James Brudenell , 7th Earl of Cardigan Lieutenant General James Thomas Brudenell , 7th Earl of Cardigan , KCB ( 16 October 1797 – 28 March 1868 ) , was an officer in the British Army who commanded the Light Brigade during the Crimean War . He led the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava . Throughout his life in politics and his long military career he characterised the arrogant and extravagant aristocrat of the period . His progression through the Army was marked by many episodes of extraordinary incompetence , but this can be measured against his generosity to the men under his command and genuine bravery . As a member of the landed aristocracy he had actively and steadfastly opposed any political reform in Britain , but in the last year of his life he relented and came to acknowledge that such reform would bring benefit to all classes of society . Early life . James Brudenell was born in a modest , by the standards of the Brudenell family , manor house at Hambleden , Buckinghamshire . In February 1811 his father inherited the Cardigan earldom , along with the immense estates and revenues that went with it , and the family seat of Deene Park , Northamptonshire . James accordingly became " Lord Brudenell " , and took up residence in the most grand of households , at the age of fourteen . He was educated at Harrow where , notwithstanding the fears of his family that a childhood head injury caused by a dangerous fall from a horse had seriously damaged his intellect , he showed aptitude in Greek and Latin . He made good academic progress , but after he had settled a quarrel with another pupil by an organised fist - fight , his father removed him from the school . ( Fist fights were tolerated at Harrow : it was the fact of Brudenell ' s receiving punishment for unauthorised absence while having a broken bone in his hand attended to by a London surgeon that had annoyed the earl . ) He was subsequently educated at home . Here , as the only son among seven sisters , he developed into something of a spoilt child , accustomed to getting his own way . This is seen as a cause of his arrogance and stubbornness in later life . Brudenell was a fine rider and , inspired by the decisive role of cavalry at the battle of Waterloo , his wish was to purchase a commission in a fashionable regiment and serve as an army officer . His father , however , mindful of preserving the family pedigree from risk of battle , would not allow this . Instead in 1816 he was sent up to Christ Church , Oxford ; as an aristocrat he was automatically granted admission without examination . He left after three years — aristocrats with no academic bent were released after only two — but notwithstanding his showing some aptitude , he did not take a degree . Parliament . In February 1818 , during his last term at Oxford , and again following his father ' s wishes , he became Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Marlborough , a pocket borough " owned " by his cousin Charles , Earl of Ailesbury . The intention was to give Brudenell a grounding in parliamentary affairs before , eventually , he would take his place in the House of Lords . Brudenell ' s first action on leaving Oxford was not to take his parliamentary seat but , as was traditional for wealthy young men of the time , to take the Grand Tour . His itinerary , with Russia and Sweden included , was more extensive than the traditional destinations of France and Italy . The trip allowed Brudenell to enjoy the full pleasures of both cultural and social opportunities afforded by the countries he visited . On his return Brudenell took his seat in the House of Commons , naturally on the ruling , Tory , side of the House . His contribution to government was minimal : he served with parliamentarians , such as Canning , Peel and Castlereagh , of great commitment and intellect and he could offer nothing to compete . On one issue , however , he made a stand . In 1829 his party introduced a bill allowing limited Catholic emancipation but his patron , cousin Charles , instructed him to oppose it . In three crucial votes Brudenell abstained , because of his admiration for Wellington , the bill ' s sponsor , and in consequence he was thrown out of his seat . His return to parliament in 1830 cost him dearly . After his earlier disobedience he could not expect to be handed a pocket borough so , instead , he had to buy his own . He was elected member for Fowey , Cornwall , at a cost of at least £5 , 000 ( about £ in today ' s money ) . This sum , however , was not well spent : in 1832 , the seat was one of those identified in the Reform Act for correction of such malpractices and he was thrown out again . He fought the family ' s local constituency of Northamptonshire North , newly created in the reforms , in 1832 but despite holding the advantage that many of the electors were dependent on family ' s patronage and goodwill , the campaign did not go smoothly . On 12 September in Wellingborough he was beaten up and " considerabl [ y ] " injured while campaigning . As a precaution he distributed about £20 , 000 ( equivalent to some £ today ) among the electorate and the seat was won , albeit as " junior member " to his Whig rival . In 1837 he inherited the earldom from his father . Marriages . Early in the 1820s Brudenell met Mrs . Elizabeth Tollemache Johnstone ( 8 December 1797 — 15 July 1858 ) . Her husband , Lt . - Col . Christian Johnstone , had been a friend of Brudenell ' s since childhood but , according to the