33 Facts About Louis Nolan

Lewis Edward Nolan, known to his family as Louis Nolan and in Austrian service as Ludwig Nolan was a British Army officer and cavalry tactician best known for his role and death in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War.

Forty percent of the Light Brigade's soldiers were killed, wounded, captured or rendered unfit for service, including Louis Nolan, who was the first casualty of the charge.

Contemporary accounts blamed Louis Nolan for failing to properly communicate the order, either accidentally or deliberately, while some modern historians apportion the blame not only to Louis Nolan but Lord Raglan, commander of the British forces in the Crimea, and the cavalry commander, Lord Lucan.

Louis Nolan was born on 4 January 1818 to Captain John Babington Louis Nolan, of the 70th Regiment of Foot, and Elizabeth, in York County, Upper Canada.

Louis Nolan graduated from the Pioneer School a year early in May 1835, probably following a recommendation from Prince Liechtenstein, and was made a subaltern in the 10th Austrian Hussar regiment.

Louis Nolan served in Austria, Hungary and on the Polish frontier, and was again noted for his horsemanship and language skills.

Louis Nolan's father attempted to get him a commission with the British Army, with little success until Louis Nolan's return to the United Kingdom for the coronation of Queen Victoria in July 1838.

Louis Nolan initially travelled to Maidstone, where the 15th maintained a troop to train new recruits, under the command of Captain George Key.

Louis Nolan returned to active service in June 1841, again to the Maidstone depot, and became a Lieutenant on the 19th.

Louis Nolan went on leave again in August to take the riding master's course and exam, and returned on 8 March 1842, newly qualified.

The 15th Light Dragoons were stationed in Bangalore, a relatively peaceful area, and Louis Nolan did not see action during his time there.

Louis Nolan was appointed regimental riding master on 13 August 1844, in recognition of his expertise at horsemanship.

Louis Nolan then became a staff officer, joining the staff of General George Berkeley, commander-in-chief in Madras, as an aide-de-camp in January 1849.

Louis Nolan quickly became close friends with Berkeley's two sons, Charles and George, who were enthusiastic about horse-racing.

In 1850 Louis Nolan accompanied Berkeley on a tour of the region, conducting horse trials to evaluate the use of geldings as cavalry mounts rather than stallions, and was promoted, purchasing a Captaincy on 8 March.

The Swedish Horse Guards under Curt von Stedingk left a particular impression, with Louis Nolan later writing that they were "one of the best regiments of foreign cavalry I have ever seen", and he was impressed by Francois Baucher, initially considering simply translating Baucher's Methode d'equitation into English.

Louis Nolan was not particularly impressed by them, judging the irregulars incapable of withstanding a Russian cavalry charge and finding the horses too small.

Louis Nolan ordered 250 of them anyway, finding them appropriate for the British artillery if not for the cavalry.

Louis Nolan returned to the British forces to join the Light Division at Devna as aide-de-camp to Airey.

Louis Nolan spent the battle as a liaison due to his fluent French, and was often galloping between the two allied armies.

Louis Nolan formed a plan to cut the British Army off from the harbour at Balaclava, with a secondary objective of capturing the harbour itself.

Louis Nolan carried the message to Lucan; when Lucan asked what guns were referred to, Louis Nolan is said to have indicated, by a wide sweep of his arm, not the Causeway redoubts but the Don Cossack battery in the North Valley, around a mile away.

Louis Nolan had explicitly asked to join the Brigade for the fight, and was allowed to.

Almost at once Louis Nolan was seen to rush across the front, passing in front of Cardigan.

Louis Nolan uttered a wild yell as his horse turned round, and, with his arms extended, the reins dropped on the animal's neck, he trotted towards us, but in a few yards dropped dead off his horse.

Louis Nolan was just within reach of my sword, and I struck him across his neck.

Louis Nolan reached the Russian guns, took part in the fight, and then returned alone up the valley without bothering to rally or even find out what had happened to the survivors.

Louis Nolan afterwards said all he could think about was his rage against Nolan, who he thought had tried to take over the leadership of the charge from him.

Maxse's letter said that Louis Nolan was annoyed at how little the Light Brigade had done previously, and that Louis Nolan was angry against Lord Lucan.

At the time of his death, Louis Nolan was the last male member of his family.

Public opinion became divided; people both attacked Louis Nolan and rallied to his defence.

Brighton himself distributes the blame more widely, holding that Raglan, Lucan and Louis Nolan were at fault, but that the vast majority of the blame lies with Lucan.

Louis Nolan was played by David Hemmings in the 1968 film The Charge of the Light Brigade.