A poster found in the archives of the Ayrshire Yeomanry was printed as an appendix in their 1964 history "Proud Trooper". Can anyone shed any light on it nearly fifty years after being printed in the book? I wonder if the original poster is still in existence?
A STRANGE DOCUMENT
One of the strangest
relics in possession of the Regiment is a large print poster which
research has failed to explain. It reads as follows:
FAVORITISM
in the
BRITISH ARMY
Capt. Morley, late
U.S. Army, and late Regimental Sergeant Major, Ayrshire
Yeomanry Cavalry, will explain to the members of the Corps and the
public of Ayr why he has been compelled to leave the British
service, and the gross injustice he has suffered, in the
Corn Exchange Hall on Monday evening, 18th June, at half-past
seven o’clock.
N.B. Mr Morley was
one of the ‘Noble Six Hundred’, and brought the last
remnants of the Light Brigade out of that terrible charge,
forming the few survivors, and charging with them through the
Polish Lancers, while the Earl of Cardigan, who had command of
the Brigade only succeeded in bringing out himself and his
horse.
Adnussion by Ticket
It is calculated
that 18th June fell on a Monday in 1860, 1866, 1877, 1883, 1888, 1894, 1900 and 1906. The poster itself is stuck in the scrap-book opposite printed
orders dated 1908, 1909 and thereabouts, but it may of course have been old
by then. The Charge of the Light Brigade was in 1854.
If Mr Morley was a Light Brigade veteran then he was also late of one of the following regiments - 4th or 13th Light Dragoons, 17th Lancers, or the 8th or 11th Hussars
From the recent book "Echelon" by James W Bancroft:
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The book also details how he yelled at the top of his voice for men to rally to him. About 20 men responded, and he led these men in an sttack against Russian Hussars who were blocking their return to the British lines. The book also has a photo of him in old age, wearing his medals and a rather long beard!
I think, given the date he returned to America, that the 18th June mentioned in the poster was most probably 1883.
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