11th Hussars to the Crimea 1854

On the 9th of March 1854, the regiment received orders to prepare for foreign service. Two service Troops were formed, each of 125 men and horses, and these, with 25 dismounted men, embarked at Kingston during May of 1854 in the Glendalough, Asia, War Cloud, Parameter, Tyrone and Penola. The regiment was under the command of Major Douglas, and eighteen officers (including Staff) went with it to the Crimea. Five officers and 72 men went to form a Depot at Newbridge, Ireland.

The voyage out must have taken some considerable time as a letter from Captain Cresswell (one of the first to die from cholera) speaks of "a month’s trip in the Penola and only being off Oporto..." It would seem to have taken some six weeks to reach Malta.

Disembarking at Varna towards the end of June, the regiment proceeded to Denver, where the Light Cavalry Brigade was concentrated. In a later letter (never sent, as Major Cresswell’s widow brought it back with her) he speaks of the great amount of sickness at Yeni Bazaar and that "our regiment keeps very healthy, we have only twenty sick."