Born at Stalybridge, Cheshire, c.1822.
Enlisted at London on the 30th of June 1839.
Age: 17 years 3 months.
Height: 5' 8".
Trade: Engineer.
He was wounded in action at Balaclava and his horse shot under him. Was not mentioned in the official casualty list.
Sent to Scutari on the 29th of November 1854 and rejoined the regiment on the 31st of March 1855. Another source states it was the 11th of May 1855.
Tried by a Regimental Court-martial on the 5th of January 1855 for "absence, and making away with his necessaries." Awarded 56 days' imprisonment with hard labour."
Discharged, "by purchase" from Brighton on the 22nd of July 1856. Payment of £30.
Served 6 years 99 days. Conduct: "Indifferent." Not in possession of any Good Conduct badges.
He re-enlisted in India into the 1st Bombay Artillery for a period of 12 years' service on the 22nd of June 1859. Regimental No. 4404.
His age was then shown as 28 years and his trade that of a fireman.
Fair complexion. Dark blue eyes. Lt. brown hair.
Transferred to the Royal Artillery on the 14th of October 1861. Served in "K." Battery, 2nd. Brigade, R.A.
Discharged from Kilkenny, Ireland, on the 4th of August 1880. No reason is shown.
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman, and Sebastopol.
It was learnt in 1988 that his Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman and his Turkish Crimean medal was in the Officers Mess of the Royal Irish Hussars. Commented on at the time was that his Long Service and Good Conduct medal was missing. (In view of his extended service from the 4th Light Dragoons into the Royal Artillery it could well be that he was awarded this when serving in the latter unit.)
He married twice, his second wife being the widow of a Sergeant of the 44th Regiment of Foot who had also served in the Crimea. The couple lived for many years in Silver Street, Southsea.
See copy of an unknown newspaper report in which he describes events during the Charge and of efforts made by his friends to obtain relief for him from the Patriotic Fund, in a 4th Hussar file (vol.3).
[PB: Transcribe and add account in 4H vol3, also any photographs.]
From the Army and Navy Gazette (sometime in 1897):
"Attention is being drawn to the hardship case of James Alfred Gregory, one of the 600. He was wounded during the Charge, his horse being shot under him, the bullet passing through the animal's body and then through the calf of the rider's leg; he has been lame ever since and can only walk with the aid of a stick. He is 67 years old, and has an invalid wife. He ekes out his shilling a day pension by selling fruit on Southsea Beach..."
On the 30th of October 1897 he laid his case for a grant before the Patriotic Commission, but the reply was that:
"he was not eligible for the Light Brigade (Balaclava) Relief Fund administered by the Fund's Commissioners as he was in receipt of 1/- per day pension and under the provisions of the deed of transfer of the Fund the possession of such a pension precluded any grant from the Fund being made..."
James Gregory died at Nazareth House, Oxford, on the 18th of March 1911 and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery on the 21st of March. (See copy of a photograph of his grave-site, No. A3297, in the 4th Hussar file)
See also copy of his funeral report and picture, taken from the Oxford Illustrated Journal, Wednesday 22nd of March 1911. He was then a pensioner of the Roberts Fund, which also paid for his funeral.