Orders, Decorations and Medals

The important Crimean War group of three awarded to Lieutenant-General Sir Somerset Gough-Calthorpe, K.C.B., 7th Baron Calthorpe, A.D.C. to Field Marshal Lord Raglan in the Crimea, later involved in the notorious Cardigan v. Calthorpe libel suit

Crimea 1854-56, 4 clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol (Lt. Honble. S. Calthorpe, A.D.C. to F.M. Lord Raglan) contemporary engraved naming; Order of the Medjidie, 5th class breast badge, silver, gold and enamel; Legion of Honour, 5th class breast badge, silver and enamels with gold centres, white enamel and points of arms badly damaged, mounted on a Hunt & Roskell triple buckle brooch, together with related group of five mounted miniatures with C.B. (Military) gold and enamel, and Turkish Crimea 1855 in addition, generally good very fine (8) £4000-5000

Somerset John Gough-Calthorpe was born in January 1831, fourth son of the fourth Baron. After being privately educated he served for some months in the Garde Hussars of Hanover, afterwards obtaining a commission in the 8th Hussars. He served in the Crimea as Aide de Camp to Lord Raglan and was present at the battles of Alma, Balaklava, and Inkermann, the affairs of Bulganak and McKenzie’s Farm, and the siege of Sebastopol. For his services he received the medal with four clasps, a brevet majority, the 5th class of the Legion of Honour, the 5th class of the Medjidie, and the Turkish medal. In 1861 he obtained the command of the 5th Dragoon Guards, which he held for eight years. He reached the rank of Major-General in 1870, but did not seek further employment, and in 1881 was placed on the retired list with the honorary rank of Lieutenant-General. In 1887, he was given the Colonelcy of the 5th Lancers, from which he was transferred in 1892 to that of his old regiment, the 5th Dragoon Guards. On the occasion of the Jubilee of the Crimean War in 1905, he received the C.B., and the K.C.B. three years later.

He was the author of the book, published in 1856, Letters from Headquarters on the realities of the war in the Crimea, by an Officer of the Staff, which gave cause for a libel action to be brought against him by Lord Cardigan. Calthorpe accused Cardigan in his book of not being present at a critical stage of the charge of the Light Brigade, and, in the Spring of 1863, a large number of affidavits were sworn in preparation for the libel action. The relevant passage of the book is:

This was the moment when a General was most required but unfortunately Lord Cardigan was not present - on coming up to the Battery (as he afterwards himself described it) a gun was fired close to him and for a moment he thought his leg was gone. Such was not the case as he remained unhurt, however his horse took fright swerved round and galloped off with him to the rear, passing on the way by the 4th Light Dragoons and 8th Hussars before these Regiments got up to the Battery.

The numerous affidavits drawn up and sworn by each side provided a most remarkable and complete contradiction between the two groups of witnesses, amongst whom were no less than General Scarlett (Commanding the Heavy Brigade at Balaklava) for Cardigan, and Lt.-Colonel Mayo (Brigade-Major Light Cavalry Brigade at Balaklava) for Calthorpe. The case, however, never came to trial where witnesses may have been cross examined and a verdict delivered by a Jury who had seen them give their evidence. Cardigan had applied to the court of Queen’s Bench for a ‘rule’ for a criminal information to be filed against Calthorpe. An interim rule was granted, but the rule had to be made absolute to send the case to trial. Lord Chief Justice Cockburn and three other senior judges spent two days reviewing the case before ruling that ‘we cannot make this rule absolute, and therefore it must be discharged, but, under all the circumstances, without costs.’

Calthorpe succeeded his brother as Lord Calthorpe, 7th Baron, in 1910, and died two years later. These medals were originally sold as part of a group of items relating to Lord Calthorpe, including a fine presentation sword and a horse’s hoof snuff box, at Phillips, London, on 23 February 1984.