The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-04-04 00:00:00

A SKETCH OF THE EARL OF
CARDIGAN.

About eleven o'clock on Saturday morning the Earl
of Cardigan died at his seat, Deene-park, Northamp-
tonshire. The circumstances under which the melan-
choly event occurred have been variously reported.
Two accounts state that the Earl's head gamekeeper
had on Wednesday been found dead in the preserves
from a gun-shot wound, but they diversely state the
cause to have been an accident and an affray with
poachers. They both agree thatthe Earl went to see the
body, and was so much affected by the eight that on his
return he fell from his horse in a state of insensibility,
from which he never rallied. A third account is, that
the Earl was out on a pony shooting withthe keeper, who,
having discharged one barrel was in the act of reloading
it when the other barrel went off and killea him on the
spot, and that this affected the Earl so greatly that he
fell off his pony in a state of insensibility, was con-
veyed home, never rallied, and died on Saturday
morning. The deceased peer was one of the most dash-
ing cavalry officers in the service. His Lordship led
the celebrated light cavalry eharof at Balaklava,
when "Into the valley of death rode the six hundred."
The Daily Telegraph gives the following sketch, with
comments, upon his career :

------ •
James Thomas, Earl of Cardigan—a man who, at different
periods, filled a large space in the public eye—has just passe,l
away, in the seventy-first year of his age. The beet rider of
hie day, he owed hie death to a turbulent horse. Two chil-
dren, playing by the roadside, saw him fall backwards from
' off his rearing steed ; but, full of comage to the last, he nee,
and, aided by a labourer, walked more than half a mile.
Lifted into a passing carriage, he drooped and never spoke
more. Unquestionably, the painful circumstances attending
his death must mitigate the severity of airy estimate which
may ire formed of his striking and tempestuous career. Boni
in 1797, he selected the army as a profession at the somewhat
advanced age of twenty-seven, and purchased a cornetcy in
the nth Ilmears is 1924. But, if he was late in making a
choice, position, wealth, and perhaps good fortune enabled
him ato retrieve lost time. In two years after he had ob-
tained his first
.commissiou he became a captain; tour years
later he purchased his majority, and in the same year he ob-
tained the rank of lieutenant-colonel without purchase. A
similarly rapid advance is rare in time of peace Lord
however, was rich, and it is OTTO of the merits of
the purchase system that it permits a wealthy 11.11, Trot only
to make the beat of opportunities, but to create then,.
Handsome In person, • splendid horseman, eager to dietinguish
himself, Lord Brudenell would probably have become a Mat-
rate cavalry lender had he not possessed a painful defect—a
temper which he had not been trained to control, Ruda manner
harsh and overbearing. No sooner had fortune presented
him with the command of a regiment.—a position conferring
immense power for good and evil—than his Imperious nature
broke out. Ile quarrelled with Major Wathen upon a point
of regimental eti,piette ; a court-martial followed ; Lord
Brudenell was censure,' and phered on half pay. An officer
who could command len Interest would have remained on
half pay, probably to the end of his days; but Lord 13rudenell
enjoyed the advantage of being heir to • peerage; and in
leas than two years after Me disgrace he found means to get
himself replaced on, full pay, and restored to the command
of a regiment, the 11th Hussars, then in India. Thither he
proceeded in arid apparently the common impression of
his character had preceded him; for the officers of the 11th
were prejudiced against their commander, and the founda-
tion was lal,l for those quarrels which broke out so violently
when the regiment returned home. l'erhaps, as his friend. !
said at the tine, he was as much sinned against as sinning ;
anti un•loulite•lly the officers did adopt unfair methods of
creating a feeling against him ; but we most presume that
his comrades were not wholly in the wrong, and that the .
defect which hful cost him his full rank tu 1930 was in great
partthe cause of his subsequent trouble.
When he hail brought the regiment home, he suddenly ,
became the most notorious and "best shared" man in the
United Kingdom. The whole country rang with his name
and his doings. Within two years he had insulted one cap- ,
tain, by reprimanding him for the grave delinquency ofhi-
trouncing Rhine wine in a "black bottle" at a grand men
banquet he had provoked another into a breaeh of dnci-
pline, which ended in the expulsion of the injured man from
the service ; he had fought a duel with a thir,l, arid hail been
tried for felony by his Peers ; and, fresh from this ordeal,
so little did he care for public opinion, he had flogged a man
at Hounslow Barracks after parade on Sunday afternoon I
The best that c•,uld be said of him was that he erred through
excese of real ; the worst that he yielded to the prompting.
of an arrogant and despotic temper. At this remote period
we can look back with calmness upon the ecandals which are
painfully conspicuous In the annals of 1050.41 but at that
time the journals and Parliament itself rang with the name
of Lord Cardigan. Nor can we say that public opinion, if
excessive in degree, was wrong in kind. Ihe Adjutant-
General, Sir John :Macdonald, felt compelled to read &lecture
to all the officers of the llth Hussars ; to remind the colonel
that his eueordinatee were gentlemen as well as himself ; and
to tell him that he was in authority, not only to exerciae mili-
tary command ,but "to give an example of moderation,temper,
end discretion." And, although at the same time he re-
buked the Bubortlinates, we are at liberty to infer that much
of the bad conduct and worse feeling prevailing would not
have existed but far the misconduct of the commander.
The language of the Adjtitant-Cieneral is justified by facts
stated in the House if Common., and utmontradicted "In
two years," said Mr. Muntg, "the regiment being 350 strong,
the Earl of Cardigan had held 105 courts-martial. In the
same two years he punished it, the defaulters' lid upwanis
of 700 men. During the same period 90 men were placed in
: Canterbury gaol." The punishments exceeded thoee inflicted
In India over a period of twenty years, althotigh the regi-
ment was 700 strong. It may he gravely doubted whether
any commanding officer, not a peer, could have retalued his
position in the face of the facts brought home to Lord
Cardigan. But it was not his social infltience alone which
served him Ile was, in spite of his serious faults' a real
soldier, gifted with considerable, though not the highest,
' military ability and controlle•l—if he could have h .rue
control—by a stronger will than hi. own, he might have dis-
tinguished himself as • cavalry leader. Beyond the sphere
of his military life we would rather not look, because there
are inei•lents in his biography, scandals, departures from
the straight path, which we remember only to forget. Some-
thing unpleasant attaches to nearly all the acts of his life
which challenged public attention; but it would serve no
useful purpose to rake up stories which are best consigned
to oblivion.
. .

