One for Liverpool Annie Part 2

[liverpool annie]

continued ....

A newspaper report of unknown origin (but believed to be from one circulating in the Canterbury, New Zealand, area around May/June of 1890) and found in a "scrap-book" formerly belonging to James W. Wightman of the 17th Lancers, states:
   
`The "Noble Six Hundred" - Now that so much painful interest has been revived in the famous "Charge of the Light Brigade", it will be interesting to learn the impressions made by that memorable affair upon one who actually took part in the Charge. We learn from the Australian Star that at an entertainment at Windsor, New South Wales, the other day Tennyson's poem was recited and at the close Mr M A Berilman (sic), a "Light Brigade" survivor, gave his personal experiences.

`He said that previous to the famous charge the Light Brigade was located adjacent to the Russian posts, and did all they could to make them commence hostilities. On the eventful morning the Russians came on and appeared to him to be in endless numbers. After various manoeuvres the order came for the Light Brigade to go at them, and all were surprised. The Six Hundred sat as firm as rocks, and had nought to do but obey the order and advance. When halfway across the plain, the narrator saw fire belch forth from the cannon in front, little thinking that the Russians had also cannon on the right and left, which opened up a cross-fire, soon after which a piece of shell hit his horse's chest, and he lay there for some time, stunned. When he recovered he found his comrades had gone, and looking around saw the Cossacks busy and riderless horses everywhere, and with prostrated men on every side. He went to catch a horse and a cannon ball knocked the dust up at his feet. He caught a horse and when mounting him two Cossacks went for him. He kept them on the right, and one, the more daring, rushed him and the narrator's lance went right through his body and nearly unseated him. They were recalled, and though it was considered presumption for 600 men to tackle 35,000 their end had been accomplished, though with a great sacrifice, for when they mustered there was only a handful of the gallant band remaining. Others had been mown down by the relentless fire of the enemy. The narrator came out without a scratch. The narrator was attentively listened to and much applauded'.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Australian+graves+of+Crimean+War+Light+Brigade+veterans-a083477092

[liverpool annie]

James Olley, 'Old Balaklava'  1832-1920

James Olley was already an old man when he went to live at Salthouse in the house that is now known as Marsh Cottage. His fame, as a soldier who fought in the Crimean War and actually took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade, was widely known and, due to the fact that he lived over the years in many different places in North Norfolk, there are probably many villages besides Salthouse who remember him as their own hero.

Tennyson's poem made ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ in the Crimean War famous, and excited the public in the romanticism of the 'do or die' blind obedience of the British Soldier, but the very few who amazingly survived that famous charge were more or less forgotten. Life in the British Army in the 1880s was hard enough, but unless he had a trade to take up when his time was served, an ex-soldier's outlook was often even harder. James Olley fell on hard times after his return to civilian life. He was reduced to begging in the streets of Knapton with a placard round his neck. But he was noticed and was identified as having played the part he did by the Squire, Mr H. M. Robinson of Knapton Hall, who was Justice of the Peace. He took action to put things right in a stirring article deploring the fact that someone who had taken part in one of the most celebrated military events of the time, should be forced to beg. In the Dereham and Fakenenham Times of 14 January 1888, he declared publicly that 'No one of the gallant six hundred should have to petition for the means to put himself in the way of earning a livelihood'. He called upon readers to donate to a fund to put James Olley 'into some little business'.

"It was very queer going down the valley, a good deal worse than it was when I got to the guns . . . The first man I happened with at the guns was a Russian gunner who attacked me with a ramrod. I felled him at the muzzle of the gun he was defending with two strokes of my sword . . . Just as I killed the gunner, I saw several Russians dash at the Earl of Cardigan who was near the breech of a big gun; but his horse brought him safely over the limber towards us. I never saw him again in the battle.

