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Auction: 7022 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria
Lot: 1325

The Crimea Medal to Brigadier-General T.L. Goldie, The Great-Nephew of Fletcher Christian of the Bounty, Mortally Wounded at Inkermann, 5.11.1854 Crimea 1854-56, one clasp, Inkermann (Brigr. Genl. T.L. Goldie.), engraved in Hunt & Roskell style naming, light scratch to obverse, nearly extremely fine, with contemporary silver decorative top riband buckle Estimate £ 400-500 Brigadier-General Thomas Leigh Goldie (1807-1854), second son of General A.J. Goldie and Isabella Christian Taubman, of the Nunnery, Isle of Man; T.L. Goldie´s Great Uncle was Fletcher Christian of the Bounty, and he himself was the Uncle of Sir George Dashwood Taubman Goldie, K.C.M.G., the Founder of Nigeria; commissioned Ensign 66th Foot, 1825; Major 1838; acted as Military and Private Secretary to Sir John Colborne (later Lord Seaton); ´he went with his regiment to Canada to assist in quelling the disturbances there. For the ability and zeal he displayed at that time he was promoted to the Colonelcy of the 57th Regiment´ (Manx Worthies refers); Brevet-Brigadier General, 28.7.1854, and upon arrival of the 57th to the Crimea, he was appointed Brigadier of the 1st Brigade, 4th Division, which he commanded during the march to Balaklava, at the commencement of the siege of Sebastopol and at the battle of Balaklava; at the battle of Inkermann he led his men against the Russians at Home Ridge, ´On arriving at the scene of action, Sir George Cathcart´s small force [approximately 1700 men] was at once split up and sent in different directions, the 57th and a wing of the 20th advancing, under Brigadier-General Goldie, by the ruined camp of the 2nd Division, all torn up and devastated by the Russian artillery, on to the right of the Ridge. The fight had been raging now with the greatest fury on both sides for some time, the troops of the light and 2nd Divisions, although greatly outnumbered, fighting desperately amid the brushwood with which the sides of the Ridge were covered, against the masses of Russians that from time to time advanced against them. Brigadier-General Goldie, on reaching the Home Ridge, at once advanced with the wing of the 20th and gallantly charged a body of Russians advancing against the right of it, while the 57th were ordered to lie down in front of the centre of the breastwork erected on the crest, and protect the guns there which fired over their heads. Whilst here several casualties occurred.´ (History of the 57th Regiment, refers). After more intense fighting the British managed to reach the summit of the Ridge, and once in position were ordered to hold to the last, ´the state of affairs was now very critical, as there were only some 600 infantry left to hold the Ridge, and protect the guns there, and the Russians were preparing for a concentrated attack on this important point. Their guns opened a heavy fire on the troops holding the breastwork, and caused great havoc among them. Within a short period Brigadier-General Goldie (who had already been slightly wounded and had his horse killed), Captain Stanley, Lieutenant Hague, Colour-Sergeant Hewitt, Sergeant Gree, and many men of the 57th were struck down´ (Ibid). Goldie was mortally wounded and died later the next day. Lord Raglan, in the despatch announcing the result of the battle refers to Goldie as having been "an officer of considerable promise" who "gave great satisfaction to who he has served". The Manx Sun also spoke highly of him in the obituary they published, "he was remarkable alike for the strict performance of his own duties to the minutest item, and for his equally strict enforcement of the duties of those under him, but that without needless severity of the martinet... this in no way diminished his personal popularity, which was very great." Brigadier-General Goldie was carried off the field of battle, and later interred at Cathcart´s Hill, near Sebastopol, where there is a monument to him. There is also a large monument to him in the grounds of the family home at the Nunnery, and a tablet at Malew Church.

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£1,300