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Auction: 7012 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria
Lot: 999

The Well Documented Crimea Medal to Regimental Character Troop Sergeant-Major, Later Lieutenant H. "Old Bags" Harrison, 8th Hussars, Who Charged with the Light Brigade at Balaklava, 25th October 1854, and Was Commissioned in Recognition of Valour at Inkermann Crimea 1854-56, four clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol (H. Harrison, Lieutt. 8th Hussars.), contemporarily engraved in medium serif capitals, rank corrected from Cornet to Lieutenant following the recipient´s promotion in 1856, toned, good very fine, with contemporary silver riband buckle Estimate £ 3,000-3,500 Lieutenant Henry Harrison, enlisted 8th Hussars, at Hulme Barracks, Manchester, 1831; embarked for the Crimea in H.M. Echunga, 15.5.1854; rode in the Charge of the Light Brigade, 25.10.1854; Cornet 5.11.1854, ´whilst serving in the Crimea, his commission being dated the 5th November 1854 and being gazetted in recognition of the valour of our soldiers at Inkermann when a non-commissioned officer of each regiment engaged against the Russians was selected for promotion´ (Obituary in the Morning Advertise, dated 5.7.1880, refers); Harrison was known as "Old Bags" because of his habit of wearing his overalls loose and easy; after the Charge he was returning up the Valley leading a riderless horse, which he gave to Private Pennington (11th Hussars), who then managed to regain the British Lines as a result, ´My situation seemed desperate, for no one appeared in sight but these blood thirsty Cossacks..... I had abandoned all hope of escaping with life, though resolved to sell it dearly, when I heard behind me the thudding of cavalry..... Troop Sergeant-Major Harrison took in my situation at a glance. He was leading a riderless grey mare, in the belief that she might presently prove of use. He reined up close to me, and cried, "Come on, my boy, mount her!" I needed but slight instigation, and contrived, wounded as I was, to scramble into the saddle; and it was by the side of "Old Bags" that I continued to advance with the 8th Royal Irish Hussars. He lived to receive Her Majesty´s commission; and twenty-five years after, I had the pleasure of dining with him; the renewal of our acquaintance having arisen in consequence of a letter I had written to the Daily News, which he had read, and in which I had related the story of my rescue. My deliverer was much gratified when we recalled the incident, for it had been almost as strongly impressed on his memory as upon mine. He had then retired from the service, and was in a very good position in one of the Australian Banks, where his late chief (Colonel De Salis) was upon the directorate. "Old Bags" has long since been gathered to his fathers. May he rest in peace!" (From the Fleet in the Fifties, A History of the Crimean War, T. Kelly, refers); Lieutenant 1856; retired by sale of his commission 1857; Member of the Balaklava Commemoration Society, 1879; died 1880, then a resident of Camberwell, London, and is buried in the London Metropolitan Cemetery, West Norwood.

Sold for
£3,300