Samuel Parkes Born in Tamworth in 1815, Parkes was a private in the 4th Light Dragoons.   He was the first private soldier to receive the Victoria Cross in 1857 for his bravery during the Charge of the Light Brigade, where he saved the life of a trumpeter by fighting off six Cossacks. He was later taken prisoner when his sword was shot from his hand. Samuel was born in Tamworth and he worked as a labourer before joining the 4th Queens Own Light Dragoons in 1831, aged just
