The Crimean War, the Army (1854-56) Flashcards
What motive caused the Crimean War?
- Russia wanted access to the Straits (at the expense of the Ottoman Empire) so that its Black Sea fleet would be able to sail into the Mediterranean
Which countries were against Russia gaining access to the Mediterranean, and what were 3 reasons why?
- Britain and France
- Both wanted to maintain their naval power in the Mediterranean
- Britain was afraid Russia would threaten their trade routes to India
- Napoleon III wanted to dismantle the 1815 peace settlement that kept France weak, starting by challenging Russia
Which 2 countries were initially involved in the lead-up to the outbreak of the Crimean War? List 3 events that happened before Britain and France got involved.
- Russia and the Ottoman Empire
- In July 1853, Tsar Nicholas I ordered his troops into the Ottoman provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia
- In October, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia
- On 30th November, the Russian Black Sea Fleet annihilated an Ottoman fleet at the Black Sea port of Sinope
When did Britain and France declare war on Russia? What 3 events led up to this?
- France: 27th March 1854
- Britain: 28th March 1854
- In January 1854, the British and French fleets sailed into the Black Sea
- On 27th February they sent a joint note to the Tsar, demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops in Wallachia and Moldavia
- The Tsar ignored this
What were 2 reasons why Britain and France were willing to go to war against Russia (in addition to the tensions already mentioned about the Mediterranean)?
- Napoleon III wanted to demonstrate that France was a great power again
- Britain wanted to check any ambitions Russia had towards India
How did Austria react to Russian intentions in the Balkans?
- In July 1854 they threatened Russia into withdrawing from Wallachia and Moldavia
- They then proposed the Four Points to end the war
What were the 2 most important parts of the Four Points, and what did each mean for Russia?
- Russia would renounce any special rights to Serbia, Moldavia and Wallachia; their protection would be guaranteed by all European powers (Russia had claimed to occupy the provinces to protect Balkan Christians)
- The 1841 Straits Convention would be revised ‘in the interests in the balance of power’- in reality this meant ending Russian naval domination of the Black Sea
How did Britain, France and Russia respond to the proposal of the Four Points? What did this mean?
- Britain and France accepted them
- Russia rejected them in September (1854)
- Therefore, Britain and France had no option but to fight
What 6 issues did the British army have around the time of the Crimean War?
- It had been largely neglected since 1815, as there had been general European peace since then
- Outdated tactics
- Lack of reform
- Poor leadership
- Lack of manpower
- Poor organisation
What type of tactics did the British army use, and why?
- Napoleonic tactics (infantry in line firing muskets with artillery support and cavalry with swords)
- Wars in India and Burma against poorly-armed mass opposition had reinforced these tactics
In what way was the British army better-equipped than it had been during the French Wars? Compare this against the Russians.
- They had the new French Minié rifle instead of the old Brown Bess musket
- It had about 3 times the range of the smoothbore musket used by the Russians, and it was more accurate due to its rifling
What were 3 reasons why there had been a lack of reform in the army between the French Wars and the Crimean War?
- The army was generally run by the military high command without government interference after 1815
- The influence of the Duke of Wellington, especially due to his position as Commander-in-Chief (1827-28 and 1842-52)
- Complacency after success in the French Wars (the last major European War) and against non-European forces
Why did the Duke of Wellington prevent reform in the army? How justified was he in his thinking?
- He believed what had worked well for the army in the past would continue to serve it well, and so opposed any changes
- He also believed reforms were a disguise for further cuts in the military budget
- This was somewhat reasonable; the military budget had decreased from £43 million in 1815 to £9.5 million in the 1840s
How many men were sent to the Crimea in 1854, and who was in charge of them?
- 26,000
- Lord Raglan
Give 1 strength, an important personal quality and 2 weaknesses of Raglan as commander of the British Expeditionary Force.
