One of the coziest things in any wardrobe is named after the man who led one of Britain's most famous military disasters.
James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, was born in 1797. Britannica calls him "a martinet of uncertain temper" who quarreled with his officers. He spent his own money freely to make his regiment, the 11th Light Dragoons, the smartest in the service.
On October 25, 1854, at the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War, Cardigan led the Charge of the Light Brigade against Russian guns. Britannica says he questioned the ambiguous order, but he carried it out. About 674 men rode in the charge, and roughly 107 of them were killed. Cardigan reached the Russian guns and rode back up the valley alone.
At home he became a hero. He landed in January 1855 to a rapturous welcome and was received by Queen Victoria. Merchants rushed to profit from his fame. One of the things they sold was a knitted woollen waistcoat that the earl had supposedly worn on campaign.
He probably did not invent it. World Wide Words explains that British officers wore knitted worsted jackets against the bitterly cold, damp Crimean weather. The name most likely stuck to Cardigan because he was the best-known figure of the war. The earliest references, from 1857, are to "cardigan jackets," and later to "cardigan waistcoats." Britannica is more generous and says he introduced the garment.
A livelier tale says he invented it after the tails of his coat were burned off by a fireplace. Wikipedia reports it only as something that "supposedly" happened.
The Crimean War dressed Britain in more than one way. The knitted balaclava is named after Balaklava, the Crimean port that gave the battle its name. The raglan coat and sleeve come from Lord Raglan, the British commander in the Crimea, who had one arm.
Even the earl's title has a history. It comes from Cardigan in west Wales. Etymonline says the Welsh name, Ceredigion, means "Ceredig's land," after a 5th-century figure from the region.
Cardigan died in 1868, after a fall from a dangerous horse. The Light Brigade is remembered in poems and history books. The earl himself is remembered mostly by people buttoning up a sweater.