"Whilst fighting at the guns, I received two lance wounds, one in the ribs and one in the neck from behind. The Russian Lancer in the rear who stabbed me was killed by a comrade and I struck down the other. In this cavalry encounter, I was wounded with a sabre across the forehead by a Russian dragoon. He made "Cut 7" at me . . . I gave him point and stabbed him.
The sword fell from his hand and the point penetrated my foot . . . ‘

" When we were retiring we met some Russian lancers. We made a charge and they fled to the left incline and rode past. Just after passing the cavalry I got a ball from the Russian infantry on my left. It went through my left eye, passed through my nostrils and the roof of my mouth and came out against my right eye. I did not know at the time that my eye was out. It was not painful at the time; afterwards the suffering was dreadful. After being thus wounded, I still kept the saddle [he had already had one horse shot from under him but had managed to remount that of a fallen trooper] though blood was pouring from my mouth and nostrils, as well as running from my forehead . . . When I came out of battle the Paymaster did not recognise me. I was then blind . . ."

http://www.salthousehistory.co.uk/olley.html

http://www.edp24.co.uk/Content/Community/Holt/asp/walk.asp

In the Parish Registers for ELSING, Norfolk, is a burial entry for 8 September 1920 for a JAMES OLLEY aged 88. An additional note states that he "Fought in the famous Charge of the Light Brigade in the Russian War. Buried with Military Honours."

To add a little more about James Olley:

Private James Olley of the 4th Light Dragoons was wounded in the Charge of the Light Brigade on 25th October 1854 when his horse was shot. There is an extensive entry for him in 'Honour the Light Brigade' by William M. Lummis and Kenneth G. Wynn (London: J.B. Hayward and Son, 1973).

He was born at Hanworth, near Aylsham, Norfolk; 16th May 1838 and enlisted 6th November 1852. He was invalided to England early in 1855. Died about 4th September 1920 at Balaclava Cottage, Elsing, Norfolk. Buried 8th September 1920 in Elsing Churchyard in an unmarked grave.

He was one of the wounded men seen by Queen Victoria at Brompton Barracks, 3rd March 1855. He had lost the sight of his left eye.

Olley was the Son of Peter Olley, a labourer and his wife Mary Ann. After his discharge he lived in various places in North Norfolk - Blakeney, Field Dalling, Holt (where he was a horse trainer), Knapton, Salthouse, Lyng and Elsing.
He was the last 4th Light Dragoons survivor of the Charge. The above is part of the entry for Olley in 'Honour the Light Brigade'.

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/NORFOLK/2000-09/0970080184

[liverpool annie]

Crimea Nurses

Here is a list of the male and female nurses who served in the military hospitals in the East during the Crimean War.  This information is in most part from the Florence Nightingale Collection Ref - H1/ST/NC, at the London Metropolitan Archives, and from the War Office records at the Public Record Office
 
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~thelamp/nightingalenurses.htm

In autumn 1854 - press reports from the Times’ war correspondent highlighted gross deficiencies in British military hospitals dealing with the sick and wounded of the Crimean War - prompting the War Office to appeal for respectable women to nurse the wounded. Three types of woman answered the War Office call – philanthropic ladies, paid nurses and religious sisters, both Catholic and Anglican.
Among this latter group were 15 Mercy nuns from various convents in Ireland and England - they arrived in Scutari - across the Bosporus from Constantinople, to nurse the sick and wounded British soldiers who were fighting to the east on the Crimean Peninsula - all under the control of the mother superior of the Convent of Mercy Kinsale Co Cork (Mother Mary Francis Bridgeman) - and among her community were Sister M. Doyle of Gort and Sister M. Joseph Croke of Charleville ...... all three kept an account of their experiences, recording the conditions under which they travelled to the Crimea, the state of the hospitals they worked in, their relationships with the soldiers - medical and military authorities.
Florence Nightingale was already building her reputation with the work she and her assistants were carrying out in the hospitals. Mother Francis Bridgeman, in her first negotiations with Nightingale, noted that she had 'an ambitious woman to deal with on whom she could not rely'. Bridgeman and Nightingale were both strong personalities who were unwilling to concede authority and control to the other. Issues of power, class and identity formed the basis of the disagreements that developed between the two women.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/030e/

[liverpool annie]

I thought this maybe of interest ..... quite fascinating to me ... reading about issues between the women !!

