Carden family of England? Wales?

My great-great-great-grandfather has been somewhat of a mystery ever since I started tracing my family tree. It's not as if he's so far in the distant past that there are no surviving records; he was born around 1820, after all. I think the problem is that he was a military man. Other kind researchers have helped me out a little bit, confirming that there was a James Carden who served with the Black Watch in the Crimean War (which fits in with the family stories). He never returned to his family in Scotland, and I haven't found any death records for him... but apparently there was a 37-year-old James Carden of the 42nd Regiment who was buried in one of Malta's military cemeteries in 1855. Malta! Who would have guessed?

I would really like to be able to tie my James Carden to one of the Carden families that have been extensively researched. Family stories say James was Welsh, but on the 1841 census his birthplace was listed as England. I'm wondering if he was perhaps one of the Cheshire Cardens -- a possible candidate is a James Carden, born about 1820 in Manchester, who was the son of William Carden and Elizabeth Lee. I know there are some DNA studies out there that might help me out, but unfortunately they use the Y chromosome... and that doesn't exist in my branch of the family anymore.

There must be someone out there who knows something about James. I guess I just have to keep searching.