The ‘Light Brigade’ Charger’s Crimea Medal with 4 clasps awarded to Troop Sergeant-Major Edwin Leaney, of ‘E’ Troop, 13th Light Dragoons, a confirmed charger whose horse was shot from under him during the action, and was dragged from beneath his horse and assisted back to the British lines by William Dumayne, also of the 13th Light Dragoons. While recovering at Chatham, Leaney was seen by Queen Victoria And Prince Albert Durin their visit on 3 March 1855, as shown in the painting by Barrett, and Leaney attended the first Balaclava Banquet on 25 October 1875. He later wrote to seek stricter rules to allow only those ‘who actually rode in the charge’ to be eligible to attend to attend the annual dinners, stating: ‘The 13th has too much respect for our comrades, whose bones are now bleaching the fatal valley of Balaclava, then to allow any others to share our honours, who has no right to them’, comprising: Crimea, 1854-56, 4 clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol (Serjt. E. Leaney. 13th Lt. Dn.), erased and re-engraved in contemporary upright capitals, with small brass name plate from previous display, contact marks and reverse edge bruise, good fine Troop Sergeant-Major Edwin Leaney (sometimes ‘Leney’) of Maidstone, Kent, was born c.1813 and enlisted for service with the 13th Light Dragoons at Maidstone on 13 December 1832, at the age of 19. He was promoted to Corporal in 1834, to Sergeant in 1839, reduced to Private in 1841 (‘having suffered a prisoner to escape from the Guard-Room’), and promoted to Troop-Sergeant-Major in 1854. A confirmed charger, he took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade on 25 October 1854 and had his horse shot under him. Leaney is confirmed as a charger by Lummis & Wynn’s ‘Honour The Light Brigade’, and his name also appears in a first-hand account by William Dumayne, of ‘E’ Troop, 13th Light Dragoons, who mentioned him as follows:‘As I retreated from them (the Cossacks) I again saw Lord Cardigan… and as I got to where he was, he was sitting by himself, watching the men as they passed him in their retreat. He only looked at me, and I rode slowly by him. Our men at this time were falling on all sides, by the fire of the flank batteries. As I passed on I head a cry and saw Private Court, of ours, fall from his horse; he had been struck by a round shot; and I saw lying on the ground struggling to rise Sergeant Leany [sic]. He called to me, and I passed my sword into my bridle hand and caught hold of him and dragged him from under his horse, and assisted him to the lines, and joined the remnant of my regiment, which when the muster was called, showed a poor account of the men.’Having returned to the British lines, Leaney was sent to Scutari on 27 October 1854, invalided, and sent to England on 20 December that year aboard the ship ‘Sultana’. While recovering further at the Invalid Depot in Chatham, Leaney was fortunate enough to be present during the visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on 3 March 1855 (and appears in a contemporary painting by Jerry Barrett), but was ultimately declared unfit for further service on 30 June 1855, being finally discharged on 5 September 1855 (as stated in ‘Lives of the Light Brigade’ by E. J. Boys).He is recorded as having made his own petition by letter to be awarded the Victoria Cross, and indeed the M.S.M., but both of these were unsuccessful. He attended the first Balaclava Banquet in 1875, joined the Balaclava Commemoration Society, and the Balaclava Dinner in 1890. He also wrote firmly, as previously stated, to change the rules to restrict attendance of these dinners only to those who ‘actually rode in the charge’, which was duly enacted. He also appears to have served with the Ayrshire Yeomanry (confirmed in the 1861 Scotland Census, living in Dalry, Ayrshire), and the West Kent Yeomanry, but this remains unconfirmed at present. He died on 22 January 1894, with various obituaries appearing in the local papers.Ex Spink, 30 November 1999, lot 334 (£1,900), described as ‘engraved naming’.

Estimate: GBP 3000 - 4000