Members of the Mercy congregation in Ireland and led by Mother M Francis Bridgeman Mother Superior of Kinsale convent arrived in Crimea .... why did the Mercy nuns volunteer to nurse in the Crimean War? primarily, according to surviving diaries, - it was carried out as part of their mission to aid the less fortunate of society – especially given the high number of Irish soldiers in the British Army during the 19th century. The Mercy sisters had had experience of home nursing in the houses of the poor since the first European cholera epidemic in 1832.
Gradually this work expanded and, by the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854, the sisters had gained much valuable domiciliary nursing expertise and had laid plans to open hospitals in Dublin and Cork. The Crimean War allowed these women to apply the nursing skills they had acquired and to gain public recognition for their nursing care.

A second consideration was political – to showcase the benefits of Catholicism. Despite the removal of the last vestiges of the Penal Laws with Catholic Emancipation, nevertheless a suspicion remained in the establishment mind about the motives of the Catholic hierarchy.

The second contingent had departed from London, including Mother Bridgeman’s group which comprised eleven nuns from Irish convents, 3 from Liverpool and 1 from Chelsea. The Irish nuns met up at St Catherine’s where there was a delay of 3 weeks while various administrative problems were sorted out. They then travelled together to London and were joined by the sisters from Liverpool and Chelsea.

All the nuns kept a diary of their time away but only three survive – those written by Mother M. Francis Bridgeman of Kinsale, Sister M. Aloysius Doyle of Gort and Sister M. Joseph Croke of Charleville. Mother Bridgeman’s party of 15 sisters left London on 2nd December 1854 with 9 ‘ladies’ and 23 paid nurses under the superintendence of Mary Stanley. They travelled via Paris and Marseilles, where they boarded a ship bound for Turkey. When they arrived at Constantinople a message was sent to Scutari but Nightingale replied that the War Office had made a mistake and she had neither work nor accommodation for more nurses and nuns. Something of a stand-off ensued, with the ladies and nurses staying in accommodation belonging to the British Ambassador and the nuns staying with French Sisters of Charity, in their convent nearby.
Eventually Moore negotiated a compromise between Nightingale and Bridgeman where Nightingale agreed to accept five nuns to work at the Barrack Hospital, Scutari, on the understanding that Bridgeman was free to withdraw them at any time.

A deal was worked out whereby the ten unemployed sisters would be sent to nurse in hospitals at Koulali hospitals, further up the coast. The remaining five sisters were given a choice to either remain at Scutari Barrack Hospital, where Florence Nightingale was based, or transfer to Scutari General Hospital. They opted to transfer and on 25th January 1855 Sisters M Elizabeth Hersey, M Clare Keane, M Paula Rice, M Winifred Sprey and M Agnes Whitty moved to the General Hospital.

Mother Bridgeman’s Party

Mthr M Francis Bridgeman Kinsale
Sr M Joseph Lynch Kinsale
Sr M Clare Keane Kinsale
Sr M Agnes Whitty St. Catherine’s Baggot St, Dublin
Sr M Elizabeth Hersey St. Catherine’s Baggot St, Dublin
Sr M Joseph Croke Charleville
Sr M Clare Lalor Charleville
Sr M Aloysius Doyle Carlow
Sr M Stanislaus Heyfron Carlow
Sr M Paula Rice St. Maries of the Isle, Cork
Sr M Aloysius Hurley St. Maries of the Isle, Cork
Sr Winifred Sprey Liverpool
Sr M Elizabeth Butler Liverpool
Sr M Magdalen Alcock Liverpool
Sr M Bernard Dixon Chelsea, Lon

Mercy Hospital, Cork

Sr M Aloysius Doyle died at Gort  convent, Co Galway in 1908, aged 94. She was the last survivor of  Bridgeman’s group and had been  awarded the Royal Red Cross in 1897.  She could not receive it in person from  Queen Victoria at the ceremony in  Windsor, due to ill health, and so it  was sent on to her.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/030f/

scroll to Page 7

[liverpool annie]

snippets ........ a case of did you know ? .........

Trumpeters Buglers and Foreign Medals ...... Cavalry trumpets used only when dismounted and State Trumpets for ceremonial occasions ... when mounted all calls were played on a Bugle!