account of Johnstone ' s mother , the wooing of his friend ' s new wife started soon after the wedding . Johnstone started divorce proceedings in June 1824 and the suit was finalised early in 1826 . Johnstone , who had received damages of £1 , 000 from Brudenell , was apparently happy to be rid of her , calling her " the most damned bad - tempered and extravagant bitch in the kingdom " . She and Brudenell married on 19 June 1826 . It was not a happy marriage ; by 1837 they had separated , and they had no children . After leaving his first wife , Elizabeth , he married for the second time , on 20 September 1858 , to Adeline de Horsey , achieving still greater notoriety as he had been conducting an affair with her as his wife was dying . This , however , was a happy union , notwithstanding the disparity in their ages and Cardigan ' s disappointment that there were , again , no children . Adeline , excluded from fashionable society for the rest of her days , accustomed herself to life in the country , happily forsaking her previous interests of books , painting and music , while Brudenell spent large sums of money making their home together comfortable . Adeline even remained on good terms with Brudenell ' s principal mistress , Maria Marchioness of Ailesbury , and tolerated his other affairs . Military . Beyond all other interests , which included politics and the preservation of the ancient privileges of the aristocracy against the climate of the period , Brudenell committed himself to a career in the army . At the age of 22 he formed his own troop of horse , armed from official stocks , to guard against possible reformist demonstrations in Northamptonshire . On 6 May 1824 , at the age of 27 , he joined the 8th King ' s Royal Irish Hussars . Making extensive use of the purchase of commissions system then in use he became a Lieutenant in January 1825 , a Captain in June 1826 , a Major in August 1830 and a Lieutenant - Colonel , albeit on half - pay , only three months later , on 3 December 1830 . He obtained command of the 15th The King ' s Hussars — at a reported premium of £35 , 000 — on 16 March 1832 . Parliamentary business , in the form of the hotly contested Reform Bill campaign , delayed his taking command until May . His youth and inexperience , compared with that of the battle - tested officers whom he led ( some were veterans of the battle of Waterloo ) drew his naturally punctilious nature to manifest itself in petty - minded bullying : In 1833 he was publicly censured for " reprehensible . . . conduct " in a court martial held to determine charges he had laid against a subordinate . He was dismissed , by order of King William , early in 1834 . Brudenell , however , had influence at court and he asked his sister Harriet , married to Queen Adelaide ' s chamberlain , Lord Howe , to get the decision reversed . He pestered senior officers and politicians until in March 1836 he was allowed command of the 11th Light Dragoons ( later restyled the 11th Hussars ) , notwithstanding the view of his commander - in - chief , Lord Hill , that he was " constitutionally unfit for command " . After a leisurely passage with his wife , he joined his new command in India in October of the following year , just in time to enjoy some tiger - shooting before seeing the regiment off for Britain at the end of its long posting . He travelled separately in a hired vessel , disdaining to share the discomforts of the warship carrying his troops . Of the two years following his appointment , only four weeks were spent with his regiment . In a genuine desire to lead a smart and efficient unit , Brudenell set about using his own fortune to improve his regiment ' s reputation and performance . In purchasing brilliant new uniforms for his men Brudenell also caused resentment among his professional officers ; they had to match the men ' s attire with even more costly uniforms , and they had to buy their own . ( It was in this role that he was portrayed in the historical fiction novels " Flashman " and " Flashman at the Charge " by George MacDonald Fraser . ) He wished his officers to be as aristocratic , flamboyant and stylish as he was himself and as a consequence he had no time for those men — " Indian officers " — who had learnt their profession over many years of service with the 11th during its long posting to India . This attitude was particularly in evidence in the mess : Brudenell had forbidden the serving of porter , the beverage of choice among the professional officers , and when at a formal mess dinner a visitor had requested moselle wine , which was served in a " black bottle " similar to that of porter , he decided that the " Indian " Captain John Reynolds , who had ordered it for the guest , was defying him . Reynolds was arrested and in due course received a strongly worded reprimand from Lord Hill , who although privately believing that his misgivings about Brudenell had been well founded , felt that in the interests of good order and discipline a public demonstration of support was necessary . Reynolds ' s guardian sent the details of the case to all the London papers and for many months thereafter Brudenell , his regiment and the commander - in - chief were subject to ridicule , hissing and cat - calls of " black bottle " whenever they appeared in public . A more serious punishment was administered to Richard Reynolds , cousin to John Reynolds and another long - serving captain , who was court - martialled for sending Cardigan an " insubordinate " letter