Beschreibung:

George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan--Charge of the Light BrigadeAn archive of letters and papers: i) Early Military Career: Letters and documents relating to Lucan's military career prior to the Crimean War, including one by his aunt Lady Lavinia Spencer (upbraiding him for "Martinet Zeal", 4 pages, 2 October 1827), Lord Hardinge, and others; file of correspondence and papers relating to his duel with Major Fitzgerald (1828-31); ii) The Crimean War: Two documents concerning Lucan's appointment to the Crimea: Lord Hardinge, Commander in Chief, autograph letter signed, to Lucan, announcing his "Command of the Cav[al]ry Div[isio]n ... with Lord Cardigan as Brigadier Gen[era]l", 3 pages, 10 February [1854]; letter of appointment, 24 March 1854Regulations for Encampments. 1853, small 4to, marbled wrappers, with Lucan's ownership inscription, 1854James, 7th Earl of Cardigan, two autograph letters signed, to Lord William Paulet, adjutant to Lucan, noting the independence of his command from Lucan's cavalry division ("....I am not bound to report to anybody except the General Officer in Command..."), the second with a retained copy of Paulet's reply, altogether 11 pages, folio, Crimea, 15 June-11 September 1854Henry, 5th Duke of Newcastle, Secretary of War, autograph letter signed, to Lucan, promising cavalry reinforcements, 4 pages, 4to, Downing Street, 3 July 1854Printed orders on the landing in the Crimea, 1 page, 31 August 1854Sir Richard Airey, autograph memorandum on behalf of Lord Raglan, to Lucan, ordering the Cavalry to advance and reconnoitre during the advance following the Battle of Alma, in pencil, 2 pages, 8vo, 25 September 1854Brigadier James Yorke Scarlett, commander of the Heavy Brigade, autograph letter signed, to Lucan, requesting that two of his officers be mentioned in despatches; together with a retained copy of Lucan's refusal, altogether 7 pages, 8vo, 13-18 December 1854Fitzroy, Lord Raglan, autograph letter signed, to Lucan, conveying the thanks of Parliament "for your distinguished conduct in the brilliant operations in which you have taken part in the Crimea", 1 page, folio, before Sevastopol, 4 January 1855Lucan, autograph draft letter signed, to George Berkeley MP, justifying himself through a combination of self-pity ("...I do not believe that in the military history of England a general officer was confronted with so much injustice as I have been...") and a minimisation of the disaster ("...The Light Brigade really lost less than was supposed..."), 16 pages, 8vo, before Sevastopol, 9 February 1855Raglan, two letters relating to Lucan's recall, the first being his official notification and the second a private letter transmitting the recall and hoping that he can "acquit myself of this task with most regard for you feelings", 5 pages, 4to and folio, before Sevastopol, 12-13 February 1855 iii) Subsequent career and struggle over his reputation: Queen Victoria, two documents signed, one also signed by Prince Albert, appointing Lucan to the Order of the Bath, 1855-69, with five similar documentsBundle of letters by various correspondents to Lucan concerning his role in the Charge of the Light Brigade and his vociferous and intemperate defence of his reputation, including letters by Duke of Newcastle and others warning him against public criticism of Raglan (1855), a manuscript copy of his affidavit giving his version of Cardigan's behaviour after the Charge of the Light Brigade with related maps and printed documents (1863), and two autograph letters signed by George, Duke of Cambridge, Commander in Chief, concerning Lucan's outrage at not being promoted to Field Marshal, with a related letter, July-November 1886Kingslake, Invasion of the Crimea, Vol. 8. 1881. Galley proofs with note "No abstract to be made or copy to be taken", signed and dated by Lucan, December 1884 AN IMPORTANT AND SUBSTANTIAL ARCHIVE OF ONE OF THE KEY FIGURES IN THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE. George, Earl of Lucan (1800-1888),