In his vivid account of the events at Balaklava, 25th October 1854, 1077 Private James Wightman, 17th Lancers, directs attention not only on the qualities of Lord Cardigan as a leader of the Light Brigade, but also on those of his "noble charger", a thoroughbred chestnut called "Ronald":
"...I remember as if it were but yesterday Cardigan's figure and attitude, as he faced the brigade and in his strong hoarse voice gave the momentous word of command, 'The brigade will advance! First squadron of 17th Lancers direct!' Calm as on parade - calmer indeed by far than his wont on parade - stately, square and direct, master of himself, his brigade, and his noble charger, Cardigan looked the ideal cavalry leader, with his stern firm face and his quiet soldierly bearing.
His long military seat was perfection on the thoroughbred chestnut 'Ronald' with the 'white stockings' on the near hind and fore [PB: i.e. left side], which my father, his old riding-master, had broken for him.
He was in the full uniform of his old corps, the 11th Hussars, and he wore the pelisse, not slung, but put on like a patrol jacket, its front one blaze of gold lace. His drawn sword was in his hand at the slope, and never saw I man fitter to wield the weapon."
[Source: J.W. Wightman, "Balaclava and the Russian Captivity", The Nineteenth Century, May 1892, pp. 852-3.]
This account has a number of points in common with A W Kinglake's description of the unity of man and horse in his Invasion of the Crimea (quoted Annand, below):
"As before, when advancing at a trot, while flinging themselves impetuously deep into the jaws of an army, these two regiments of the first line still had in their front the same rigid hussar for their guide, still kept their eyes fastened on the crimson-red overalls and the white near hind-leg of the chestnut which showed them the straight, honest way - the way down to the mouths of the guns."
Ronald came through the Crimean campaign unscathed and was eventually brought back to Deene Park. [As, curiously, was Captain Nolan's horse (see Further information, below).]
A celebrity in his own right (prompting comparisons with "Bucephalus", "Copenhagen" and "Marengo", the horses of Alexander the Great, Wellington, and Napoleon), Ronald was completely identified with his famous rider. When Cardigan was buried (1868), a "richly caparisoned" Ronald followed the coffin with the other mourners.
In a letter dated the 23rd of January 1865, Lord Cardigan wrote to a Robert John Creasey (after the latter had instigated correspondence with him). Written in the third person, but with lapses into the first person, later corrected, Cardigan praises his charger, Ronald:
"He was never in the least exhausted or in the least violent. After charging the Russian battery the horse carried me [crossed out and "Lord C" substituted] on up to the Russian cavalry at the regular charging pace - after which he brought me [crossed out and "him" substituted] back at a steady canter when all the lines of the Brigade had retreated or were retreating."
Incidentally, Creasey had also written a poem on Balaclava and asked permission to dedicate it to Cardigan. Cardigan responded tetchily in a letter dated the 10th of March 1865:
"I do not like the manner in which you refer to me in a mysterious way. You do not name me... and I think you might have found something more about the leading of the charge, as you have written so much about Captain Nolan, and his outstanding gallantry in fact in having ridden across the front and was killed 100 yards after the commencement of the charge of a mile and a half in length."
[PB: Is this poem accessible?]
[Source: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/lieutenant-colonel-later-lieutenant-general-james-thomas-brudenell-17971868-7th-earl-of-cardigan-11th-prince-alberts-own-hussars-182615]
Extract from The Stamford Mercury of the period, reprinted at the time of the Balaclava Relics Centenary Exhibition in London [date?] :
"A photograph was taken of Lord Cardigan's magnificent charger, 'Ronald', by the late Mr. Charles Drake, of Uppingham (the official photographer to the family) shortly after the noble animal had followed its beloved master to his last resting-place.
There is a very interesting story connected with this photograph. When Mr. Drake went over to Deene to take it no little difficulty was experienced in getting the horse to pose. This was overcome by a small ruse, however, a bugler from the band stationed at the Hall being summoned. From a place of concealment in the shrubbery he sounded the "Charge" repeatedly and the effect on the animal was instantaneous, as with legs braced, eyes dilated and with head erect, it stood listening to the familiar notes. Click, and the work of the photographer was completed and that is how we now have 'Ronald's' picture."
Some years after Lord Cardigan's death it was decided by the Countess of Cardigan to have Ronald destroyed, as he had grown quite helpless. A cast of the head was made and this and the tail, after being in her London home for a number of years, was taken to Deene Park. The hooves are believed to have been made into ink-stands and presented to various people. One of these is now known to be at Deene Park, a second is in the guard-room at Windsor Castle, the third in the Officers' Mess of the Royal Hussars, but the whereabouts of the fourth is unknown.
[PB: Is it a cast of Ronald's head that was put in the case? Surely he was stuffed? Or is there a cast as well? Are the 3 hooves still in these locations?]
