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Auction: 6025 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 236

The Highly Important and Emotive Light Brigade Group of Six to Major Later General Sir Alexander Low, 4th Light Dragoons, Who Led the 1st Squadron of His Regiment into the Enemy Guns at Balaklava, Where He was Personally Responsible for Cutting Down Ten or More Russian Gunners a) The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Military Division, Companion´s (C.B.) breast Badge, gold (Hallmarks for London 1867) and enamel, with integral gold riband buckle b) Crimea 1854-56, four clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol (Lt. Coll. Low, 4th Light Dragoons.), contemporarily engraved in upright serif capitals c) France, Second Empire, Legion of Honour, Chevalier´s breast Badge, silver, gold, and enamel, with high relief crown suspension d) Turkey, Order of the Medjidieh, Fourth Class breast Badge, silver, gold centre, and enamel e) Sardinia, Al Valore Militare, silver, reverse ´Spedizione D´Oriente 1856´, and ´F.G.´ below the wreath, reverse officially engraved, ´Bt. Lieutt. Colonel Alexr. Low 4th Drags.´, last letter of surname officially corrected f) Turkish Crimea, Sardinian die, Officer´s Hunt and Roskill pattern, unnamed, minor enamel damage, otherwise good very fine, together with a framed and glazed photographic image of the recipient (6) Estimate £ 18,000-22,000General Alexander Low, C.B. (1817-1904), born Bath; joined as Cornet 4th Light Dragoons, 1835; Lieutenant 1838; Captain 1843. On the morning of 25.10.1854 Low was the duty Field Officer for the Cavalry Division at Balaklava. At around 5.30am he visited the picket posted at Kamara, a village to the east of the chain of redoubts built to defend the British base at Balaklava. As he approached Kamara, accompanied by a single orderly, Low either saw in the darkness or heard a Sotnia of Don Cossacks, followed by Russian Lancers, closing in on the unsuspecting picket. He galloped into the village and managed to raise the alarm in time to secure the retreat of the sentries to Redoubt Number 1. From here he hoisted the signal that the Russian advance guard was rapidly approaching the Allied Army´s position. A few hours later Low was in action once again, this time at the head of his men, as he commanded one of two squadrons of the 4th Light Dragoons in the famous Charge of the Light Brigade into the ´Valley of Death´, ´When the second line of the Light Brigade under Lord Paget´s command reached the Russian battery, as the Queen´s Light Dragoon Regiment ran through the intervals between the guns the officers shouted the ancient cry "Tally Ho!´, which was used by English hunters to set dogs on foxes. The arrival of Paget´s Dragoons put an end to the resistance of the battery´s defenders........ Brevet Major Alexander Low distinguished himself in action. He was a real giant weighing nearly 100kg, whose splendid moustaches with handing ends made him look like the ancient German or Viking. Armed with a great sabre made for him, Low burst into the thick of the scuffle and attacked 11 Russian fighters with his own hands.´ (Colonel V. Ivanov, a contemporary Russian authority on the Battle refers). Kinglake adds credibility to this version of Low´s part in the charge by reputedly referring to him in his history of the Crimean War as, "afflicted, if one may speak, with what has been called the blood-frenzy. Much gore besmeared him, and the result of the contest was such as might seem confirmatory of the vulgar belief as to the maddening power of human blood. This officer, whilst under the frenzy, raged wildly against human life, cutting down, it was said, very many of the obstinate Russians with his own reeking hand......´ Lummis and Wynn gives thirteen Russian gunners killed by his hand. A skilled horseman and an expert blade, Low seems to have also exuded a steadying influence on his commanding officer Lord Paget. With the 4th Light Dragoon´s arrival at the Russian guns it is to him, in the absence of Lord Cardigan, that Paget turned to, "Low, we are in a desperate scrape; what the devil shall we do?" He set an example to his men not only by his fighting prowess, a factor according to W. Baring Pemberton in Battles of the Crimean War attributable to his use of the point of the sword rather than the edge against the thick coats of the enemy; but also in his no nonsense approach to leadership. This is well illustrated by his response to Captain Hutton, one of his troop leaders, who having been badly wounded in the charge down the valley asked for orders. Low informed him that if he was still able to ride he should stay with the attack, "There´s no use going back now, you´ll only be killed." Low was next engaged at the Battle of Inkermann, where, due to Paget´s promotion to Brigade Command, he was in command of the 4th Light Dragoons. The latter came under extremely heavy shell fire during the battle, Paget described it, ´as heavy as any we had ever been under.´ Low was present at Tchernaya, the siege and fall of Sebastopol and with the cavalry at Eupatoria; Colonel 1857 (C.B. 1867); Major-General 1868; retired General 1881 with the appointment of Colonelcy of his old regiment. One month before General Low´s death in Geneva (9.7.1904) his name appeared in the Crimea Jubilee Honours List as being awarded the K.C.B. (12.6.1904). It is probable that he did not survive to receive either the insignia or the accolade, although in the obituary notice in the Times of 12th July, he is referred to as ´Sir Alexander Low´ (Honour the Light Brigade, Lummis and Wynn refers.) Provenance J.B. Hayward August 1971

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