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Auction: 18001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 109

'He was our father and friend, and watched over the Regiment and its wants in a manner that gained for him the adoration of his men; and never did I see a more genuine grief among a body of men than that seen in the 57th Regiment.

The poor old Colonel and the memory of his many acts of kindness, of his unflinching courage at the head of his own "Die-Hards". His glorious death will long be a theme in the 57th Regiment.

Such are the feelings of the Regiment - they have lost their best friend; but I have lost, if possible, more than any of them, for I never experienced such kindness as he invariably showed to me and my welfare.

He lost no opportunity in advancing me in my profession and not only did he look after my temporal but my spiritual welfare; and if ever a man died a Christian he did.

I spoke to him a few minutes before he fell; the last words I heard him say were "Now, Colonel Ware, you mind the right, I will take the left, and Major Inglis the centre."

This was said amid a shower of missiles of every kind, and he was then as cool and collected as if on parade.

Poor Colonel! It was the last order I heard him give, and the last time I saw him alive. He could not have suffered much pain from the nature of his wound.'

Sergeant-Major G. Cumming, 57th Regiment, in a poignant letter to the Colonel's widow after his gallant end at the Great Redan in June 1855 (Reading Mercury, 18 August 1855, refers).

The important commanding officer's Crimea Medal awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Shadforth, 57th Foot

He was killed in action during the first attack on the Grand Redan at Sebastopol in June 1855, whilst gallantly leading his beloved "Die-Hards": it was something of a family habit for his father had commanded them in their celebrated stand at Albuera

Following his gallant end, Queen Victoria took it upon herself to ensure the future security of Thomas's family by granting his widow and children a royal cottage in Hampton Court Park, with an annual pension of £200

Crimea 1854-56, 1 clasp, Sebastopol (Lieut. Col. T. Shadforth. 57th. Regt.), officially impressed naming, minor edge nicks, otherwise good very fine, mounted upon original riband and fixings as worn by his widow and four daughters


Thomas Shadforth was the second son of Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Shadforth, who had been wounded in the Peninsula whilst commanding the 57th Foot in their celebrated action at Albuera. Following in his gallant father's footsteps, young Thomas was appointed an Ensign in the 57th Foot in 1825. He sailed for Sydney aboard the Minstrel in the same year, in the company of his elder brother, Henry, a fellow officer of the "Die-Hards".

When the 57th were ordered to India in 1828, their father, then 60, resigned his commission and settled in New South Wales. He subsequently purchased the 640-acre Ravenswood Estate, Mulgoa, and became 'a leader in the commercial and social life of Sydney for the next thirty years.'

Journey's end

In common with his father, Thomas eventually rose to the command of the old 57th and he commanded the Regiment in the Crimea. As reported in the Hampshire Advertiser on 18 August 1855, he wrote to his wife and children on the eve of the first attack on the Grand Redan. It is a deeply moving letter, beset with all the hallmarks of a 'facer':

'My own beloved Wife and dearly beloved Children. At one o'clock tomorrow morning I head the 57th to storm the Redan.

It is, as I feel, an awfully perilous moment to me, but I place myself in the hands of our gracious God, without whose Will a sparrow cannot fall to the ground. I place my whole trust in him.

Should I fall in the performance of my duty, I fully rely in the precious blood of our Saviour, shed for sinner that I may be saved through Him.

Pardon and forgive me, my beloved ones, for anything I may have said or done to cause you one moment's unhappiness. Unto God I commend my body and soul; which are his; and should it be His Will that I fall in the performance of my duty, in the defence of my Queen and country, I most humbly say,

"Thy will be done."

God bless and protect you; and my last prayer will be, that He, of His infinite goodness, may preserve me to you. God bless you, my beloved Eliza, and my dearest children; and if we meet not again in this world, may we all meet in the mansion of our Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ.

God bless and protect you; and ever believe me. Your affectionate husband and loving father.'

The following day the "Die-Hards" suffered losses of 22 killed and 35 wounded. Shadforth - as one suspects he well-knew from his final letter - was among those killed, falling at the head of his men.

Queen Victoria granted his widow and children the use of a royal cottage in Hampton Court Park, in addition to an annual pension of £200.


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