The first ever 'Edison wax cylinder' recording of a Bugle was made in 1890. This recording featured the trumpeter who actually sounded the 'Charge of the Light Brigade' - only on this occasion it was sounded on a Bugle used at Waterloo ! So, from the 'Edison' era to the Digital age, listen to this amazing recording of Trumpeter Lanfried sounding the 'Charge' exactly as he did at Balaclava 154 years ago ...... the recording was made to raise money for the plight of the survivors of Balaclava

And did you know that trumpeter 1108 Richard Davis (13th Light Dragoons) also received the French Medaille Militaire Medal at Balaclava?

An interesting feature of this medal is that it is also the supreme award for leadership, being awarded to generals and admirals who had been commanders-in-chief and is one of rarest French decorations to be bestowed upon foreigners.
Other notable recipients of Medaille Militaire - Winston Churchill  Franklin D. Roosevelt  Dwight D. Eisenhower
So for a Cavalry Trumpeter to recieve one!

Here's a list of the trumpeters of the Heavy Brigade.

0582 Trumpeter Avid, Edward
0932 Trumpeter Gibbs, John
1107 Trumpeter Stacey, George Severely wounded. To Scutari on 26th
0581 Trumpet-Major Forster, William (Scots Greys)
0885 Trumpeter Stacey, William Sanuel
0794 Trumpeter Mitchell, David
1027 Trumpeter Dearden, Robert - Died 2 Days before the charge
1063 Trumpeter Jones, David
0842 Trumpeter Nesbit, Charles
1038 Trumpeter Heywood, William

Heywood was one of the severely wounded Trumpeters who appeared before Queen Victoria in the Messroom, Brompton Barracks, on 3rd March, 1855. His age was stated to be 21 years - Service 2 years 10 months. Loss of three fingers of left hand at Balaclava. Wounded by Mine rifle ball. To be discharged!

0832 Trumpeter Monks Thomas - sounded the Charge for the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava. Medals - Crimea (B.I.S) L.S. & G.C., Valeur et Discipline - Turkish Crimea (Sardinian issue)

Medal information 'Valeur et Discipline' in diggerhistory below

http://www.diggerhistory2.info/graveyards/pages/equip-uniform/fr-medals.htm

Scroll down ....... to Stan W

http://www.rootschat.com/links/030g/

* EJ Boys ....... Trumpeter Richard Davis - 1108 13th Light Dragoons

http://www.chargeofthelightbrigade.com/allmen/allmenD/allmenD_13LD/davis_r_1108_13LD/davis_r_1108_13LD.html

[Kevwood]

Annie, Here are the lithographs. Scaled, i will email you the full size scans.


Kev.

[liverpool annie]

They're wonderful Kev .... thank you ! 

I'm not sure about this one .......  36Th Infantry Regiment Civil War Washington Volunteers

History
Mustered in - June 17, 1861
Mustered out - July 15, 1863

The following is taken from New York in the War of the Rebellion, 3rd ed. Frederick Phisterer. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, 1912.
This regiment, Col. Charles H. Innes, was accepted by the State May 23, 1861 -  organized at New York city, and there mustered in the service of the United States for two years between June 17 and July 4, 1861. Five companies of an offered organization  -  the New York British Volunteers  - ordered to join this regiment failed to comply with the orders. June 30, 1863, the three years' men of the regiment were transferred to the 65th Infantry.
The companies were recruited principally: A at Buffalo; B at Newburgh; I at Brooklyn and New York city, and the others, C, D, E, F, G, H and K at New York city.
The regiment left the State July 12, 1861; served at and near Washington, D. C., from July 14, 1861; in Couch's Brigade, Division of Potomac, from August 4, 1861; in same brigade, Buell's Division, Army of the Potomac, from October 15, 1861; in 3d Brigade, 1st Division, 4th Corps, Army of the Potomac, from March 13, 1862; in 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 4th Corps, Army of the Potomac, from June, 1862; in 1st Brigade, 3d Division, 6th Corps, Army of the Potomac, from September, 1862; in 2d Brigade, 3d Division, 6th Corps, Army of the Potomac, from December, 1862; and was honorably discharged and mustered out, under Col. Wm. H. Browne, July 15, 1863, at New York city.
During its service the regiment lost by death, killed in action, 1 officer, 21 enlisted men; of wounds received in action, 15 enlisted men; of disease and other causes, 5 officers, 27 enlisted men; total, 6 officers, 63 enlisted men; aggregate, 68; of whom 1 enlisted man died in the hands of the enemy.

