Charge of the Light Brigade - and the Burton connection
October 25th marks the anniversary of the Charge of the Light Brigade, which has a largely forgotten Burton upon Trent connection. Not just one but TWO survivors of this famously, ill-fated episode in the 19th century Crimean War ended their days in the brewing town and are buried within a short distance of each other in Stapenhill Cemetery. They were Private Joseph Reilly and Sergeant George Terry, both of the 17th Lancers, known as the 'Death or Glory Boys'.
What was the Charge of the Light Brigade?
We have come to know it as 'the Charge of the Light Brigade' because of a famous poem of that name written about it by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who was the Poet Laureate at the time of the Crimean War. Its actual name was the Battle of Balaclava and it took place on October 25th, 1854, on the Crimean Peninsula (present-day Ukraine).
The Crimean War ran from October 1853 to February 1856. It broke out because Russia said it wanted the right to protect Christians and religious shrines in Jerusalem, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire and Muslim. France and Britain and the Ottoman Turks saw this as part of a Russian attempt to expand its empire and fought back.
The Battle of Balaclava featured a disastrous British cavalry assault against heavily defended Russian forces. More than 600 lightly-armed soldiers on horseback were mistakenly ordered to charge a narrow valley surrounded by well-armed Russian soldiers on three sides.
Commander-in-chief Lord Raglan intended the cavalry to prevent the Russians from removing captured guns, but the order was misinterpreted, sending the horsemen to charge directly into a heavily fortified artillery funnel. This fatal chain of command miscommunication resulted in the deaths of 110 men with 160 more seriously wounded; a casualty rate of 40%.
Within weeks Tennyson wrote his poem, which at the time drew harsh criticism from many. It was seen as unpatriotic for making it clear that there had been a serious blunder and that brave men had followed an order, knowing it served no purpose and could well end in their deaths.
Joseph Reilly and George Terry both survived the charge unscathed and the two would become good friends, but they were born into different worlds, and their careers took different paths.
Joseph Reilly
Joseph Reilly was born in Ireland around 1830. He was the son of a gentleman and the family spent most of its time in Yorkshire. Joseph was educated at a private boarding school in Rugby. His father, also called Joseph, had a glittering Army career with the 8th Hussars. He had the means to buy a commission and served in several high-profile posts including as Riding Master. Joseph senior was kept in Britain throughout the Crimean War, unlike two of his sons, Joseph and John.
Joseph junior had enlisted in the Army aged 17. He came through the Battle of Balaclava without a scratch on him. His brother John also survived the charge, despite having his horse shot from under him. John would succeed his father as Riding Master of the 8th Hussars, but Joseph junior's own military record was regularly blemished by acts of drunkenness and other misconduct.
Although Joseph junior won several promotions, he was eventually demoted back to Private after each one. He was court-martialled six times during his career and had 25 entries in the Regimental Defaulters’ book for formal breaches of military discipline. He left the Army at the age of 41 because they were looking to reduce numbers and he was considered unfit for further service. He was described as ‘worn out in the service and addicted to drink but has proved himself a gallant soldier in the field’.
Joseph had received the Crimean Medal bearing the clasps Alma, Inkerman and Sebastopol, as well as Balaclava, indicating that he had served in those other three battles. He also gained a medal for service in Turkey and for serving in India at the time of the Indian Mutiny, but he did not receive any good conduct medals.
It might seem an unwise decision for a man with an apparent drink problem to move to the world’s brewing capital, Burton upon Trent, but that is what Joseph did, and maybe marriage and family life was the making of him. In 1873 he married Annie Ison at Christ Church in Burton and they had four children. Joseph began work as a brewer's clerk and secured successive promotions. By the age of 60 he was retired and living in Burton under his own means and able to support his wife and their young family in comfort and employ a live-in servant. Sadly, their eldest son died at the age of 10 but the three younger siblings, Charles, Percy and Ethel, all survived and thrived.
Joseph died in August 1909 in his 82nd year. In retirement he had avoided Balaclava reunions and rarely talked about the old days. He certainly did not want a military funeral. His grave has survived in excellent condition with an inscription about his service in the Crimean War and a carving of a military badge. It reads:
"In loving memory of Joseph Reilly
Late of the 17th Lancers
And one of the survivors
Of the grand charge of Balaclava
Who departed this life August 2, 1909
Aged 81 years
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made
Honour the light brigade
Noble six hundred
Also of Anne his beloved wife who departed this life May 28 1933
Aged 83 years
Her end was peace".
George Terry
In sharp contrast, the grave of George Terry, and his wife Harriett, has sunk into the ground at Stapenhill Cemetery and no inscription is visible. Unless you know it is there, you would never find it without the guidance of cemetery records.
George's childhood was more modest than his younger friend Joseph. George was born in Wakefield, around 1823, the son of a clothier. Following his father’s death, he was working as a factory labourer by the age of 12. Like Joseph he enlisted at the age of 17.
George was promoted to Sergeant, a rank he kept and was discharged from military service at his own request after 24 years’ flawless service and awarded a long service and good conduct medal as well as the Crimean Medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol, and The Turkish Medal. He was never entered in the Regimental Defaulters’ book and never court-martialled.
Maybe it was his old comrade Joseph who suggested to George that he also moved to Burton in the 1870s to secure a new career? Before moving to Burton the Terrys had been living in Desford where, in retirement, he was a Staff Sergeant in the Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry, a mounted reserve force, who provided extra home defence as required.
Once in Burton, George became a popular landlord of The Saracen’s Head Inn on Bridge Street. It was next door to the Queen’s Hotel and was absorbed into it during the 20th century. Today, the difference in roof levels clearly shows where the vanished pub once stood, but the building no longer has its own front door.
When George died suddenly and unexpectedly from heart disease in 1881, a funeral with full military honours was requested – but it was refused because he was retired. Permission was given for volunteers to attend the funeral in uniform and with side arms and the occasion drew huge crowds who lined the procession route from Bridge Street to the cemetery. It was reported in the local press that, ‘across the bridge one might almost have walked along the heads of the crowd, so tightly were the people packed’.
George also requested that following his widow’s death his medals should be given to the people of Burton, showing that he had taken the town to his heart despite being a relative newcomer.
His widow Harriett took over the licence for The Saracen’s Head Inn and ran it for almost another 20 years. After her death, her husband’s medals were handed over to the Burton Corporation and it is believed they were passed on to Burton’s museum in the 1920s. Where they are today is currently unknown.
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