Lieutenant-General James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan was a British Army officer who commanded the Light Brigade during the Crimean War, leading its disastrous charge at the Battle of Balaclava. Throughout his life in politics and his long military career, Cardigan characterised the arrogant and extravagant aristocrat of the period. His progression through the British army was marked by many episodes of extraordinary incompetence, but also by generosity to the men under his command and genuine bravery. As a member of the aristocracy, he had actively and steadfastly opposed any political reform in Britain but, in the last year of his life, he relented and came to acknowledge that such reform would bring benefit to all classes of society.
- Occupation
- politician, military personnel
- Position held
- member of the 12th Parliament of the United Kingdom, member of the 11th Parliament of the United Kingdom, member of the 10th Parliament of the United Kingdom, member of the 6th Parliament of the United Kingdom
