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Auction: 9033 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 4

The Important ´Heavy Brigade´ Group of Five to Captain, Later Lieutenant-General, J. Conolly, Late 5th Dragoon Guards, Who Was Scarlett´s Brigade Major for the Battle of Balaklava, 25.10.1854, and Who ´Found His Arms Laden and Weighed Down by the Dead Body of a Russian Trooper Which Had Fallen Across Them´ During the Charge of the Heavy Brigade a) The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Military Division, Companion´s (C.B.) breast Badge, gold (Hallmarks for London, all obscured during manufacture) and enamel, with integral gold riband buckle b) Crimea 1854-56, three clasps, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol (Major James Conolly. Cavy. Staff.), contemporarily engraved in large serif capitals, with contemporary silver foliate top-riband bar by B. Bailey, Coventry c) France, Second Empire, Legion of Honour, Fifth Class Badge, silver, gold and enamel, with high relief crown suspension and contemporary ornate silver top-riband buckle; Third Republic, Legion of Honour, Commander´s neck Badge, silver-gilt and enamel, minor white enamel damage to both pieces d) Turkey, Order of the Medjidie, Fifth Class breast Badge, silver, gold and enamel, with contemporary silver top-riband buckle e) Turkish Crimea, Sardinian die, unnamed as issued, with custom made silver foliate suspension and contemporary silver foliate top-riband bar by B. Bailey, Coventry, the group very fine or better unless otherwise stated Estimate £ 6,000-8,000 Lieutenant-General James Conolly, C.B. (1818-1885); commissioned Ensign 1836; Captain 1845; served during the Crimean War as Brigade Major to the Heavy Brigade, as part of General Scarlett´s Brigade Staff; during this conflict he particularly distinguished himself during the Charge of the Heavy Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava, 25.10.1854. The battle commenced at 6am, with the Heavy Brigade receiving their first significant orders some two and half hours later, when Lord Raglan instructed "Eight squadrons of heavy Dragoons to be detached towards Balaklava to support the Turks who are wavering." Scarlett was ordered to lead four of the five regiments under his command to form up by the 93rd Foot and thus shore up the position jointly held by the Highlanders and a body of Turkish troops. The Russians, who had enjoyed early success in the battle, simultaneously brought forward Ryzhov´s Cavalry to press home their advantage. Ryzhov´s force consisted of approximately 2,000-3,000 men, comprising of eight squadrons of the 11th Kiev Hussars, six of the 12th Ingermanland Hussars, three of the 53 Don Cossack Regiment, the 1st Ural Cossacks and sixteen field guns (The Crimean War: A Clash of Empires, Fletcher and Ishchenko, refers). The Russian Cavalry crossed the Chernaya River, and at about 9am they flooded into the North Valley. Once Ryzhov had crested the Causeway Heights he brought his force to a halt. From this vantage point he had the perfect view of Scarlett´s Heavy Brigade moving east across his front, whilst away to the south he could see Campbell´s Highlanders and the Turks immediately to the north of Kadikoi. Ryzhov detached 400 men of the Ingermanland Hussars to head for Campbell´s position, and what ensued was to be remembered throughout history as the ´Thin Red Line´. Meanwhile the majority of Ryzhov´s cavalry remained on the southern slopes of the Causeway Heights some 800 yards away from Scarlett´s Brigade, the latter was still moving, unaware of the enemy´s presence, towards Campbell. Scarlett´s force, headed by his staff including Conolly, consisted of approximately 700-800 men taken from the 1st, 2nd and 6th Dragoons and the 4th and 5th Dragoon Guards. Although outnumbering the British troops by at least two to one and having the advantage of the high ground Ryzhov proved indecisive and surprised by the unexpected presence of Scarlett´s men in front of him. Initially the Russians began to advance at a rapid trot with the intention of charging Scarlett´s exposed flank, however, Scarlett´s next action threw them into momentary confusion. On being informed of the Russians advance by his ADC (Lieutenant Elliot), Scarlett gave the order ´Left wheel into line´ which turned the two advanced regiments of the Brigade into line to face the enemy; these were shortly followed by the other two regiments forming a second line. Kinglake adds further insight: ´When the extension of the Russian front had developed itself, Scarlett failed not, of course, to see that, enormously as his thin line of two ranks was over weighted by the vast depth of the column before him, the extent to which he was outflanked both on his right hand and on his left was hardly less overwhelming; but whether he still expected that the 5th Dragoon Guards would align with the Greys, or whether he by this time understood that it would be operating on their left rear, he at all events looked trustfully to the help that would be brought him by his own regiment as a means of resistance to the forces which were outflanking him on his left. Towards his right, however, he equally saw the dark squadrons far, far overlapping his front; and, for the checking of these, he knew not that we had even so much as one troop close at hand, for he supposed at that time that his first line included the whole of the Inniskillings. Scarlett, therefore, despatched Captain Conolly, his brigade-major, with orders to bring forward one or other of the two regiments which had not marched off with the rest, and oppose it to the enemy´s left.