John Grieve

Hero of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava

In the chaos of the Charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava, Sergeant-Major John Grieve of the 2nd Dragoons saw a British officer surrounded by Russian cavalry and made an extraordinary decision. Rather than ride to safety, he charged directly into the enemy horsemen. His intervention saved the officer's life and earned Grieve the Victoria Cross , placing the Scots cavalryman among the earliest and most remarkable recipients of Britain's highest award for valour.

John Grieve was born at Musselburgh, Scotland, on 3 May , probably in 1821, although some authoritative modern sources record his birth year as 1822. He entered the British Army and served with the 2nd Dragoons, then officially the 2nd Royal North British Dragoons and later famous as the Royal Scots Greys . Rising from the ranks, he had become the regiment's Sergeant-Major by the time Britain went to war with Russia in the Crimea.

Grieve served in the Crimean War and fought with the Scots Greys during one of the most celebrated cavalry actions of the conflict. On 25 October 1854 , at the Battle of Balaclava, the Heavy Brigade charged a substantially larger body of Russian cavalry. During the confused hand-to-hand fighting, Grieve noticed an officer of his regiment surrounded by Russian horsemen. He immediately rode to the officer's aid.

The official Victoria Cross citation recorded that Grieve saved the officer during the Heavy Cavalry Charge by riding to his rescue, killing one Russian cavalryman and disabling and dispersing the others. The deed was formally published in the Supplement to The London Gazette on 24 February 1857, Issue 21971, page 655 , under his service number, No. 774 Sergeant-Major John Grieve, 2nd Dragoons . The original Gazette specifically described how he rode into the fight to rescue the surrounded officer, an act of close-quarter courage that became one of the defining stories of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava.

Grieve's Victoria Cross was part of the first great chapter in the history of the decoration. On 26 June 1857 , he was among the recipients presented with the VC personally by Queen Victoria at Hyde Park, London , during the first Victoria Cross investiture. The Royal Navy and Royal Marines were decorated before the Army. Within the Army contingent, recipients were arranged by regimental precedence, and the 2nd Dragoons were the senior regiment represented. As Grieve was their recipient, the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards today describe him as probably the first soldier of the British Army to be decorated with the Victoria Cross by Queen Victoria .

His Crimean service brought further recognition. Grieve received the Crimea Medal with three clasps, Balaklava, Inkermann and Sebastopol , confirming his participation in those major phases of the campaign. He was also awarded the Turkish Crimea Medal and France's prestigious Médaille militaire . Together with his Victoria Cross, these four honours form his verified medal entitlement.

The Victoria Cross also marked a turning point in Grieve's military career. On 4 December 1857 , only months after his investiture, Sergeant-Major John Grieve was commissioned Cornet in the 2nd Dragoons without purchase . His commission was formally recorded in The London Gazette. He was appointed Adjutant on 18 February 1859 , promoted Lieutenant on 30 January 1863 , and continued serving as the regiment's adjutant before retiring from the Army on 26 May 1865 . His rise from regimental Sergeant-Major to commissioned officer reflected a career built through long service, professional ability and conspicuous courage.

John Grieve died at Inveresk, Scotland, on 1 December 1873 , aged about fifty-two, and was buried in St Michael's Churchyard, Inveresk . Decades later, his Victoria Cross travelled far from the battlefield where it had been earned. In 1918, Grieve's nephew, John Grieve Oliver, loaned the medal to the Adelaide Museum collection in South Australia. The Victoria Cross is now held by the Art Gallery of South Australia , where it can be viewed by appointment.

John Grieve VC is remembered not simply because he belonged to the generation that received the first Victoria Crosses, but because of what he did in a few violent moments at Balaclava on 25 October 1854 . Surrounded by the confusion of a cavalry battle, he saw another soldier in mortal danger and rode toward the threat. That decision carried him from the ranks of the Royal Scots Greys into the earliest history of the Victoria Cross and secured his place among the enduring heroes of the Crimean War.