Campaign Groups and Pairs
On the 25th October the enemy advanced and stormed our advanced position on some hills which were well fortified and unfortunately occupied by the Turks. The rascals fled before the Russians came within 150 yards of the forts, our artillery came up and the 13th covered the guns where we were exposed to shot and shell for upwards of two hours, but the positions being lost we slowly retired a short distance. The Russians advanced direct on to us on the ground of our camp, our heavy dragoons were ordered to charge them, and they fled although their numbers were sufficient to overwhelm our handful of cavalry. At this time the light brigade was formed up on the left on some hills which commanded a long valley about two miles, at the end of which the enemy retired. By some misunderstanding we were ordered to advance and charge their guns which they had formed up full in our fronts at the extreme end, and here took place a scene and act unparalleled in history. We had scarcely advanced a few yards before they opened on us with grape and shell. It was a perfect level, the ground only wide enough for the 17th and 13th to advance, the rest of the brigade following. To our astonishment they had batteries on each side of the hills which commanded the whole valley; consequently a dreadful crossfire was opened on us from both sides and in front but it was too late to do anything but advance, which we did in a style truly wonderful, every man feeling certain that we must be annihilated; still we continued on up to the very guns, charged them, took them, but there being no support we were obliged to retire almost cut up. Out of our regiment we assembled 10 men mounted and one or two officers. Our Colonel being sick and our Major gone home we were commanded by the senior Captain. Two captains were killed and one lieutenant. Poor Weston was killed and two other sergeant-majors taken prisoners. The others were either killed, taken prisoners or dismounted. Of course the remainder retired and here the firing was worse than ever for the infantry aimed at us as we passed. I escaped thank God without a scratch though my horse got shot through the head and in the hind quarters, and a lance was thrust through my shoe case. It was a most unwise and mad act. One thing, there is no blame attached to the Earl of Cardigan for he was ordered to do it and he did it most nobly. We rode up to the very mouth of the guns and since then the 17th and ourselves have scarcely been able to muster one squadron between us. The 4th Light Dragoons are nearly as bad. The Earl is very much cut up concerning it and points it out to the officers as the effects of charging batteries. There never was a more splendid Light Brigade before the battle, but now it is reduced almost to nothing. The daring of the thing astonished and frightened the enemy. The shattered Remains of the Light Brigade moved up here near Sebastopol shortly afterwards and have remained pretty quiet with the exception of the continued bombardment dinning in our ears from morning to night.’
The above letter was published in The Morning Post on Wednesday, 29 November 1854 and was one of the earliest first-hand accounts of the Charge to be so published. Although the letter was only attributed to ‘a Sergeant in the 13th Light Dragoons’, it was definitely written by Thomas Johnson because it was later included by him in an Affidavit that he swore on 15 April 1863 as testimony for use in the case of Cardigan v. Calthorpe, which centred on the accusation that Cardigan had deserted the Light Brigade once they had reached the Russian guns and retreated to safety. In the event the case did not proceed, being ‘nonsuited’, but had it done so it is now generally accepted that Cardigan would have been vindicated. Within the same Affidavit Johnson further expands on his own part in the Charge as follows: ‘At the Charge of Balaklava on the 25 October, 1854, I was a Sergeant in the 13th Light Dragoons which was one of the two regiments forming the first line of the Light Brigade. I entered the Russian Battery with my regiment and by the time we reached the guns and had cut down or disabled the artillerymen in charge of them, there were very few of us left to make a retreat. We retired however in small detached parties, one of which including myself fell in with the second line of the Light Brigade which was then advancing to the Battery. We then turned again and rode in the rear of the second line which shared in a great measure the fate of the first; being cut to pieces by the incessant fire of the flank batteries. l passed however with some of the second line a second time through the guns and on approaching the enemy cavalry, which I believe was drawn up some little distance in rear of the Battery, I and a man named John Keeley found ourselves within a few yards of Lord Cardigan who was also in the rear of the Battery and surrounded by and engaged in defending himself against four or five Cossack Lancers. Both Keeley and myself rushed to his Lordship’s assistance but my horse on the moment received a severe wound which completely disabled him (and from which and other injuries he afterwards died), and I believe that the man Keeley also had his horse shot under him. I then saw Lord Cardigan disengage himself from the Cossacks and ride away apparently unhurt, but one of the Cossacks then made a right rear point at him with his lance which I then believed and feared had passed through his Lordship's body. I then retreated towards the Hill as rapidly as I could and after a few moments I came up with some of Lord Lucan's Staff who were saying that Lord Cardigan was killed. Some one present contradicted it which contradiction I then confirmed by telling them that I had just seen his Lordship's narrow escape and safety.’
