Lord Lucan

Mezzotint by unknown artist after Sir Francis Grant (1803-78), publisher unknown, 1855 (c).

Lieutenant-General (later Field Marshal) George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan (1800-1888) first joined the Army in 1816 and rose rapidly through the purchase of his commissions to command the 17th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers) within ten years. He remained in post until 1837 when he went on to half pay; the only active service he had seen was in the Balkans in 1828 as an observer on the Russian staff. Upon the outbreak of the Crimean War (1854-1856) he nevertheless applied for a command and was given the Cavalry Division.

His unfamiliarity with new tactics and general rustiness soon became manifest, a situation made worse by his bad relations with his brother-in-law Lord Cardigan, who commanded the Light Brigade of cavalry under him. His caution moreover earned him the sobriquet 'Lord Look-On'. At the Battle of Balaklava he was a leading player in the chain of events which sent the Light Brigade to its doom, and his subsequent determination to justify himself at the expense of his working relationship with Lord Raglan led to his recall from the Crimea by the government in January 1855.