in response to being barred from his commanding officer ' s quarters . Hill drafted a strong memorandum urging Cardigan to employ " temper and discretion " in dealings with his officers , but Reynolds was cashiered . Not all of the " Indian " officers of the 11th found themselves the object of Brudenell ' s disfavour : when in October 1840 Major Jenkins , a long - serving veteran , fell seriously ill Brudenell attended his bedside for two nights and , when he died , made a substantial payment to the family and secured a suitable position for his younger son . George Ryan , a writer highly critical of Brudenell , acknowledged his generosity towards his officers and men when in hardship and noted him to be a regular , anonymous subscriber to many civic charities . Brudenell was prosecuted in 1841 for a duel with one of his former officers , another long - serving professional . He was acquitted on the most slender of legal technicalities , notwithstanding his boast on arrest that " I have hit my man " . The prosecution had demonstrated that Cardigan ( using a duelling pistol with concealed rifling and a hair trigger , which was thought unsporting according to the usages of duelling ) had fired upon Captain Harvey Tuckett . The indictment , however , was that the victim had been " Harvey Garnet Phipps Tuckett " . The discrepancy in the name allowed the jury of his peers , 120 in number , unanimously to acquit him ; as a nobleman the law of the time allowed him to be tried for a capital crime before the House of Lords sitting as a jury , with the Lord High Steward as judge . This added to his unpopularity , with " The Times " alleging that there was deliberate , high level complicity to leave the loop - hole in the prosecution case and reporting the view that " in England there is one law for the rich and another for the poor " and " The Examiner " describing the verdict as " a defeat of justice " . Even his obituary described this evasion of justice as " an absurd technical deficiency " . Crimean War . His most notorious exploit took place during the Crimean War on 25 October 1854 when , in command of the Light Cavalry Brigade at the battle of Balaclava , he led the charge of the Light Brigade , reaching the Russian guns before returning , personally unscathed , in a manoeuvre that cost the lives of about 107 out of the 674 men under his command who took part in the charge ( although others may have died of wounds later on ) . The extent to which Lord Cardigan was to blame is unproven , since he attacked only after expressing his doubts and receiving a direct order in front of the troops from his immediate superior Lord Lucan , Commander of the Cavalry Division . The two men were barely on speaking terms as Lucan was married to one of Cardigan ' s sisters and , as Cardigan believed , did not treat her well . The order had been conveyed by Captain Louis Nolan , who died in the charge , and both Lucan and Cardigan blamed him for passing on the order incorrectly . Cardigan ' s first action on his return from the charge was to report the undisciplined behaviour of Captain Nolan ( whom he did not know to be dead ) in riding ahead of him at the start of the attack . A staff officer to army commander FitzRoy Somerset , 1st Baron Raglan , Colonel the Hon . Somerset John Gough Calthorpe , alleged in his book " Letters from a Staff Officer in the Crimea " that Cardigan had only survived because he had fled the scene before the charge made contact with the enemy . In his first edition , Calthorpe allowed that Cardigan ' s horse may have bolted , but later editions pointedly stated the earl was too fine a horseman for this to be a satisfactory explanation . The horse , " Ronald " , a famous charger bred on Cardigan ' s Deene Park estate , survived the war and returned safely to England . After some preliminary legal skirmishing , Cardigan sought an indictment for criminal libel in 1863 , but his action failed , although the bench made plain that it was only his competence , and not his courage , that was in doubt . They found that he had led his men onto the enemy ' s guns with " valour . . . conspicuously displayed " but thereafter " his conduct as a General was open to criticism " . This conclusion is shared by historian Alexander Kinglake , who concludes that although Cardigan displayed a " want . . . of competence " after the charge , he had only lost contact with his men through his brave persistence in galloping too far ahead of them . There is no doubt that Cardigan had reached and overrun the enemy battery : he was recognised beyond the guns by Prince Radziwill , an enemy officer with whom he was acquainted before the war . Considering his duty then done and disdaining , as he later explained , to " fight the enemy among private soldiers " Cardigan turned about and made his way steadily — he himself said that his return was at the walk to avoid any unseemly appearance of haste — for his own lines . Lucan recalled things differently , later giving evidence that Cardigan had been galloping back , only slowing to walk when he realised he was being watched . This hurried retreat was also noticed by officers and men of the second and third lines — men for whom as brigade commander he remained responsible — who were still advancing at the charge . Other officers too had noticed his absence and when Lord George Paget of the 4th Hussars , one of the last to return after some intense , hand - to - hand fighting , encountered a " composed " Cardigan , he challenged