Light Brigade soldier's medals up for sale

Medals awarded to a cavalryman immortalised in one of Britain's most famous war paintings are to be sold at auction.

The collection belonged to York-born Sgt James William Wightman, of the 17th Lancers, who was the central figure in Richard Caton Woodville's famous Charge of the Light Brigade painting.

The set of three are expected to fetch between £6,000 and £8,000 when they go under the hammer at Noonans Mayfair in London on 17 June.

Christopher Mellor-Hill, from the auction house, said the charge was "one of the most famous and tragic actions in British military history".

The charge took place in 1854 during the Crimean War, fought between the Russian empire and European powers including France, the UK and Ottoman Empire.

During the Battle of Balaclava, an order given to the British Army's cavalry division - known as the Light Brigade - was misunderstood and more than 600 cavalrymen charged down a narrow valley straight into the fire of Russian cannons.

About 110 British soldiers were killed and 160 wounded.

The set of medals, which has remained in the same collection for 40 years, also includes Wightman's Indian Mutiny medal.

Wightman enlisted in 1852 and took part in the charge on 25 October 1854, where he was wounded in 13 places and taken prisoner. He later rejoined his regiment.

After being promoted to ensign in 1865, he became secretary of the Balaclava Commemoration Society and left a detailed first-hand account of the battle.

Auctioneers said he was also the key figure in Caton Woodville's well-known painting, now held by the National Army Museum alongside his diaries.

The sale includes a copy of Wightman's 1892 memoir of the charge and his Russian captivity, which recounts the moment the brigade advanced into battle.

"He gave the word of command, and then turning his head toward his trumpeter, Britten of the Lancers, he quietly said, 'Sound the Advance!' and wheeled his horse, facing the dark mass at the farther end of the valley which we knew to be the enemy," it reads.

Wightman later lived in London until his death in 1907 and is buried at Brompton Cemetery.

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