http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/36thInf/36thInfMain.htm

The delightful quarters known as Camp Reed, on Riker's Island, are at present occupied by the 36th Regiment, Col. Chas. H. Innes. The pure atmosphere and good fare which the men enjoy at these quarters have the effect of producing ruddy countenances and vigorous health, rendering the services of the regimental surgeon almost unnecessary. Another effect of the pleasant location of these quarters is the orderly conduct of the soldiers, which is a distinct feature, for in no quarters in or about New-York have we witnessed such order and regard for discipline as is evinced here. The rations served to the men are of excellent quality, and sufficient in quantity, thanks to the energy of Quartermaster-General Arthur, and the rigid scrutiny of Quartermaster Winter. The utmost content is expressed by the men with all the details over which the officers of the regiment have control, but they are very much dissatisfied with the delay in paying them the amount due them from the State. This delay is inexplicable, except on the ground that two companies are yet to be mustered into the U. S. service. That the organization of the regiment has been maintained, despite the many obstacles with which the officers have had to contend, is due alone to the devotion of the men to their officers. The officers have had to quarter and feed their men for many weeks before they were mustered into the State service, without any other assistance than $1,500, received from the Defense Committee. Some weeks ago, a resolution was adopted by the Committee, appropriating $3,000 to the use of the 36th Regiment, not a dollar of which has yet been received. The men have foregone their tobacco, and other luxuries, which they are unable to obtain without money, cheerfully, because they see their officers subjected to many privations of a like nature.
The officers of this regiment are all men of military experience, and a large proportion have seen active service in the American and British armies. Yesterday a battalion drill was the distinct feature of the day's proceedings, many of the friends of the officers being present. The various evolutions through which Col. Innes put his regiment were executed with remarkable precision. When the short time that the regiment have occupied grounds on which battalion movements could at all be performed is considered, the highest credit is due to the officers for the thoroughly military style in which the soldiers performed some of the most difficult evolutions. Marching in line of battle was performed without a deflection from the line.
We give below a list of the officers:
* Lieut. Armstrong was in the Crimean war, and was one of the Light Brigade in the desperate charge of the "six hundred" at Balaklava.

** Company A ............ 2d Lieut. Ed. Armstrong

http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/36thInf/36thInfCWN.htm

* EJ Boys -  Armstrong Pte John 1048 8th H
                   Armstrong Cpl Joseph 1292 4th LD
                   Armstrong Asst Surg Lancelot 13th LD
                   Armstrong, Armstron Pte William 878 17th L

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9905E3DD163EEE34BC4F52DFB3668388679FDE

[liverpool annie]

Well here's an Irishman in America I can't find !!  can anybody else see him ??

Death of Barney McKernan -  a Survivor of the Famous Charge

Phoenixville  Penn -  March 14th 1897 - Barney McKernan a survivor of the Light Brigade which was made famous by the charge at Balaklava during the Crimean war died at the home of his daughter in this place last night - aged seventy-two years.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9503E7D91E3DE433A25756C1A9659C94669ED7CF

OK here we go ! ..... but it doesn't mention Balaklava ....

There is a grave in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania bearing the inscription

BERNARD McKERNAN
born 1817
died march 15 1897

"Last surviving member of Charge of Light Brigade made famous by the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson....

Born in Lathram (I think they mean Leitrim, a County in Ireland) enlisted at Maidstone in 17th Lancers Fought in 13 engagements during Sikh Rebellion in India 1845-1848 and at the battles of Alma, Inkerman and the storming of the Redan and Malakoff Forts during Siege of Sebastopool, Crimean War. Presented with Medal for Valour by Queen and Sultan of Turkey during Crimean War. Died a US Citizen at Phoenixville Pa."

http://genforum.genealogy.com/crimeanwar/messages/62.html

Honoring those who gave their lives
By: Dennis J. Wright, For the Spring-Ford Reporter
05/31/2007

Close to 100 people convened upon Black Road Cemetery as the Thomas W. O'Connor Spring City American Legion Post 602 hosted Memorial Day services Monday morning.