him to account for himself . Unsatisfied with the response , Paget wrote an official complaint to the new Commander - in - Chief , the Duke of Cambridge . Cambridge forwarded the letter to Cardigan for comment and Cardigan ' s reply in turn complained that Paget had not in fact taken his regiments into the attack that day . Inconclusive claim and counter - claim followed , until Cardigan ' s attentions were diverted to the allegations made public when Calthorpe ' s book " Letters " went on sale . In the week following the battle of Balaclava , the remnants of the Light Brigade were posted inland , to high ground overseeing the British lines surrounding Inkerman . Cardigan , who had spent most nights of the campaign aboard his luxury steam yacht " Dryad " in Balaclava harbour , found this move a great inconvenience and his leadership of the brigade suffered as a result . He missed the Battle of Inkerman ( 4 November and 5 November 1854 ) , casually asking journalist William Russell ( who was returning from the conflict ) " What are they doing , what was the firing for . . . ? " as he rode up from the harbour at noon on the first day . The decisive stages of the battle were on the second day and again Cardigan was absent , although he managed to arrive at a more creditable 10 . 15 a . m . The part played by the brigade was not great and , to avoid embarrassing the earl , it was not mentioned in the official account of the battle forwarded to London . Whatever Cardigan ' s faults , he had always tried to ensure that the troops under his command were well equipped . However , as the Crimean winter fell over the Light Brigade ' s exposed position , food , fodder , clothing and shelter were all in short supply . Beyond writing letters pointing out the deficiencies , Cardigan did nothing . Food and fodder were available at the coast , but he refused to release any men and horses to carry up stores , as his officers pleaded , in case of a surprise attack by the enemy and because " I had no orders to do so " . Colonel Alexander Tulloch , who gave evidence to a board of enquiry into the failure , noted that in fact Cardigan had more horses than he had needed : indeed more horses than men to ride them , and wrote privately after his evidence was excluded from the final report : " Because Lord Cardigan might have had some difficulty in carrying up all the barley to which his corps was entitled he [ resolved himself ] therefore justified in bringing up none . " There was great hardship and many horses died . On 5 December 1854 , citing ill - health , Cardigan set off for England . In these circumstances the word of an officer regarding his fitness to serve would normally be accepted , but Raglan permitted his departure only after a medical board had confirmed his claimed disability . The Hero of Balaclava . Newspaper accounts of the gallant charge had been given wide circulation in England by the time Cardigan ' s ship berthed at the port of Folkestone on 13 January 1855 and the town offered him a rapturous welcome . In London he was mobbed by an enthusiastic crowd and on 16 January at Queen Victoria ' s invitation he was received at Windsor to explain to her and Prince Albert the details of the battle . Victoria noted how " modestly " he presented his story , but this reticence was absent in his public appearances : on 5 February , he gave a highly exaggerated account of his participation in the charge at a banquet held in his honour at the Mansion House , London . On 8 February , at a speech in his home town of Northampton , he went even further , describing how he had shared the privations of his men by living the " whole time in a common tent " and how , after the charge , he had rallied his troops and pursued the fleeing enemy artillerymen as far as the Tchernaya river . As his biographer Saul David points out , " a more misleading account of his own exploits could hardly have been given " . Cardigan was able to enjoy many months of adulation before doubts about his conduct emerged : He was made Inspector - General of Cavalry , the government recommended him for the Order of the Garter , although the Queen denied him this honour because of the previous unseemly incidents in his private life ; he was instead invested as a knight in the Order of the Bath . Merchants , eager to profit from his fame , sold pictures depicting his role in the charge and written chronicles , based on his own accounts , were rushed into print . The " cardigan " , a knitted waistcoat supposedly as worn by the earl on campaign , became fashionable and many were sold . Cardigan ' s commanding officer , Lord Lucan , had been recalled in disgrace — largely brought about by the determination of the commander - in - chief , Lord Raglan , to displace blame from himself — and arrived in England only two weeks after his subordinate but , as the officer who had " looked on " ( a pun on his name much exploited by Cardigan ) while the charge had taken place , little regard was given to his version of events . ( Lucan had earned the unfortunate nickname of " Lord Look - on " while held in reserve during an action before the earlier Battle of Alma . ) In July 1855 " The Times " hinted that the public had been misled over " the real nature of [ Cardigan ' s ] services in the East " but , in the absence of anything definitive , his popularity remained . However , officers who had taken command in the aftermath of the charge , the role that Cardigan was claiming for himself , had heard of his