Lot 21
Rode in The Charge ‡
Clandestine Operations - Inc The D.J. Croll Medal Collection & Other Properties | M26002
Auction: 16 September 2026 at 10.30 BST
Description
A Light Brigade Chargers Gallantry Group of 4 awarded to Trumpeter William Wilson, 8th Hussars who was only 16 Years Old when he was awarded the Sardinian Al Valore Militaire for his “Coolness and Courage” during the Charge comprising, Crimea Medal, 1854-55, 4 Clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol, unnamed as issued, Indian Mutiny Medal, 1857-58, one clasp, Central India, (Trumpr. Wm. Wilson, 8th Hussars.), Sardinian Al Valore Militaire, (Trumpeter W. Wilson 8th Hussars), Turkish Crimea, Sardinian Issue, unnamed as issued, toned fine (4)
List of Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Men Selected to Receive the 400 War Medals For Military Valour presented by His Majesty the King of Sardinia to the British Army Engaged in the Late War in the East 1857
8th Hussars
66. No. 1204 Trumpeter William Wilson
Trumpeter William Wilson charged with the Light Brigade at Balaclava, and evinced great coolness and courage, being then only sixteen years of age. He was subsequently present at the Battle of the Tehernaya.
William Wilson was born in Belgaum, India in November 1837, the son of Private Wilso, 2nd Queen’s Royal Regiment and his wife Anne. He enlisted at the age of 14 at Westminster on the 5th of December 1851 as a Private in the 8th Hussars. He was appointed Trumpeter on the 1st of November 1855. He was one of only 6 soldiers of the 8th Hussars to receive the Sardinian Military Medal for Valour, (Al Valore Militaire).
Wilson served 6 years in India and received the Indian Mutiny Medal with the clasp Central India. Throughout the first half of 1858 the 8th Hussars were part of the forces led by Major-General Roberts. On the 30th of March 1859 Trumpeter Wilson was part of the action that stormed and seized the town of Kotah.
After suffering several minor illnesses in early 1868, a medical examination on 29th of September 1868 found that he was suffering from tuberculosis. William was discharged on the 27th Of October 1868 as unfit for further service. He received a disability pension and died on the 6th of March 1871 at the age of 33.
Provenance Wallis and Wallis 9th December 1964, Forgotten Heroes The Charge of the Light Brigade by Roy Dutton confirms him as Rode in The Charge, and that in 1964 the Sardinian Medal was not the original, is the one in the group above now the original perhaps.