However, in [1937? 1967?], a Colonel Savage, living in Sussex, wrote to Canon Lummis to say he was in possession of the last of Ronald's hooves made into an inkwell:
"I am the possessor of the off fore hoof of 'Ronald', the charger ridden by Lord Cardigan. It was given to me by my maternal grandfather, the Reverend John Harwood Thill, F.S.A., the Rector of Cranoe, in Leicestershire, who was his chaplain.
[See the record of 1330, John Forbes, 4th Light Dragoons, for additional information.]
[PB: Ronald's head was stuffed and (so far as I know) is still on display in a glass case at Deene. There are also a number of illustrations of this head, including as one of a number of "Balaclava Relics" put on show during the "Balaclava Festival" at Alexandra Palace, 25 October 1875 (Illustrated London News, 30 October 1875).
[PB: Ronald's head also features in a small painting by JL Carr at the Northamptonshire County Records Office. I have not seen this, but its annotations evidently include extracts of Tennyson's poem.
The VADS entry reads:
Painting of the preserved remains of the famous historic horse Ronald seen at Deene Park
Collection: The J.L. Carr Collection
Author/Creator: Carr, J L
Date: May-61
Description: Ronalds head and tail are preserved at Deene Park. He was the horse that led the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava in the Crimea war. Ronald survived the two charges, the sea trip home and 15 years in the paddock in the park. Ronald's remains look towards the military trappings of his rider the Earl of Cardigan. Carr includes lines from the famous poem.
(Source: http://vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=30024&sos=2 (accessed 7.1.2015)]
In 2010, another Ronald relic came up at auction, an elaborately mounted circlet of hairs from his tail. The estimate was £100-150, but it sold for £950.
[Source: http://www.tennants.co.uk/Catalogue/Lots/57463.aspx (accessed 2.1.2015).]
In 1967, Ronald was the subject of a detailed article by Major A. McK. Annand in the Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research (Winter 1967, vol xlv, no 184):
(Click on images to enlarge)
[PB, January 2015: Curiously, in January 1967 (the same year as Major Annand's essay) an article appeared in the children's magazine Look and Learn, with an illustration by James E McConnell that drew particular attention to Ronald's "white stockings". NB notice that many illustrations feature the stockings, but not always on same legs? Are there any other sources that refer to Ronald taking fright?]
"Lord Cardigan rode his splendid chestnut charger, Ronald, in that heroic charge at Balaclava. By James E McConnell." [Image and text copyright Look and Learn.]
"Few people have not heard of the famous Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava in the Crimean War. On that memorable day, the 25th October, 1854, 670 of Britain's finest cavalrymen charged to their doom in the 'Valley of Death'.
Of course, it was a blunder. A wrong order sent the Light Brigade on its tragic charge, but that did not dim its glory. Shot at from the flanks, riding into the volleying barrel-mouths of Russian cannon, not a man hesitated.
Commanding the Light Cavalry Brigade was Major-General the Earl of Cardigan, riding his splendid chestnut charger, Ronald, a horse with two 'white stockings'. As if on a ceremonial parade, Cardigan on Ronald trotted, then galloped up the shell-riddled valley and leapt between the Russian guns. Here, with the crash of artillery in his ears, Ronald took fright for the first and only time, and bolted towards the mass of Cossack lancers waiting beyond the guns.
The noble Earl quickly recovered control, fought off three Cossacks, and proudly rode back all the way up the valley. He had suffered only a scratch, on his thigh, and Ronald was completely unhurt. Yet there were only 195 survivors of the charge, and 500 horses were killed.
After the war, Cardigan took the horse back to his family home at Deene in Northamptonshire, where Ronald lived a long and contented life. His head and tail are still preserved there.
Ronald was a soldier's horse, and shared a soldier's glory." [PB: lovely line!]
[Source: "Lord Cardigan commanded the heroic Light Brigade at Balaclava", Look and Learn 260 (7 January 1967), http://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/24384/lord-cardigan-commanded-the-heroic-light-brigade-at-balaclava/ (accessed 2.1.2015)]
[PB, November 2013: A letter in Country Life, 5th of March 1943, claimed that 1117 Henry Murrow, 11th Hussars: "rode in the Charge behind Lord Cardigan leading a spare horse named 'Ronald' in case his Lordship's horse was shot."
However, there are reasons to doubt this story, as it is not at all clear that Murrow in fact charged. See Murrow's record.]
Captain Nolan's horse
Curiously, Captain Nolan's horse [NAME? "Sahagun"?], on which he had delivered the fateful order to attack the Russian guns, also returned from the Crimea. Clearly it had a very special significance for Cardigan as he took pains to acquire it when it came up for auction.
According to the United Services Gazette, 14th of August 1858:
"The horse formerly belonging to Captain Nolan of the 15th Hussars, who was killed at Balaclava, was brought under the hammer and purchased by Lord Cardigan for £200, and it was said that his Lordship was at the time prepared to go to any price to have it."
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