- He had served on Wellington’s staff in the Peninsula War
- He was diplomatic
- Lord Raglan had not seen active service since 1815
- He had never commanded an army
What were 3 issues with the quality of the British military command?
- 4 of Raglan’s 5 infantry divisional commanders were over 60
- The 5th was the Queen’s cousin who had not seen action before
- Only 2 of the 5 had led anything larger than a battalion into action
What were 3 issues with British officers at the time of the Crimean War?
- Officers were still buying their commissions
- Due to the reduction in the size of the army following Waterloo, there were now fewer officers from the professional classes, with the majority again coming from the landed gentry
- Many officers had seen no active service at all, and those who had’s experience came from colonial wars
List 2 issues with the military administration in 1854.
- There were multiple agencies responsible for organising different aspects of war, which produced rivalries and inertia
- The army was not ready for the large-scale co-ordination needed to prepare troops to be sent to the Crimea (this had not been seriously considered since 1815)
What were 3 reasons why the British army had a lack of recruits?
- Soldiers either had to serve for 21 years (infantry) or 24 (cavalry)
- Soldiers’ life and health were at risk, especially in tropical stations
- Poor conditions
How many British soldiers died between 1839 and 1853? What caused the vast majority of these deaths?
- 58,000
- Disease
Give 3 examples of the poor conditions soldiers faced.
- Soldiers were paid 1 shilling (1s.) a day in the infantry, and half of this was deducted to pay for food
- The army disciplinary code was severe
- The routine mostly consisted of drill
How did the French forces compare to the British forces? Give 5 details.
- The French expeditionary force grew from 40,000 to 120,000
- Their divisional commanders were younger
- More of their officers were promoted
- More were from the professional classes
- Their organisation and supply was much better than that of the British
How did the Russian forces compare to the British forces? Give 4 details.
- The Russian army was over a million strong
- Its army was mostly made from conscripts who faced worse conditions than the British
- Many Russian officers took their duties lightly (their British counterparts tended to have a high sense of honour and duty)
- Most of them were from the landowning class
What were the Ottoman forces like, and how many of them were there?
- It was roughly 350,000 strong
- They were poorly led, poorly equipped, poorly trained and poorly supplied
When did Raglan and the British Expeditionary Force reach the Crimea?
- 14th September 1854
What was the initial plan after landing in the Crimea? What happened to the plan?
- To quickly take the port of Sebastopol as the Russian forces were concentrated in the Balkans and Anatolia
- St Arnaud (the French commander) wanted to march immediately to Sebastopol, but Raglan wanted to gather supplies from the countryside first
- They moved south to Sebastopol on 19th September 1854
How many Allied troops were there? Against how many Russian troops? What did they decide to do as a result?
- 63,000
- 33,000
- The Russian commader-in-chief, Prince Menshikov, decided to withdraw to a strong position behind the River Alma (facing north) as the Allied troops advanced south
When was the Battle of Alma?
- 20th September 1854
What did St Arnaud and Raglan decide to do at the Battle of Alma?
- St Arnaud wanted the French forces to attack to the right (next to the sea)
- They would be protected by the fleet’s guns
- Meanwhile, the British forces would attack the Russian centre and right
- Raglan thought St Arnaud was underestimating Russian strength, but decided to be diplomatic in order to remain on good terms with the French
Describe, in 7 parts, what happened in the Battle of Alma.
- The French attacked, then the British
- However, there was poor co-ordination; at one point, unsure of what the French were doing, Raglan ordered his infantry to lie down to minimise casualties from Russian gunfire
- St Arnaud needed support, so Raglan ordered his men to advance
- The Light Division captured the Great Redoubt (where Menshikov had placed his artillery)
- They lost it to a Russian counter-attack, but a general British advance led to the Guards Division recapturing it
- A final push by the Highland Brigade forced back 12 Russian battalions
- The Russians began to withdraw
What happened after the Russians began to withdraw?
