The Battle of the Alma Flashcards
When was the Battle of the Alma?
20th September 1854
(Alma = a river)
Who was leading the Br & what was his first move?
Lord Raglan led the Br army expedition
+
arrived by sea & landed at Varna in June 1854 to construct a base
(before moving on to the Crimea)
What had the Br & Fr decided to do?
to attack the Russians in the Crimea hoping that w the bulk of Russian forces further west in the Balkans & Anatolia they could take the naval base of Sevastopol quickly
Did the allies face opposition on their way to Sevastopol?
landed unopposed at Eupatoria on 14 September 1854 & established a base before pushing south towards Sevastopol
BUT
first battle on 20th Sept against a Russian army under Prince Aleksandr Menshikov at the Alma
Where did they meet the Russians?
Fr under Saint-Arnaud + Br under Raglan + Turkish support me the Russian army defending high ground south of the River Alma
Who had the upper hand?
the allies outnumbered the Russians & had support from naval gunfire BUT the battle was confused
- Fr attacked first & then the Br but w little co-ordination
- unsure of what the Fr were doing Raglan at one point ordered his infantry to lie down to minimise casualties from R gunfire
What was the Br objective?
+ where they successful?
a Russian earthwork called the ‘Great Redoubt’ in which Menshikov had placed artillery:
- as the Br infantry advanced the Russians removed their guns & retreated
- the light division took the redoubt, but then lost it to a Russian counter-attack, only for the Guards Division to regain it after a fierce fight
- a final push by the Highland Brigade forced the Russians to withdraw BUT Raglan was indecisive & didn’t pursue them with cavalry to drive home the advantage
What did the Battle of the Alma reveal?
revealed shortcomings in allied leadership & organisation:
- at times Br mistook the Fr for the Russians
- confusion amid smoke from guns, bugle-calls & officers issuing contradictory orders
- until they waded the river, the soldiers had little idea how deep it was
- an artillery officer Captain Biddulph wrote to his father complaining that he & his men were not given clear orders but were merely told to go this way or that & was highly critical of the ineffectual fussiness of his commanding officer
BUT the infantry showed good discipline however & had the allies lost the Crimean war might have ended then & there
What did the allies do after the Battle of the Alma?
Raglan had intended to attack Sevastopol at once - the Fr & Raglan’s chief engineer General Burgoyne disagreed + they argued for a prepared siege assault
Raglan conceded & the 2 armies marched around Sevastopol & began siege works ahead of an assault from the south
- making their base at Balaklava (a village with a secure deep harbour) they deployed artillery to bombard Sevastopol
What did the Russians do after the Battle of the Alma?
+ the Br mistake?
the Russians had scuttled (deliberately sunk) warships in Sevastopol harbour & taken the ships’ guns to defend the town while their field army moved east to avoid being trapped in the siege
- the allies wasted more time digging siege works & unloading heavy siege guns (which Sir George Cathcart & some other officers suggested were not really required)
- these preparations gave the Russians time to prepare formidable defences