Despite cloudy skies looming overhead, the 25-minute ceremony began and ended before any rainfall.
The services began with a procession of the Color Guard and Firing Squad from the American Legion Post 602, the Sons of the Legion, and members of the Phoenixville Council of Knights of Columbus. The men walked to the gravesite of the late Bernard McKernan, who was a British soldier reputed as being the last survivor of the famed Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War. The words of Alfred Lord Tennyson's famous poem are engraved on the tombstone on McKernan's grave. George Emery, Finance Officer, American Legion, welcomed the crowd to the ceremony.
"We're here this morning to honor all of our fallen veterans," said Emery. The Reverend Gary Kramer, pastor, St. Mary's Church, Phoenixville, gave the invocation.
American Legion Commander William T. Orner III addressed the audience. "Again our nation has assembled to honor its heroic dead," said Orner. "A thousand battles of land, sea and air echo the glory of their valiant deeds. Under the quiet sod, or beneath the murmuring waves, their bodies sleep in peace. But in the destinies of veterans, their souls go marching on. Because of them, our lives are free, and because of them, our nation lives." Orner concluded his speech by saying, "Comrades, on this Memorial Day, let us pledge ourselves anew to patriotic service. Let us make ourselves the friend and brother, son and father, of those who will not see their own again in mortal flesh. Let us grasp with fearless hands the Flag so nobly born before, and, like those others, plant it always on the battlements of righteousness."
Emery then asked Donald Hartzell, Sergeant at Arms, American Legion, to deposit some flowers upon the grave.
These are a token of our appreciation," said Emery. "These flowers may wither, but the spirit of which they are the symbol will endure until the end of time."
Following a hand salute, the Firing Squad, consisting of five men, lined up, and at Emery's order, fired three shots towards the sky. Mike Solick of Phoenixville played "Taps" on his bugle.
Reverend Kramer closed the ceremony by offering the benediction. "Memorial Day is about coming together to remember those who gave their lives for us," said Kramer.
Following the ceremony, Kelly Falone of Valley Forge said she wanted to attend a service before going to her family's picnic. "I have uncles who've served in the military," said Falone. "I wanted to come here so I could think of them and all that they'd done for our country. A lot of people think Memorial Day is just for having fun. It is to remember those who made sacrifices for our freedom."
Spring City mayor Michael Weiss said the ceremony was wonderful. "I loved the service," said Weiss. "It's great to see the attendance increase every year. This is a great way to remember our veterans. My service is minimal compared to those who serve our country."

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18408796&BRD=1306&PAG=461&dept_id=187830&rfi=6

[liverpool annie]

Pte William Pennington

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B0CEFDC1039E433A25755C1A9669D94669ED7CF

The enemy guns firing over the heads of the cavalry at the British horse artillery caused Pte. William Pennington to remark later, "I recall how some of us more nervous fellows were bowing our heads over our horse's manes" and how angry and indignant was the tone of Major Peel's remonstrance, "What the hell are you bobbing your heads at."

http://www.chargeofthelightbrigade.com/11H/2_.html

http://www.rootschat.com/links/030n/

http://www.medalcollector.co.uk/pdf/1386a.pdf

http://www.medalcollector.co.uk/pdf/1386b.pdf

The Light Brigade (Balaclava) Fund had two beneficiaries remaining at the beginning of 1923.

William Henry Pennington, trumpeter, 11th Hussars, died on May 1 1923, aged 91, leaving just one remaining beneficiary:  Edwin Hughes, Troop Sergeant Major 13th Hussars aged 92

( Source - The Times July 5 1923, speech by the Duke of Connaught at the annual meeting of the Royal Patriotic Fund)

Page 288

http://www.rootschat.com/links/030o/

http://shakespeare.emory.edu/actordisplay.cfm?actorid=39

book - mrs tom kelly from the fleet in the fifties

* EJ Boys - Pennington Pte William 1631 11th H

george waldron ??