Edwin Hughes ( soldier ) Troop Sergeant Major Edwin Hughes , known as ' Balaclava Ned ' , was the last survivor of the famous Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War of 1854 – 56 . He was born in Wrexham , Wales on 12 December 1830 , and died in Blackpool on 18 May 1927 , aged 96 . He is buried in Layton Cemetery . Early life . Hughes was one of nine children born to William ( a tin - plate worker ) and Mary ( née Jones ) Hughes . He was baptised at St . Giles Church in Wrexham on 5 January 1831 . Hughes became a shoemaker until he joined the 13th Light Dragoons , part of the Light Brigade , at Liverpool on 1 November 1852 . He joined his regiment at Hounslow as 1506 Private Hughes , and in 1854 he sailed with them from Portsmouth to the Crimea . The Crimean War . On 25 October 1854 Hughes rode in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava , where his horse was killed under him , trapping his leg . Of the Charge , he later said , " I was on duty that day from four o ' clock in the morning until after the charge in the afternoon . We rode out at the command straight for the Russian lines . Before we reached them , my horse was shot , and in falling on its side I got partially pinned underneath injuring my leg . I was assisted away . " Returning to British lines after the Charge , Hughes was put in charge of the Russia n prisoners . He was also present at the Battle of Inkerman on 5 November 1854 and throughout the siege and eventual capture of Sebastopol . At the end of the War he was awarded the British Crimea Medal with clasps for Alma , Balaclava , Inkerman and Sebastopol , and the Turkish Crimea Medal . Later career . In 1858 Hughes was promoted to Corporal , in 1863 to Sergeant , and in 1871 to Troop Sergeant Major . On 24 November 1873 he was discharged from the Army at Colchester Garrison at his own request having completed 21 years and 24 days service . He was presented with a marble clock by the Non - commissioned officer s of the 13th Hussars , as the 13th Light Dragoons had become . He was also awarded the medal for long service and good conduct . His discharge papers describe him as being 42 11 / 12ths years of age , 5 feet nine inches tall , of fresh complexion with sandy hair and hazel eyes . The day after leaving the Army Hughes enlisted in the Worcestershire Yeomanry ( a mounted volunteer unit ) , staying as Sergeant - Instructor until 5 January 1886 . He was discharged on account of ' old age ' ( he was in fact aged fifty - five years ) . At this time Hughes was living in Birmingham . Later life . Hughes married a woman called Hannah , who died in 1899 ; they had two sons and two daughters together . One of his daughters never married , and in 1910 he went to live with her in Blackpool . Hughes was a member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society , and attended the reunions for survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade in 1895 , 1910 , 1912 and 1913 . He received a pension from the T . H . Roberts Fund , which had been set up for Chargers who had fallen on hard times , and was also granted a pension from the Royal Patriotic Fund . By 1923 he was the only survivor of the Charge still alive , and in 1925 the various relief funds ran out . The War Office made a special grant to him , which he continued to receive until his death on 18 May 1927 . Hughes was buried with full military honours in Layton Cemetery in Blackpool . A memorial plaque was unveiled in tribute to his memory on his former home in Mount Street , Wrexham in October 1993 . His three medals were sold at auction in 2005 , realising £16 , 000 .