- Lord Lucan, the head of the British cavalry, wanted to pursue them to turn the retreat into a rout
- Raglan was indecisive and disagreed due the presence of Russian cavalry to his left
What is a redoubt/ an earthwork?
- A defensive position that consists of a barrier of soil usually supported by wood and with trenches
What were 4 outcomes of the Battle of Alma?
- The Russians had lost 5700 men
- They had been driven from a strong position
- There were 1500 British casualties
- There were fewer than 1000 French casualties
What did the French and British decide to do after the Battle of Alma? How valid were the opinions given?
- Raglan wanted to immediately march on Sebastopol
- There would have been little stopping them from marching straight into the town
- St Arnaud and Sir John Burgoyne (Raglan’s chief engineer) wanted lay siege to Sebastopol and attack it from the south
- They believed the Russian defences posed a serious threat
- Raglan deferred to St Arnaud for the sake of keeping good relations again
What happened on 26th September?
- Raglan decided to make the fishing port of Balaclava the British army’s supply base
What happened to St Arnaud? Who replaced him?
- He died at the end of September 1854
- He was replaced by General Canrobert
Other than choosing to lay siege to Sebastopol, what other mistakes did the Allies make? Give figures.
- They wasted even more time digging siege works and unloading heavy siege guns
- In the meantime, the Russians had the time to build formidable defences
- By 17th October, the Russians had 341 guns in place, which was twice as much as they had had in place 3 weeks earlier
- Furthermore, the Allies would not attack Sebastopol even after successful bombardments, giving the Russians a chance to carry out repairs at night
When was the Battle of Balaclava?
- 25th October 1854
What caused the Battle of Balaclava?
- The caution of the Allies allowed Menshikov to move the Russian army to the Causeway Heights, which overlooked Balaclava
- This threatened the harbour and the road to Sebastopol
What were the 3 main parts of the Battle of Balaclava?
- The ‘thin red line’
- The Charge of the Heavy Brigade
- The Charge of the Light Brigade
What was the ‘thin red line’? Give 4 details.
- Menshikov sent several thousand Russian cavalry after retreating Turks
- They were stopped by the 93rd Highlanders
- The usual tactic for infantry facing cavalry was for them to form squares, but since there were only 500 of them, they formed 2 ranks
- Their Minié rifles inflicted heavy casualties on the Russian cavalry, who had to retreat
What was the role of the Heavy Brigade? Give 3 details.
- The 93rd Highlanders could not entirely stop the Russian cavalry on their own, so the Heavy Brigade did this
- Led by General Scarlett, they charged the Russian cavalry, who fled
- They only lost 10 men (out of 800)
What had happened between Lucan and Raglan before the Charge of the Light Brigade?
- Raglan requested Lucan to occupy the ground the Russians were vacating during the battle, annoyed by his lack of initiative
- Lucan had no infantry to assist him, so declined to treat the message as an order
How did Raglan initiate the Charge of the Light Brigade?
- Later, Raglan, from the Sapoune Heights, saw the Russians removing Turkish guns they had captured earlier on the Causeway Heights (benefitting from the respite)
- Raglan gave Captain Nolan an order for Lucan, telling him to stop the Russians from carrying away the guns
What was the role of Nolan in the Charge of the Light Brigade?
- Lucan, upon receiving the order, asked Nolan which guns (from his position, the only guns he could see were the mass of Russian guns at the end of the valley)
- Nolan (contemptuous of Lucan) gestured vaguely down the valley in response
What was the role of Lucan in the Charge of the Light Brigade?
- Despite knowing the charge would be suicidal, Lucan ordered Lord Cardigan, head of the Light Brigade, to charge the Russian guns
- Cardigan also pointed out that the attack would be suicidal, but Lucan responded that he had no choice but to obey the order
What happened during the Charge of the Light Brigade?
- While they were riding in formation, Nolan suddenly dashed in front of Cardigan and began shrieking at him; most likely to warn him that he was going the wrong way
- At that very moment he was killed by a splinter from an exploding shell, so the Light Brigade unknowingly went on
What happened when the Light Brigade reached the Russian guns?
