ROBERT FERGUSON

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
SURNAME:Ferguson
FORENAMES:Robert
BORN:c1821/1822
AT:[Near] Edinburgh, Midlothian
OCCUPATION[S]:Traveller, [a higgler].
RELIGION/DENOMINATION:.
FATHER:.
MOTHER:.
SIBLINGS:.
OTHER RELATIONS:.
NOTES:.
1st REGIMENT NO:1192
2nd REGIMENT NO:.
ENLISTED:05 12 1843 Exeter HQ aged 21 years
ATTESTED:09 12 1854 Exeter
HEIGHT AT ENLISTMENT:5' 10 1/8"
TROOP NO:.
TROOP CAPTAIN:.
RANK:1843: Private
1847: Private, Corporal
3Q 1847: Corporal, Waterford
4Q 1847: Corporal, Military Confinement, Waterford, Waterford
1Q 1848: Private, On Furlo, Waterford, Waterford
2Q 1848: Private, Waterford, Waterford, Carlow
3Q 1848: Private, Piltown
1854: Private
1855: Private, Saddler Sergeant
1864: Saddler Sergeant
PROMOTIONS:Private to Corporal 07 05 1847 vice William Farmer
Private to Saddler Sergeant 06 02 1855
REDUCTIONS: Corporal to Private 02 11 1847 vice McKay
DESERTIONS:.
COURT MARTIALS:To Military Confinement 25 10 1847, tried 02 11 1847, reduced to Private.
GIVEN UP TO:.
GOOD CONDUCT BADGES:.
MEDALS:Crimea: Alma, Inkerman, B[alaklava] clasps. List dated 07 01 1855
Entitled to Long Service and Good Conduct Medal but didn't receive it.
NOTES:Recommended for and awarded a DCM on 05 02 1855 with a £5 gratuity for service at Balaklava.
EMBARKATIONS: .
DISEMBARKATIONS:.
CAMPAIGNS:.
OTHER DUTIES:13 02 1855 to 11 05 1855: At Scutari
TRANSFERRED FROM:.
TRANSFERRED TO:.
DISCHARGED TO OUT PENSION:Dec 1867 Canterbury
ADMITTED TO OUT PENSION:07 01 1868 [Birmingham], Taunton
MEDICAL REASON:.
PENSION DISTRICT:[1868]: Birmingham
1868: Taunton 1/4
1873: Taunton
NOTES:Intended address on discharge: No. 4 New Vauxhall Terrace, Vauxhall, Birmingham
POST DISCHARGE MILITARY SERVICE:.
POST DISCHARGE OCCUPATION[S]:Appointed as Yeoman Warder, Tower of London, 1871.
DIED:.
BURIED:.
WILL:.
BENEFICIARY:.
NEXT OF KIN:.
PRIZE MONEY:.
NOTES:.
NOTES:Extract from `The Yeomen of the Guard: Including the Body of Yeoman Warders H.M. Tower of London,
Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard (Extraordinary): 1823-1903'

Ferguson, Robert. DCM. Sergeant, 4th Light Dragoons. Born c1821, near to Edinbro' Modlothian [sic].
Attested for the 4th Light Dragoons at Exeter, Devon 9 December 1843, a traveller (a higgler?), and was given
the number 1192. The Regiment had returned from the East Indies in March, 1842 and would have been actively
recruiting at this time to bring themselves up to full strength again. He was promoted to Corporal in May 1847
but was arrested, confined for six days, tried by Court Martial and returned to Private. In 1854 the Regiment
set sail from Plymouth and formed part of the Light Brigade in the Crimea, and Ferguson rode in the Charge in
Captain Alexander Lowe's Squadron, and was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to bring away a Russian gun.
Captain Lowe, who was to penetrate further down the valley than any other man, must have been an inspiring
commanding officer being a large man of 15 stone and a great swordsman. For his actions on 25 October, 1854
at Balaklava, Ferguson was recommended, on 5 February, 1855, for, and awarded the DCM, with a £5 gratuity.
Eight DCMs were awarded to men of the 4th Light Dragoons for services in the Crimea. On 6 February, 1855
he was promoted directly to Saddler Serjeant, no doubt to replace a casualty. He then went sick _____ and was
at Scutari from 13 February to 11 May 1855. Luckily, he emerged from the latter place in better spirits than he
entered earlier that year. Ferguson was later to file an affidavit in the Cardigan versus Calthorpe lawsuit of June,
1863. He was twice in the Regimental Defaulters' Book, before taking his discharge to pension with 23 years'
service in December, 1867, at Canterbury, intending to reside at No. 4 New Vauxhall Terrace, Vauxhall,
Birmingham. His discharge papers note that he was entitled to, but had not received, a medal for Long Service
and Good Conduct. He was appointed to the Yeoman of the Guard in 1871. On 22 June, 1875, he was present
at the inspection of the Guard by HRH the Prince of Wales. In October, 1875, he attended the first Balaklava
banquet and joined the Balaklava Commemoration Society...
TNA SOURCES:WO/180/24
WO/12/653
WO/12/655
WO/12/659-660
WO/12/668
WO/23/62
BL SOURCES:.
OTHER SOURCES: Honour the Light Brigade
Daily NewsWed 10 06 1863
`The Yeomen of the Guard: Including the Body of Yeoman Warders H.M. Tower of London, Members
of the Sovereign's Body Guard (Extraordinary): 1823-1903'
by Ian McInnes, pub. 2002
LINKS:.


4th Light Dragoons Index

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