John’s heroism comes to light

The heroism of an Oldham cavalryman who was wounded and taken prisoner at the Charge of the Light Brigade has been uncovered by local historians.

Lt John Chadwick rose from humble origins to be a highly regarded adjutant by the time of the infamous 1854 battle during the Crimean War.

The disaster, part of the Battle of Balaclava, was immortalised in Alfred Tennyson’s epic poem with the lines “Into the valley of death rode the six hundred”.

John Chadwick, who was in the 17th Lancers and probably riding a 100 guinea horse given to him by the Duke of Cambridge, was wounded in the charge on the Russian enemy in a heavily-defended valley.

There were 118 of his colleagues killed, 127 wounded and 60 taken prisoner, as he was.

But 37-year-old Chadwick survived prison, a forced march with convicts, and his wounds, to return to Oldham in 1855.

A celebration dinner was held for him at the Angel Inn, near the old Oldham Town Hall, when the great and good toasted him and sang patriotic songs in his honour.

The tale of heroism came to light when Ann Parry from Saddleworth Historical Society found a yellowing invitation to the dinner among old family papers.

She passed it to John Cleverley, from Greenfield, who has researched Oldham’s early militia, who also consulted local expert Ian Wilkinson.

And coincidentally Mr Wilkinson discovered that one of Chadwick’s distant relatives had been researching his cavalryman ancestor.

Chadwick was rewarded with a Crimean War medal and three clasps for his bravery.

He was born in Oldham in 1817 of Irish parents, and was a clerk and married, when at 18 when he enrolled in the Lancers in Manchester.

In his speech at the Angel Inn dinner, he described the charge, and how many men said or thought that it was “unwise”. His horse was seriously wounded by shot, and he added: “I was overwhelmed with a shower of blood.”

He was struck by a lance thrown by a Cossack, and bravely tried to defend himself with a revolver but was surrounded and captured.

With fellow prisoners he was made to march with convicts at a rate of 16 miles a day dressed in filthy sheepskins.

Eventually he was freed at Odessa on the Black Sea, and a British ship was allowed to pick him up. When he saw the British ensign he said words could not describe his feelings.

Later he became an honorary captain and adjutant at a hospital in Dublin, before retiring in 1867, and moving to Liverpool where he died in 1869 and is buried at Anfield Cemetery.

John Chadwick and his wife, Jane, who was Scottish, met when he was stationed with the Lancers near Glasgow, but they had no children so there are no direct descendants.

However, John Cleverley’s research also uncovered that John Chadwick’s father, James, was a sergeant in the Artillery Regiment, so soldiering was in the family blood.

John, a Second World War captain and Normandy Veteran, said: “When we see what our Army heroes are doing in Afghanistan it is good to reflect on another Oldham hero.”

Ian Wilkinson added: “I wasn’t aware of this man before the invitation came to light. It was quite out of the blue that someone from Oldham was at the Charge of the Light Brigade, survived and was captured.

“I believe he went straight back to the Crimea after the dinner in Oldham. It’s certainly all Boys’ Own stuff.”