--ii.;-C-riMean war gave him an opportunity of putting his
abilities to the test, and of winning a name which should
cover the past. The ministry of that day, however, made
the great mistake of appointing both Lord Liman and Lord
Cardigan to cavalry commands The two officers were in-
capable of working together with that cordiality whieh the
public good reqiiires, and the cavalry in the Crimea, though
they won renown, were less useful than they might have been
in other hands. Nevertheless, it was Lord Cardigan's
good fortune to provoke the first cannon shot from the
enemy, and it was his greatest distinction to lead the Light
Brigade in their famous charge. Yet, on the plain of
Balaklava, Lord Cardigan's dread of hie imperious brother-
or his fear of responsibility, or his want of quick
perception, caused him to miss a great opportunity. When
the Russian column of horse, alter sweeping in compact
array over the low hints, was met by the Heavy Brigade, our
Light Cavalry were so posted that a single command
would have hurled them on the flank and rear of the
enemy, and led to the capture of hundreds. But,
although the chance was pointed out to him, Lord
Cardigan refrained from seizing his advantage; and why?
Because Lard Lucan had "placed " the L,ght Brigade, and
Lord Cardigan would not use it without a direct order. Re-
sponsible for neglecting that fine stroke, he must be held en-
tirely innocent of the folly which, • few moments afterwards,
, sent his gallant troopers headlong against the Russian army.
The burden of that brilliant escapade rests mainly On, General
Ali ey, whose orders were not clear, on Captain Nolan, whose
valour exceeded his discretion, and on Lord Lucan, who did
i not comprehend the purport of Lord Raglan'. wishes. The
leader of the Light Brigade, when he received a positive
order, had no choice hut to obey. The renown of the charge
down the valley will live long among the choicest examples
of British daring. Lord Cardigan's conduct has been criti-
cised with minute severity ; but while we may Justly assert
that, at the supreme moment, he proved deficient in the
greatest quality of a General, and while it is manifest that he
left the men whom he led into the fire to get out as best they
could, no suspicion rests on his courage. It was his duty
to be first in among the enemy, and lie did it with shining
valour he was also bound to be the Nat out ef the deadly
hollow, but, unhappily he allowed others to accomplish a
teak which, well performed, would have been an immortal
wreath of glory. The sabreur on "the chestnut horse with
the white heels- would have been a famous figure in story
but now he only shines with a lustre marred by shadow and
doubt. Twice in one day he had failed when tested—first
In not destroying the Russian cavalry, nest by quitting the
valley of death in company with the survivors of Ids superb
brigade. He did not remain long in the crimes after this
exploit, but his defects in action did not mar his advance-
ment. Ile received a regimental colonelcy, and became an
Inspector-General of Cavalry—a post for which he was not
unfitted; and he has DOW died, probably Just as he had
begun to appreciate the luxury of dignified repose.