Siege of Sevastopol
The 97th Foot landed at Balaklava on 20 November 1854. They took part in the Siege of Sevastopol and the Battle of the Great Redan. It was on 22 March 1855, during the Siege of Sevastopol, that Captain Hedley Vicars of the 97th lost his life. Vicars was mentioned in despatches on 6 April by Lord Raglan, and was the subject of a posthumous book. The regiment suffered heavy casualties, with two members subsequently being awarded the newly created Victoria Cross in 1857: