BRITISH ARMY CRIMEAN WAR MEDALS SERGEANT MAJOR STEWART HEAVY BRIGADE CHARGER 5TH DRAGOON GUARDS

Offered is an incredible Heavy Cavalry Brigade medal group & paperwork to Troop Sergeant Major William Stewart of the 5^th Dragoon Guards. During the charge of the Heavy Brigade, he had 3 horses shot out from under him and his conduct so impressed Queen Victoria that she commissioned a photograph of him in 1856. The picture is still held in the Royal Collection Trust. He is mentioned in several internet articles and books including “Letters from the Light Brigade: The British Cavalry in the Crimean War” By Anthony Dawson

Crimea Medal (1854-56) , 3 clasps, BALAKLAVA, INKERMAN, SEBASTOPOL, impressed named TROOP S. M. W.F. STEWART 5^TH D^N G^DS with private Royal Coat of Arms riband buckle; Army Long Service & Good Conduct Medal (V.R) impressed named 5555. T^P SJ^T- MJ^R  W. STWEARD. 5^TH DRG^N GD^S (Note regimental number should be 555 and incorrect spelling name); French Second Empire, Medal Militaire, silver, gilt and enamel, hinge-bar suspension, fitted with an attractive French Eagle top riband buckle impressed on rear I.B.BAILEY COVENTRY REG^D OCT10 1856 N⁰ 3888; Turkish Crimea Medal (1855) Sardinian issue, impressed named NO 555. T.S.M. W. STEWART. 5^TH DRAGOON GDS; with private Royal Coat of Arms riband buckle.

Comes with original Medal Militaire award certificate, signed by the French Secretary of State for War and dated 20 March 1861, the word 'dead' scrawled in pencil at the top; certificate for the Medaille Militaire signed by the Grand Chancellor of the Order of the Legion of Honour (dated Paris, 23 March 1861) & British correspondence relating to the award of the Medaille Militaire, copy photograph from Royal Archives, copies muster rolls, newspaper article and extensive research.

Medaille Militaire citation: 'Troop Sergeant Major William Stewart served in the Eastern Campaign from May, 1854 until the end of the War and was present at the Battle of Balaklava, on which occasion he had two horses killed under him but still continued to act, procuring a third horse and remaining in action with his regiment. He was present at Inkermann and never absent from his duty a single day throughout the war.'

William Stewart was born in 1814 at Perth, Scotland. He was working as a labourer when he enlisted into the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards at Glasgow on 16 November 1837, aged 23. Standing at 6 feet 1 1/4 inches tall, Stewart received a bounty of £2 - 2 - 0 on enlistment, while a further 2s - 6d was paid to the recruiting party. Assigned the regimental number 555, he served at stations across England and Ireland and was promoted to Corporal on 17 September 1847. Rising to Sergeant on 1 June 1852.

When the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales) Dragoon Guards (DG) received orders to deploy on 17th March 1854 they were short of a full establishment even for two squadrons. Stationed in Ireland together with the 7th DG, the latter provided 15 volunteers for service under direction in April 1854. The 5th DG left Queenstown on the 27th May with a strength of 19 officers, 295 other ranks, and 295 horses on board the 3438 ton P&O screw-steamer Himilaya. This was the largest single transport used to-date and took only 16 days from Queenstown to the Bosphorus. The Regiment arrived in Varna on 12th June and into camp at Devna. Cholera and dysentery broke out on about the 20th of July and of the brigade the 5th seems to have suffered the heaviest losses of horses and men with 3 officers and 34 men having died by the 28th August. Stewart was promoted to Troop Sergeant-Major on 1 September 1854, The much-reduced regiment departed for the Crimea on the 24th of September,(the returns for 1st December 1854 declared 45 personnel still at Varna) landing on the 1st of October after surviving the terrible storm out of Varna. They immediately proceeded to their camp on the plain of Balaklava as part of the Heavy Brigade.

Troop S.M Stewart is confirmed in all the rolls as having been present at the Battle of Balaklava on 25 October 1854, taking part in the Charge of the Heavy Brigade. Of the 314 officers and men who were sent out with the regiment, only 188 were present to receive the clasp for Balaklava; disease accounting for the majority of the reduction.

This short and extremely decisive action pitted Scarlett's Heavy Brigade against some 3,000 Russian Cossacks and hussars in the 'South Valley' just north of Balaklava. Led by General Rhyzov, the Russian horsemen outnumbered the British five to one and had the advantage of high ground. The British cavalry had to manoeuvre across the debris and tent pegs of the Light Brigade's hastily abandoned camp, causing severe disruption. The Heavy Brigade were badly prepared for the encounter, having been dispersed on the orders of Lord Raglan. When the Russians attacked, Scarlet found himself surrounded with just half his command. The two wings of the Russian mass began to encircle Scarlett's tiny party and all seemed lost.

At this pivotal moment, the 4th and 5th Dragoon Guards swept forward, attacking the backs of the encroaching Russian wings. The Russians were now so tightly packed as to be unable to lift their sword arms. Major Henry Clifford, Sir George Brown's A.D.C., watched events from Lord Raglan's observation post on the Sapoune Ridge. He recalled the scene:

'Like a shot from a cannon ball our brave fellows went at the astounded enemy like one man, and horses and men were seen struggling on the ground in every direction. The Russians fled in the greatest disorder, our splendid cavalry not leaving them till they had got under the protection of their artillery.'

Troop Sergeant-Major Stewart was right at the heart of the action. One of his comrades that day, Troop Sergeant-Major Franks, never forgot his bravery. In his memoirs, entitled Leaves from a Soldier's Note Book, Franks stated:

'We had a Troop Sergeant-Major named William Stewart, who had no less than three horses shot that day. The first one was by a rifle bullet. Stewart caught another horse belonging to the 4th Dragoon Guards, and he had hardly got mounted when a shell burst under him and blew him up. Stewart escaped without a scratch, and managed to catch another loose horse which he rode for a while, until a cannon ball broke the horse's leg. Stewart, who was still without a scratch, took pity on the poor dumb brute and shot him. He then procured yet another horse, which made the fourth he had ridden that day. Very few men, I should say have had such an experience as this and all within an hour.'

Russians soon lost their nerve and quit the field, leaving about 270 dead. They fled to the safety of their own guns at the far end of North Valley. The Charge of the Heavy Brigade lasted no more than ten minutes, and during this 5th Dragoon Guards lost one officer and two men killed, three officers and eight men wounded. The Heavy Brigade actually suffered more casualties later in the day, when deployed to cover the Light Brigade's retreat from the North Valley, than during the Charge of the Heavy Brigade (Pomeroy 1924, 174).

Stewart continued to serve during the Crimean campaign, and was present at the Battle of Inkermann on 5 November. He also endured the Siege of Sebastopol, finally returning home in March 1856. Shortly after this he was photographed at Aldershot by Messrs. Cundall and Howlett, proudly wearing his Crimea Medal and Turkish Crimea Medal. This photograph was sent directly to Queen Victoria, and it still forms part of The Royal Collection. Stewart continued to serve, though the rigours of the campaign had clearly taken their toll. He died quite unexpectedly on 28 July 1859, while on furlough at 21 Portland Street, Brighton. He had been due to receive the Medaille Militaire for his bravery at Balaklava, but this award was made posthumously in March 1861.