Lot Essay
D.C.M. Recommendation Dated 5.2.1855.
Sergeant Robert Ferguson, D.C.M., was born in Edinburgh and attested for the 4th Light Dragoons at Exeter in December 1843, aged 21 years. Advanced to Corporal in May 1847, he was reduced to Private on being tried and confined for offences unknown in October of the same year.
Subsequently actively engaged in the Crimea, Ferguson rode in the Charge of the Light Brigade in Major Low's Troop and is recorded as having assisted in an attempt to bring away a Russian gun. Major Low, who was to 'penetrate farther down the valley than any other man', must have been an inspiring C.O., being a 'vast man of 15 stone and a great swordsman' (The Gallant Six Hundred, by John Harris, refers). Interestingly, Ferguson was later to file an affidavit in the Cardigan v. Calthorpe lawsuit of June 1863.
Also a participant in the Battles of Alma and Inkermann, and the operations before Sebastopol, Ferguson was advanced to Saddler-Sergeant in February 1855, in which month he was also admitted to Scutari. Luckily, he emerged from the latter place in better spirits in May of the same year.
Reverting to the rank of Sergeant in October 1867, Ferguson was discharged with a pension at Canterbury in January of the following year, his Discharge Papers noting that he was 'entitled to, but had not yet received, a Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct'. Appointed a Yeoman of the Guard in 1871, he attended the First Balaklava Banquet in October 1875 and joined the Balaklava Commemoration Society in 1879. He also signed the Loyal Address in 1887. The gallant Ferguson died in September 1890.
Sergeant Robert Ferguson, D.C.M., was born in Edinburgh and attested for the 4th Light Dragoons at Exeter in December 1843, aged 21 years. Advanced to Corporal in May 1847, he was reduced to Private on being tried and confined for offences unknown in October of the same year.
Subsequently actively engaged in the Crimea, Ferguson rode in the Charge of the Light Brigade in Major Low's Troop and is recorded as having assisted in an attempt to bring away a Russian gun. Major Low, who was to 'penetrate farther down the valley than any other man', must have been an inspiring C.O., being a 'vast man of 15 stone and a great swordsman' (The Gallant Six Hundred, by John Harris, refers). Interestingly, Ferguson was later to file an affidavit in the Cardigan v. Calthorpe lawsuit of June 1863.
Also a participant in the Battles of Alma and Inkermann, and the operations before Sebastopol, Ferguson was advanced to Saddler-Sergeant in February 1855, in which month he was also admitted to Scutari. Luckily, he emerged from the latter place in better spirits in May of the same year.
Reverting to the rank of Sergeant in October 1867, Ferguson was discharged with a pension at Canterbury in January of the following year, his Discharge Papers noting that he was 'entitled to, but had not yet received, a Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct'. Appointed a Yeoman of the Guard in 1871, he attended the First Balaklava Banquet in October 1875 and joined the Balaklava Commemoration Society in 1879. He also signed the Loyal Address in 1887. The gallant Ferguson died in September 1890.