reception in England and were anxious to put the record straight . The writer George Ryan , who had rushed out a hasty pamphlet praising Cardigan , retracted his words and was the first to report their reservations about the earl ' s conduct on the day . As the soldiers themselves began to return to England , the doubts hardened . It was not until the following year , however , with the official enquiries of Colonel Tulloch and the publication of Calthorpe ' s " Letters " , was there proof that Cardigan had not been telling the truth . Nonetheless he continued , with characteristic arrogance and self - delusion , as if nothing was amiss and he remained in his cavalry post for the next five years . Cardigan ' s overwhelming enthusiasm for the army remained and the meticulous standards of dress and parade that he had required of his earlier commands he now applied to the whole cavalry . He was made Colonel of the Regiment of the 5th Dragoon Guards in 1859 , but he derived more satisfaction when , after his formal retirement in 1860 , and its accompanying promotion to Lieutenant - General , he became colonel of his favourite regiment , the 11th Hussars , which he had first commanded in 1836 . He remained in royal favour and early in 1861 he was selected to accompany the Prince of Wales , heir to the throne , to inspect Prussian cavalry manoeuvres . He was possibly an unwise choice as his arrogant behaviour towards his hosts , themselves no strangers to high self - esteem among military officers , resulted in numerous challenges to duel ; he was quickly sent home . The queen , however , blocked his colonelcy of one of the Household regiments because of his dalliance with Adeline while still married to Elizabeth . His last military function was a mounted review of the 11th Hussars before their embarkation for India in May 1866 . He was joined by Colonel John Reynolds , who had been Cardigan ' s adversary in the " black bottle affair " , but the men had at last settled their differences in the previous year . Retirement . After his retirement in 1866 he lived happily at Deene , passing his time with horse - racing , hunting and shooting . His passion for expensive steam yachts was undiminished and , in one of the few social gatherings where he and Adeline found some acceptance , he attended Cowes Week every year , as Commodore of the Royal Southern Yacht Club . His parliamentary life continued , with the occasional foray to London to speak in the House of Lords on military matters and to continue to press for further official recognition of his glorious career . He surprised some commentators when , in 1867 , he spoke in favour of the second Reform Bill . In acknowledging his change of heart he said that the time for trying to stem the tide of reform , an endeavour in which he had long strived , had passed and given " good luck " the extension of the vote would " confer . . . a great benefit upon every class of the community " . In 1868 he presented to the House a petition calling for additional recognition of the late General Henry Shrapnel , inventor of the explosive artillery shell , in recognition of its effectiveness at Waterloo . He died from injuries caused by a fall from his horse on 28 March 1868 , possibly following a stroke . Modern assessments . In 1855 , Cardigan published a memoir entitled " Eight Months on Active Service , or : Diary of a General Officer of Cavalry , in 1854 " . The book , however , received a limited printing and remains extremely rare . The historian Cecil Woodham - Smith ' s " The Reason Why " ( 1953 ) did serious harm to the Earl ' s posthumous reputation . Another critical assessment of Cardigan and his career is " The Homicidal Earl " , by Saul David , a military historian . Colonel Calthorpe ' s " Letters from a Staff Officer in the Crimea " has a modern reprint as " Cadogan ' s Crimea " , ISBN 0 - 689 - 11022 - 7 . Donald Thomas ' s 1975 biography " Cardigan : The Hero of Balaclava " provides a more sympathetic portrayal . Terry Brighton in " Hell Riders : the Truth about the Charge of the Light Brigade " ( London : Penguin 2004 ) gives a critical account of Cardigan as Brigade Commander , but finds him in no way to blame for the Charge . Cultural Depictions . " The Charge of the Light Brigade " , a 1968 film based on Woodham - Smith ' s research , made Cardigan ( played by Trevor Howard ) its primary antagonist . The movie depicts Cardigan as a harsh disciplinarian , womanizer and military incompetent . It shows the " black bottle " affair , though it incorrectly makes Louis Nolan Cardigan ' s antagonist , and heavily features his rivalry with Lord Lucan . It also fictitiously shows Cardigan pursuing an affair with Fanny Duberly . George Macdonald Fraser ' s " Flashman " novels feature Cardigan as a recurring villain . In the first installment , he commands Flashman in the 11th Hussars and transfers him to India after he marries Elspeth on the grounds that she is the daughter of a tradesman . Cardigan reappears in " Flashman at the Charge " , where Flashman catches Cardigan trying to seduce Elspeth . Flashman later reluctantly joins Cardigan for the Charge of the Light Brigade . He appears briefly in " Flashman in the Great Game " , where Cardigan demands Flashman defend Cardigan ' s reputation against hostile journalists . Flashman not only refuses but pointedly insults Cardigan . His last mention comes in " Flashman and the Angel of the Lord " , where Flashman observes Cardigan ' s liaison with Fanny Paget .