The Crimean War

Question 1

Poor administration in terms of supplies

Answer 1

• a request for supplies had to go through eight departments before being approved, would then take months to arrive
e.g General Airey sent a request November 1854 to England for 3000 tents and 100 hospital marquees - April 1855 this requisition hadn’t been approved

Question 2

Failures of Raglan in his appointment

Answer 2

• Raglan had spent his 50 years Army experience in staff work, had never commanded a formation larger than a battalion

Question 3

Raglan poor communication 1854 Battle of Alma

Answer 3

• British lacked a clear tactic as Raglan failed to relay the French plan to his troops, at one point ordered the British to lie down

Question 4

Raglan poor communication 1854 Battle of Balaclava

Answer 4

• Raglan orders Lucan to ‘seize the guns’ - unclear instructions, results in 113 British troops dying in the Charge of the Light Brigade
• However, Lucan and Nolan failed to clarify these instructions - lack of responsibility adopted by his subordinates

Question 5

Raglan inheriting a situation where the Commissariat was not fit for purpose

Answer 5

• Raglan was frustrated with Commissiary-General Filder
• Raglan requested more land transport at the start of the campaign but was refused
• A railway from the port to the battlefront was sanctioned in his home, but not completed until after his death

Question 6

Failings of Admiral Boxer

Answer 6

• Supplies were piled up in port in the open - unorganised, food rotting, unable to be transported six miles to Sevastopol

Question 7

Poor transportation

Answer 7

•Heavy rains of 1854-55 storm meant that supplies couldn’t be transported six miles to Sevastopol front lines
• pack mules couldn’t transport goods as they had starved

Question 8

Overcrowding in hospitals emergency measure

Answer 8

Hospital huts made out of storm wreckage

Question 9

Issue of disease in the Crimea

Answer 9

• more men died from disease than wounds
• Cholera especially weakened groups at Alma
• amputation death rate 25%

Question 10

Raglan’s poor medical staff

Answer 10

• Dr Hall, Inspector-General of Hospitals refused to acknowledge issue with medical supplies and sanitation

Question 11

Nightingale funding supplies in the Crimea

Answer 11

• used £30,000 fund raised by The Times, illustrating how poor administration was

Question 12

Impact of Roger Fenton’s photos

Answer 12

• had a significant impact as displayed in 26 exhibitions in England
• ‘valley of death’ photograph aroused deep concerns (though not a real battle site)
• photographs of Balaclava harbour and developing railway illustrated issues with supplies

Question 13

Downside of Fenton’s photographs

Answer 13

• Fenton was a commercial photographer, not permitted to take gory pictures highlighting realities of war as they wouldn’t sell
• Camera technology not advanced, subjects couldn’t move or photo wouldn’t be clear (photos staged)

Question 14

Political impact of Russell’s reportage

Answer 14

Lord Aberdeen resigned from PM position

Question 15

Significance of reportage of William Russell

Answer 15

• wrote eye witness accounts of Battle of Alma and Siege of Sevastopol - established close contact with junior officers, Raglan ordered them to stop speaking to Russell to prevent further exposure
• Russell was senior correspondent for The Times. Used as a key element of John Delane’s campaign
• Russell and the Times raised £30,000 fund to support Seacole and Nightingale

Question 16

Downside of Russell’s reportage

Answer 16

Not the only news reporter - Illustrated London News, The Daily News and The Morning Herald also sent out correspondents