- They were successfully attacking the gunners, but Russian cavalry was behind the guns, so they turned and went back down the valley
How long did the Charge of the Light Brigade last? How many
were killed, wounded and taken prisoner out of the total number of men? How successful was the charge?
- Less than 20 minutes
- 110 were killed, 130 were wounded and 58 taken prisoner out of the 664 that took part in the charge
- They actually managed to inflict more casualties on the Russians
What did the Charge of the Light Brigade make evident?
- There were many problems:
- poor leadership
- poor communication
- conflicting orders
- The only thing balancing this out was the courage of the soldiers
What happened to Lucan after the Charge of the Light Brigade?
- Lucan criticised Raglan
- This wasn’t tolerated, and he was recalled to Britain in March 1855 and replaced
How successful was the Battle of Balaclava for the British?
- They managed to stop the Russian advance
- The British were in a vulnerable position as the Russians had them confined to a narrow area between Sebastopol and Balaclava
How many troops did the 3 main sides have in the Crimea in November 1854?
- Russian: 120,000
- British: 25,000
- French: 40,000
What battle happened in November 1854?
- The Battle of Inkerman
What happened during the Battle of Inkerman?
- The Russians advanced in early morning fog, catching the British off-guard
- However, the British won once French troops arrived
What were casualties like after the Battle of Inkerman?
- Russian: 11,000
- British: 2500
How much of a success was the Battle of Inkerman for the British?
- They were no closer to capturing Sebastopol
What issue was Raglan concerned by after the Battle of Inkerman, and what was the British government’s response to this?
- Wintering in the Crimea
- The Duke of Newcastle, the Secretary of State for War, said that Crimean winters were among the mildest in the world
What was the winter of 1854-55 like?
- It was one of the worst Crimean winters in living memory
- It was wet as well as cold
What was an issue caused by the extreme weather during the winter of 1854-55? Give an example.
- In November 1854, an extreme storm resulted in the loss of more than 20 ships carrying supplies
- For example, the Progress had been carrying enough hay to feed all the horses for 3 weeks
- However, this was only exacerbating the issue with supplies, not causing it
What 4 factors caused there to be issues with supplies?
- Admiral Boxer, who was in charge of organising supplies, was very inefficient
- Ships would arrive would arrive without notice, and no-one would know what supplies they were carrying
- All of the supplies were crowded together on the quayside
- Perishable foods would rot while waiting for transportation
What did the Commissariat do to try to deal with the issue of supplying troops from Balaclava harbour?
- In January 1855, they brought in a railway contractor to lay a track
What was the winter of 1854-55 like for the soldiers?
- There was a shortage of tents and firewood
- They were therefore unable to cook, stay dry or warm
Give a figure showing the impact of the winter of 1854-55.
- By January 1855 the British Army was only 11,000 strong, as 23,000 were sick or wounded
What was an impact of the situation in the Crimea during the winter of 1854-55?
- The prime minister, Lord Aberdeen, was blamed
- He resigned and was replaced by Lord Palmerston in February 1855
- (See Crimea deck 3, card 18)
How had things changed by the spring of 1855? Give 6 details.
- There were fresh horses
- The new railway had been built that linked Balaklava to the camps around Sebastopol
- More guns and ammunitions had arrived
- There were more troops
- There were more supplies of food and clothing, improving morale
- The administrative chaos had been dealt with
Give figures showing an improvement in the situation in the Crimea in early 1855.
- Over 3000 soldiers had died in the military hospitals in January
- In March this figure had been reduced to 1400
- In April it was just under 600
What 3 issues were the Russians facing while defending Sebastopol?
- It took 3 months for troops and supplies to get from Moscow or St Petersburg to Sebastopol
- The administrative system was corrupt
- Fearing an attack from Austria, Russia failed to concentrate its forces in the Crimea
When did the allies resume their attack on Sebastopol? What did Raglan want to do, and what happened as a result?
