th Lancers, was wounded in the charge, and
Joseph Holt, 11th Hussars, who died at sea on his way to hospital.
George Eastwood of the 13th Light Dragoons, born at Burwash in 1832, was also at Balaclava, as was
James Bagshaw of Ardingly who was taken prisoner by the Russians for a year
Troop Sergeant Major Seth Bond of the 11th Hussars was born at Frant and wounded in the charge.
Other stories of historical interset can be found at http://www.lewestoday.co.uk/mk4custompages/CustomPageSummary.aspx?SectionID=4075
