James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan

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"Tiresome man. Always blathering on about his military adventures."

―Mary Anne Disraeli describing Cardigan, 1868.

James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan (1797 – 1868) was a general in the British Army noted for leading the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava. He was also a member of the British Rite of the Templar Order, serving as a Tory member of the House of Commons and amassing vast fortunes at the expense of the working class.

Biography

Early life

Brudenell grew up in Buckinghamshire in luxury as a member of a wealthy family. His father had earned the inherited the Earldom of Cardigan when the former was only 17. Although he was educated at some of England's most prestigious schools, Brudenell never earned a degree. The circumstances of his joining the Templar Order are unknown, although it is likely that his position in high society brought him into the Order at a young age.

In 1818, Brudenell became a member of the House of Commons for Marlborough, Wiltshire, a pocket borough owned by his cousin, the Earl of Ailesbury. Before taking his seat in Parliament, Brudenell took the traditional Grand Tour of Europe, including Sweden and Russia. After taking his seat on his return, he became an insignificant and unpopular Tory politician and worked to preserve the ancient rights of the nobility while preventing reform.

His questionable entry into the House of Commons meant that he was eventually thrown out. During a campaign for re-election in 1832, he was assaulted and badly beaten at a rally, but was able to regain his seat in Parliament after distributing £20,000, equivalent to £1,660,000 by modern standards, among the electorate.

Early military career

Due to his lack of success in politics, Brudenell turned to the army and formed his own horse troop guard against potential reformist uprisings in Northamptonshire, inspired by his youthful admiration of the Duke of Wellington's cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo. He then joined the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars and through the purchase of commissions, he rose from lieutenant to lieutenant general over the years. During this period, he was court-martialed for "reprehensible conduct", dismissed from the army by King William IV himself and prosecuted for illegal dueling, all of which Cardigan managed to have reversed or dismissed thanks to his family connections.

In 1836, Brudenell was given command of the 11th Hussars and was sent to India to command his forces, although he spent a year and a half traveling there. When he arrived, the Hussars had already been stationed there for several years. After he had spent some time hunting tigers, his regiment was recalled to England. Rather than sailing aboard a warship, Brudenell traveled home separately aboard a private yacht. In the meantime, he had inherited the Earldom of Cardigan.

Battle of Balaclava

After the Crimean War broke out in 1853, Cardigan was sent to Crimea as a cavalry officer alongside his brother-in-law Lord Lucan, whom he hated. During the campaign, he spent much of his time dining aboard his yacht. After British forces under Lord Raglan had taken Balaclava, their Russian opponents captured several of their redoubts and artillery in late October 1854. In response, Raglan ordered Lucan to send the Light Brigade to harass the Russians at the captured redoubts. Due to misinformation from the officer carrying the order, Lucan ordered Cardigan to lead a direct charge against a fortified Russian artillery position at the end of the valley between the Fedyukhin Heights and the Causeway Heights.

Despite initial rumors suggesting that he had left the battle entirely, it seems most likely that Cardigan did indeed follow the order and gallop ahead, leading the cavalry directly at the Russian artillery in a surprising display of bravery. However, the charge proved a disaster, and upon reaching the Russian position, Cardigan had not realized that the Light Brigade had suffered massive casualties. After a brief figh at the artillery position, he rode back through the valley. By the end of the battle, the Light Brigade had 40% casualties.

Corrupt Practices Act

In 1868, Cardigan headed a plot to kill Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, whose Corrupt Practices Act was a threat to the Templars' influence on politics. Hiring men to kill the Prime Minister, Cardigan expected that Disraeli's rival, William Ewart Gladstone, would be more easy to manipulate. However, the Assassin Jacob Frye foiled the plot and tracked down the Earl with the help of the Prime Minister's wife, Mary Anne Disraeli. Finding Cardigan at the Palace of Westminster, Jacob assassinated him.

Reference

• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate