General Sir James Yorke Scarlett (1 February 1799 – 6 December 1871) was a British Army officer who served in the Crimean War. He led the Charge of the Heavy Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854.

Early life

The second son of the 1st Baron Abinger, he was born in London In 1835, he married Charlotte Anne Hargreaves, a coal heiress from Burnley, the town becoming his adopted home.

Career

Scarlett entered the army in 1818, as a cornet in the 18th Hussars; in 1830, he became a major in the 5th Dragoon Guards, whose Colonel was Sir John Slade (1762-1859). Slade served in the Peninsular War, where he was described as an officer of 'limited ability, lacking initiative and nearly useless' and 'that damned stupid fellow.' Combined with Slade's age, this resulted in Scarlett's appointment as Commanding Officer of the regiment in 1840, a post he held for nearly fourteen years. In 1854 he was close to retirement after an uneventful career during which he had not seen any active service. In this he was typical of the senior ranks of the British cavalry at the time, other than those posted to India.

Crimean War

In April 1854 Colonel Scarlett was appointed Brigadier-General of the Heavy Brigade of Cavalry, under Lord Lucan, Commander of the Cavalry Division. The 5th Dragoon Guards formed part of Scarlett's Heavy Brigade which was sent to the Black Sea in 1854. There it suffered heavily from cholera in the camps of Varna.

thumb|left|300px|Battle of Balaclava. Russian cavalry attacks over the Causeway Heights

During the Battle of Balaclava on the morning of 25 October 1854, the Russians had stormed a series of hills known as the Causeway Heights beyond which lay the "Valley of Death" where the Earl of Cardigan would lead the Light Brigade in one of the great military blunders of the nineteenth century. In this capacity he accompanied Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at the Royal Volunteer Review in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh on 10 August 1860 where 22,000 soldiers paraded before a crowd of over 100,000.

He was made commander of the Aldershot Division, a post he held until his retirement in 1870. This was in marked contrast to other generals such as Cardigan, who for reasons of social snobbery looked down on "Indian officers". Described as being brave, modest and sensible,

There is also a memorial plaque to Scarlett in St James's Church, Abinger Common, Surrey.

The brewery tap at Burnley's Moorhouse's Brewery is named in his honour.

In fiction

Scarlett appears as a character in Flashman at the Charge (1973) by George MacDonald Fraser, which includes a fictionalised version of the Charge of the Heavy Brigade. He is portrayed as an inexperienced military commander, yet none-the-less charismatic and effective.

He is depicted in the 1968 film The Charge of the Light Brigade by Leo Britt.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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