Louis Edward Nolan
Encyclopedia
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer of the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
, an authority on cavalry tactics
Cavalry tactics
For much of history , humans have used some form of cavalry for war. Cavalry tactics have evolved over time...
best known for his controversial role in launching the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade
Charge of the Light Brigade
The Charge of the Light Brigade was a charge of British cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. The charge was the result of a miscommunication in such a way that the brigade attempted a much more difficult objective...
during the Battle of Balaclava
Battle of Balaclava
The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Anglo-French-Turkish campaign to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea...
. He was the first casualty of that engagement.
Early life
Louis Edward Nolan (also known as Lewis or Ludwig) was born in Upper Canada, now OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, the third, but second surviving son of Captain John Babington Nolan, 70th Regiment of Foot, and his wife Eliza Harleston Hartley. They had met and married in Perth, Scotland
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
in 1813. It was Eliza's third marriage, and she already had two sons living from her previous marriages to Andrew Macfarlane and Charles Macfarlane.
The family returned to Edinburgh, Scotland in 1819, to an apartment in 79 Queen Street. Babington Nolan left the 70th Foot in 1820 and retired on half-pay. Little is known of the years which followed, but by 1829, when Louis was eleven, the family was living in Piacenza
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
, Italy, and shortly after moved on to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, then within the Austrian Empire. In 1832 his father obtained an unsalaried position as British Consular Agent and Vice-Consul there.
Austrian military service
Louis Nolan and his brothers were sent for training in the Austrian Imperial army. In 1832 he became a cadet in the Royal Friedrich Wilhelm III. König von Preussen 10. Husaren-Regiment, and trained at the Engineer Corps School in TullnTulln an der Donau
Tulln an der Donau is a town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, and the seat of the Tulln district. Because of its abundance of parks and other green spaces, Tulln is often referred to as Blumenstadt, meaning city of flowers...
. Finishing his training in 1835, he was posted to his regiment and served in Hungary and Poland. By 1838 he was a Senior Lieutenant.
In 1838 Nolan went to London, England to see Queen Victoria's coronation. He also attended the military review at Hyde Park. Over the following months he determined to follow his family's tradition by joining the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
.
British military service
Nolan was gazetteGazette
A gazette is a public journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper.In English- and French-speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name Gazette since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers bear the name The Gazette.Gazette is a loanword from the...
d Cornet in the 15th King's Hussars
15th The King's Hussars
The 15th The King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. First raised in 1759, it saw service over two centuries, before being amalgamated into the 15th/19th Hussars in 1922.-Formation:...
in 1839. Nolan's subsequent career was divided between Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
and Madras in India, and the Cavalry Depot in Maidstone
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
, Kent. He fell ill on arrival in India, and was sent home. On recovery, he began to train as a riding master at Maidstone. In 1841 he purchased his Lieutenancy, and returned to India in 1843. In 1844, Nolan was appointed Riding Master in his regiment. His effective training of horses and riders impressed his superiors, but although considered a very promising officer by many, he was regarded by others as impulsive, careless and insolent, with a reputation for arrogance. In 1849, Nolan was appointed ADC
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to General Sir George Berkeley, Commander-in-Chief at Madras. He purchased the captaincy of a troop in his regiment in March 1850, two months after his father's death. He returned to Britain on leave in 1851, and began his first book, The Training of Cavalry Remount Horses: A New System, 1852.
From March to August 1852 he travelled around Europe researching the training of cavalry in several countries, as preparation for his next book. In October 1852 he commanded the regimental depot troop at Maidstone, and that November led his regiment's detachment in Wellington's funeral procession. He also worked on a saddle design, which was tested by the Mounted Staff Corps in the Crimea, and adopted in its essentials after his death. His second book, Cavalry: Its History and Tactics, was published in 1853.
Crimean War and death
In 1854 Nolan was gazetted ADCAide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to Brigadier-General Richard Airey, before being sent to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
to purchase horses for the army for the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. Nolan travelled around Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. He arrived in Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, in July, with nearly 300 animals.
On arriving in the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, Nolan continued serving as Airey's ADC, and as an interpreter between the British and the French. Airey was Lord Raglan
FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan
Field Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, GCB, PC , known before 1852 as Lord FitzRoy Somerset, was a British soldier.-Early life:...
's quartermaster-general in the campaign, and wrote an infamous series of confusing orders for Raglan during the Battle of Balaclava
Battle of Balaclava
The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Anglo-French-Turkish campaign to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea...
on 25 October 1854. Since landing in the Crimea, Nolan had become increasingly bitter at the conduct of the campaign, particularly his perception of the misuse of the cavalry division in its failure to pursue the retreating enemy during the Battle of Alma
Battle of Alma
The Battle of the Alma , which is usually considered the first battle of the Crimean War , took place just south of the River Alma in the Crimea. An Anglo-French force under General St...
. From the hilltop vantage point where Raglan and Airey could see the whole battle, Nolan delivered the controversial 'Fourth Order' for the Light Brigade in the valley below to charge. Lord Cardigan
James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan
Lieutenant General James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, KCB , was an officer in the British Army who commanded the Light Brigade during the Crimean War...
, commander of the cavalry division, afterwards reported that Nolan had added his own verbal interpretation of the order: "He [said], in a most significant but disrespectful manner, pointing to the further end of the valley, 'There, my Lord, is your enemy; there are your guns.'" Joining in the charge, Nolan galloped to its front in a possible attempt to reach Cardigan to try and change the direction of the charge towards the wrong guns. He was killed by shrapnel from the first Russian artillery salvo before his true intentions could be shown. After Nolan's death, Lord Cardigan seemed to have on his mind was Nolan's insubordinate behavior, to which account he added scornfully to Major General James Yorke Scarlett
James Yorke Scarlett
General Sir James Yorke Scarlett, GCB was a British general and hero of the Crimean War.-Early life:The son of the 1st Baron Abinger, and educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, Scarlett entered the army as a cornet in 1818 and in 1830 became a major in the 5th Dragoon Guards...
, "Imagine the fellow screaming like a woman when he was hit!" "Say no more, my Lord," Scarlett entreated, "You have just ridden over Nolan's dead body." The newspapers refused to allow Nolan's memory to be tarnished. William Howard Russell
William Howard Russell
William Howard Russell was an Irish reporter with The Times, and is considered to have been one of the first modern war correspondents, after he spent 22 months covering the Crimean War including the Charge of the Light Brigade.-Career:As a young reporter, Russell reported on a brief military...
, war correspondent, paid tribute in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
of London, writing : "A braver soldier than Captain Nolan the army did not possess. A matchless horseman and first rate swordsman. God forbid I should cast a shade on his honour."
His death prevented any definitive explanation of his role and motives in the tragedy that saw the Brigade almost annihilated. Numerous books, such as Mark Adkin's The Charge (1996), have been written seeking to explain the "reason why" the brigade was lost.
In popular media
Nolan was played by David HemmingsDavid Hemmings
David Edward Leslie Hemmings was an English film, theatre and television actor as well as a film and television director and producer....
in the 1968 film The Charge of the Light Brigade
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film)
The Charge of the Light Brigade is a 1968 British war film made by Woodfall Film Productions and distributed by United Artists . It was directed by Tony Richardson and produced by Neil Hartley....
. In the film Nolan is portrayed as a haughty, glory-hungry officer, but also a "symbol of youth, energy and professionalism...desperate...to reform the army". His character as depicted in the film appears to be a composite of several officers who had managed to incur Cardigan's dislike over the years; the 'black bottle' incident actually involved a Captain John Reynolds of the 11th Hussars.