General Sir James Yorke Scarlett GCB (1 February 1799 – 6 December 1871[1]) was a British Army officer and hero of the Crimean War who led the Charge of the Heavy Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854.

'[6] Combined with Slade's age, this resulted in Scarlett's appointment as Commanding Officer of the regiment in 1840, a post he held for nearly fourteen years.

[8][5] During the Battle of Balaclava on the morning of 25 October 1854, the Russians had stormed a series of hills known as the Causeway Heights beyond which lay the "Valley of Death" where the Earl of Cardigan would lead the Light Brigade in one of the great military blunders of the nineteenth century.

[8] Lord Raglan ordered that Scarlett should move eight squadrons of his brigade back to Kadikoi, to support the 93rd Highlanders defence of the British base at Balaklava.

[9] The 55-year-old Scarlett quickly assembled just 300 of his Inniskillings and Scots Greys (of Waterloo fame) at the foot of the heights, organising them into parade-perfect formation, and sounded the charge.

Although successful, it defied military doctrine of the time, as the Russians were more numerous and, more importantly, the charge was made uphill against an oncoming force.

Scarlett had started to advance in the hope of salvaging something from the disaster when Lucan, fearing the complete loss of the Light Brigade, sounded the retreat.

[11] In this capacity he accompanied Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at the Royal Volunteer Review in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh on 10 August 1860 where 22,000 soldiers paraded before a crowd of over 100,000.

[4] While lacking direct military experience at the outbreak of the Crimean War, Brigadier Scarlett selected his aides-de-camp from able officers who had seen active service in India, and followed their advice.