George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan was in charge of the
Cavalry Division in the Crimea. He's specifically famous (infamous
?) for his controversial role in the "Charge of the Light
Brigade", immortalized
by Alfred Tennyson. There's plenty online documentation about those
events - so I won't trouble you with yet another theory.
The legend says "Crimea 1854", but it is more than
likely that this photograph is way posterior to the war. As a
matter of fact the Earl of Lucan was made Colonel of the 8th
Hussars on the 17/11/1855. Furthermore
he's wearing the 1857 simplified pattern of the Hussar jacket.
Note how the pouch
belt of the 8th Hussars did not sport any chains and pickers on
the front.
It is to be noted
that the 8th was part of the charging "Light Brigade" ;
the fact that Lucan was made Colonel of that regiment is not
uninteresting given the Charge polemics !
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