Following Balaclava, Johnson and the remaining members of the regiment were present at the Battle of Inkermann, although only in a minor way, and on the same day, 5 November 1854, he was promoted to Regimental Sergeant-Major. Thereafter he took part in the lengthy siege of Sebastopol, the regiment being part of the 2nd Light Brigade, and in October 1855 he participated in the expedition to Eupatoria with the French Cavalry under General D'Allonville. A few months later Johnson learned that his brother Francis, a Trumpet Major with the 12th Lancers, and who had only arrived in the Crimea in May 1855, had died at Scutari Hospital on 22 December 1855.
For his services in the Crimea Johnson received both the French Legion of Honour and the French Medaille Militaire, the former being announced in the London Gazette on 4 August 1856 for ‘distinguished services before the enemy during the late war’; and the latter appearing in the Supplemental List of ‘non-commissioned Officers and soldiers selected for Recommendation to His Majesty the Emperor of the French to receive the decoration of the French Military War Medal’, published by the War Office in February 1857 and published in The Times on 13 April 1857. The citation for the latter award notes that he ‘served in the Eastern Campaign, including the reconnaissance on the Danube under Lord Cardigan, the Battles of Balaklava and Inkermann, the Siege of Sebastopol, and the expedition to Eupatoria.’ Johnson was unique amongst Light Brigade participants in receiving this double French award, and was one of only six such recipients amongst all those who served during the Crimean campaign.
Johnson returned with the regiment to England in May 1856, following which the regiment was based in Ireland until August 1859 when it returned to the British mainland. During this time Johnson was commissioned Cornet, without purchase, on 27 November 1857, and in recommending him for this promotion Colonel Doherty, commanding the 13th Light Dragoons, emphasised Johnson's ‘service in the field and general good conduct’. He was further promoted to Lieutenant, by purchase, on 30 March 1860, and thence to Captain, without purchase, on 19 May 1866. The regiment's name had been changed to the 13th Hussars in 1861, and although the regiment was sent to Canada between 1866 and 1869, when a Fenian raid from the United States threatened, Johnson remained in England and served out the remainder of his army career with the Regimental Depot at Canterbury and York. He retired from the army by the sale of his commission on 10 November 1869.
Shortly after his retirement, on 18 November 1869, Johnson was appointed Adjutant, with the rank of Captain, in the 2nd West Regiment of Yorkshire Yeomanry Cavalry, a position previously held by his brother John. He was granted the honorary rank of Major in the regiment on 21 February 1880, before retiring on 19 September 1881. It is recorded that under his leadership the regiment reached a high standard of merit as borne out by the testimony of Major-General Cameron who said ‘They were the best and finest regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry I have ever seen.’
In later life Johnson was a member of the Balaclava Commemoration Society and appeared in both lists of ‘Chargers’ drawn up by the committee of the Society in 1877 and 1879. According to one of his obituaries Johnson also had on display at his home two items presented to him by Lord Cardigan's wife- an oil painting of Lord Cardigan's charger, Ronald; and a steel engraving of Lord Cardigan leading the Light Brigade. He died at home in Scarborough, Yorkshire, on 24 May 1908, and is buried in Scarborough Cemetery.
There are a number of photographs of Johnson. Two, taken by Roger Fenton in the Crimea in 1855, show him with other officers and men of the 13th Light Dragoons; and there is also another one taken c.1866 in the uniform of a Captain of the 13th Hussars which clearly shows his four medals with the distinctive plain silver top riband bars.
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