´ Scarlett initially charged uphill with just three squadrons - two of the Scots Greys on the left and one of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons on the right, a combined total of approximately 300 men. Shortly after this the second squadron of the Inniskillings attacked the left flank of the Russians, followed by the 5th Dragoon Guards who crashed into Ryzhov´s cavalry as they folded around the rear of the Scots Greys. Beyond them the 4th Dragoons, to cries of ´Faugh A Ballagh´, attacked the right rear of the Russian cavalry; the force of their impact was such that they were able to hack their way from one flank to the other with the loss of only one man (Battles of the Crimean War, Pemberton refers). It was with the second squadron of the Inniskillings that Conolly joined the fray, ´When Scarlett despatched his brigade-major, with orders to bring up some troops which might more or less confront the vastly outflanking strength of the enemy´s left, he supposed that Captain Conolly would have to execute this order by riding back in search of the 4th Dragoon Guards or the Royals; and it was not without pain that he thought himself of compelled thus to exile a gifted cavalry officer from the fight during several critical minutes. Captain Conolly, however, found means to see the object of the order attained without losing his share of the combat; for, glancing in that direction opposite to the Russian left in which it was judged to be of vital need to have an English force posted, he saw, and saw with great joy, that one of the red squadrons was already there. Quickly reaching the force, he found that it was the first squadron of the Inniskillings, commanded by Captain Hunt, who, however, was under the orders of Major Shute, the field-officer then present with this part of the regiment. Conolly was instantly sure that, under the direction of these officers, the squadron would be so wielded as to do all that was possible towards the execution of Scarlett´s wish, and he at once determined to act with it in the approaching fight….. At the moment of the surprise, as we know, this squadron of the Inniskillings had been further advanced on the road towards Kadikoi than any other of Scarlett´s troops; and it resulted that the position of the squadron at the time when the ´three hundred´ had wheeled into line, was in the direction of Scarlett´s right rear. The squadron was so placed as to be fronting, not full, but obliquely towards the enemy´s left flank. When the Russian left wing had not only disclosed the intent to wheel inwards, but even had effected good progress in the execution of the manoeuvre, Major Shute ordered Hunt to charge it. Free from the camp impediments which had obstructed Scarlett´s ´three hundred´, and afterwards the 5th Dragoon Guards, the interval which divided this squadron of the Inniskillings from the enemy was all good galloping ground, and Hunt moving forward at the head of his squadron, and then rapidly increasing, and still increasing, its swiftness, attained, before the moment of impact to a full charging pace. The roar of the fight going on was calculated to overlay other sounds, and the thick, stiff elastic herbage which clothed the soil, was well enough fitted to muffle to the utmost the tramp of horses; but even after giving full weight to these circumstances, it is scarce possible to hear of what happened without more or less of astonishment. The troops of the Russian left wing had not only continued their in-wheeling movement, but had carried the manoeuvre so far that, at the moment of the impact, they had their backs turned towards the squadron which charged them. Piercing their line like an arrow, Captain Hunt shot through it, and was followed in the next instant by the squadron behind him, which came crashing on upon the rear of the wheeling horsemen, consigning some to slaughter, and driving in the rest of them, a helpless, unresisting throng, upon the front of the column. So swift and so weighty had been the charge that, if one may say, it welded men into a mass. Of the tightness with which horsemen were locked in the mêlée, some idea may be formed if I say that, when Conolly found his arms laden and weighed down by the dead body of a Russian trooper which had fallen across them, he was for some time prevented from casting his unwelcome burthen by the density and close pressure of the throng which encompassed him on all sides´ (Kinglake refers). The final hammer blow came with the arrival of the Royal Dragoons, who ignoring their orders to remain behind, attacked the right front of the Russians. Scarlett´s bold charge had caught Ryzhov completely off guard. The Charge of the Heavy Brigade lasted no more than ten minutes. The Russians were forced to disengage and flee, unable to reform due to the constant harrying provided by the guns of C Troop Royal Horse Artillery under Captain Brandling. Conolly was thanked in Scarlett´s report to Lord Lucan, dated 27.10.1854, and promoted Major in December of the same year. Conolly moved with Scarlett for a posting at Aldershot, where he was Assistant Quartermaster-General, 1867-69. He advanced Major-General in 1868 and went on to become Military Attaché at Frankfurt, Vienna and Paris. He was awarded the C.B. in 1875 and promoted Lieutenant-General in 1880. He died in Wiesbaden, Germany. Provenance: Christie November 1987

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£6,000