- April 1855
- Raglan wanted to attack, but Canrobert didn’t
- As the junior partner, Raglan had to agree
When did the French change tactics to be on the offensive, and why?
- Pelissier replaced Canrobert in May 1855
What happened in June 1855?
- The British and French attempted an assault on Sebastopol’s defensive system that failed
- Raglan lost 1500 men and Pelissier 3500
What were 2 impacts of the unsuccessful attempt of the British and French to capture Sebastopol in June 1855?
- The British and French blamed each other, which widened divisions between them
- Raglan died of dysentery on 28th June 1855
What were 4 of Raglan’s shortcomings?
- He used tactics from the time of the Napoleonic Wars(Wellington’s influence)
- His reluctance to show himself to the troops or encourage them decreased morale
- He did not do enough to inform the government or appeal for help
What tactical error had Raglan made?
- He had been stuck in a stalemate until his death as he would not allow his troops to retreat to Balaklava despite the thousands that were being lost to starvation and disease, as this would allow the Russians to resupply Sebastopol
Who replaced Raglan, and for how long? Why?
- Sir James Simpson, who resigned 4 months later as he had no wish to command
When did the allies capture Sebastopol?
- September 1855
How did the Allies capture Sebastopol? Give 3 details.
- On 16th August French and Piedmontese troops stopped the final attempt by the Russians to break the allied siege
- On 8th September the French captured the Malakhov fortifications
- Despite the British failure to capture the Redan, the Russians abandoned Sebastopol
How many casualties were there after the attempts to capture the Malakhov fortifications and the Redan?
- 7500 French
- 2500 British
How important was the capture of Sebastopol to the progress of the Crimean War? What were 2 reasons why?
- It was a setback for Russia and after this the war decreased in intensity, but it was not the end of the war
- Russian guns still prevented the allies from occupying Sebastopol safely
- However, it was action by the Royal Navy that convinced the Russians to end the war
Where was the Royal Navy fighting Russia in the Crimean War?
- Some of the fleet was sent to support the land forces in the Black Sea
- However, the Royal Navy was mainly waging a war against Russia in the Baltic Sea
Who was in charge of the Baltic fleet, and using 3 examples, how successful was he?
- Sir Charles Napier
- Despite his fleet initially being smaller than that of the Russians, he blockaded the Russian coast until the end of October 1854
- He captured the fortress of Bomarsund
- He was tying down 30,000 Russian troops
What happened in the Baltic in 1855?
- Unimpressed by his actions, the Admiralty replaced Napier with Admiral Dundas
What was the winter of 1855-56 like in the Crimea?
- The British troops were well-supplied, having learnt their lesson from the previous winter
When did Napoleon III want to end the war, and why?
- After the capture of Sebastopol
- He felt that this satisfied France’s honour
What was Lord Palmerston’s opinion on ending the war, and why?
- He did not want to end the war
- He was confident that Britain could soundly defeat Russia
What made Tsar Alexander II agree to peace talks?
- The allied naval blockade was damaging Russia’s economy and threatening St Petersburg
Which treaty ended the Crimean War, and when was it signed?
- The Treaty of Paris
- March 1856
What were 2 successes of the Crimean War for the allies?
- The Ottoman Empire survived and Russia’s ambitions in the Balkans had been checked
- Russia’s navy had been kept out of the Mediterranean
What made the Crimean War stand out?
- It caused more casualties than any other European war between 1815 and 1914
How many soldiers had the 4 main belligerents lost?
- Britain: 22,000
- France: 95,000
- Ottoman Empire: 150,000
- Russia: over half a million
What proportion of the dead had been killed in battle? What was the most common cause of death?
- Less than 1 in 5
- Disease
What did Britain’s performance in the Crimean War lead to?
- The McNeill-Tulloch Report
