In the
years 1854 to 1856, Britain fought its only European war between the
ending of the Napoleonic conflict in 1815 and the opening of the
First World War in 1914. Although eventually victorious, the British and
their French allies pursued the war with little skill and it became
a byword for poor general ship and logistical incompetence. The war
began as a quarrel between Russian Orthodox monks and French
Catholics over who had precedence at the holy Places in Jerusalem
and Nazereth. Tempers frayed, violence resulted and lives were lost.
Tsar Nicholas I of Russia demanded the right to protect the shrines
in the Holy Land and to back up his claims, he moved troops to
Moldavia. His fleet then destroyed a Turkish flotilla at Sinope in
the Black Sea. Russian domination of Constantinople and the Straits
was a perennial nightmare of the British and with the two powers
already suspicious of each others intentions in Afghanistan and
Central Asia, the British felt unable to accept such Russian moves
against the Turks. Louis Napoleon III, emperor of France, eager to
emulate the military successes of his uncle Napoleon I and wishing
to extend his protection to the French monks in Jerusalem, allied himself
with Britain. Both countries despatched forces to the
Balkans. The war began in March 1854 and by the end of the summer,
the British / French forces had driven the Russians out of Moldavia.
The fighting should have ended there, but it was decided, that the
Great Russian naval base at Sevastopol, was a direct threat to the
future security of the region and in September 1854 the French and
British landed their armies on the Crimean peninsula. From their
landing beaches the allies marched southward to attack Sevastopol.
On the way there they fought their first major battle. The defeated
Russians retreated inland and as the siege of Sevastopol began a
regrouped Russian army hovered menacingly on the flank of the
British army who were using the inlet of Balaklava as its supply
harbour.
Sevastopol
was invulnerable to any kind of seaborne attack and her landward
defences were also fantastic. Soon the major strong points in the
defences, the Redan, the little Redan and the Malakoff bastion,
would become household words in Britain. As the British and French
prepared their siege works, the Russian army on the British right
flank struck. They were flung back at this,
but only with great losses with the British
light cavalry. A further attempt by the Russians resulted in the
Battle of Inkerman, a murderous fistfight fought out in a fog so
thick that sometimes the troops could only see a few yards ahead.
Again the Russians were pushed back.
It was
the Russian army hanging on the flank of the British that caused the
second of the Crimean War's battles, the Battle of Balaklava. North
of Balaklava harbour was a slight rise where the Highlanders had
made their camp. Beyond this, there lay an open valley leading up to
a higher line of hills known as the Causeway Heights. The Causeway
Heights looked down on a valley called the North Valley and beyond
it the Fedoukine Hills. It was in the North Valley, that the
spectacle and most tragic event of the war would take place. The
charge of the Light Brigade. Along the crest of the Causeway Heights
were a string of six redoubts, manned by Turkish infantry. On the
morning of 25th October, 1854 they were approached by a superior
force of Russian troops well supported by artillery. The Turks held
their ground, and frantic messengers run back to warn the British.
Unfortunately, the British reacted very slowly and by the time they
had started across the South Valley, the Turks were in full flight,
four of the redoubts in enemy hands and Russian cavalry were
swarming over the Causeway Heights. Soon they approached the
Highlander. There could be no retreat, as they were all that stood
between the enemy and the disorganised British camp. Though the
Highlanders drove off the Russian cavalry on their front. Russian horsemen were moving up the North Valley, in the
direction of the British had quarters. Disturbed by the fire of a
British gun, they crossed over the Causeway Heights to the left of
the Highlanders and saw below them the Heavy Brigade, six squadrons
of British heavy cavalry. The Russians were a dense grey mass all
wearing yellowish-grey greatcoats and the British cavalry
approaching them in lines have seemed hopelessly fragile, in their
bright scarlet tunics. They were led by General Sir
James Scarlett, who had never commanded troops in battle. Scarlett
organised his squadrons as if on parade. The Russian cavalry, from
the slopes of the Causeway Heights, watched with incredulous
fascination. There had been no British cavalry charges so far in the
war and only a fool would dare to take such an action now, against a
much stronger enemy. Scarlett's trumpeter sounded the charge and his
men moved off. As they drove into the Russian line, the red tunics
seemed to disappear in a sea of Russian grey. There was no room for
fancy swordsmanship and the troopers hacked around them as it where
meat cleavers. The ferocity, execution and sheer arrogance of the
charge, however, were too much for the Russians and they faltered.
Then they broke and fled northwards back over the Causeway
Heights. It was not the most spectacular charge ever made by British
cavalry, but it was probably the most effective. The Russians
retreated and the wounded were being carried back to camp. The battle now moved over to the western end of the North Valley
where the Light Brigade was positioned and a crucial factor came into
play. The topography of the battlefield made it very difficult for
officers in the field, to see much more than what was on their direct
front. Because of this, the generals watching from the hills above, enjoyed an
almost unimpeded view. The Heavy Brigade reformed and British
infantry advanced on the westernmost of the captured redoubts. It
was Cardigan's Light Brigade, that would have to lead any forward
movement. Unfortunately, the only guns that either of them could see
were the Russian artillery, a mile away, at the eastern end of the
North Valley. Supported by massed infantry and cavalry and with
other guns and riflemen on both sides of the valley. The Russian
position was like the jaws of some ferocious beast. Cardigan sounded
the charge and the Light Brigade started forward. The first line
consisted of the Light Dragoons on the right, the Lancers on the
left and the Hussars in support. The second was formed by the Light
Dragoons and the Hussars. 673 men rode forward when the trumpet
sounded. Less than 200, almost all of them wounded would return. For
the first fifty yards nothing happened and then the Russian guns
opened fire. The horses began to move faster from a trot, to a canter
and
to a gallop and the officers had trouble restraining some of their
men from spurring on ahead. From three sides a storm of lead and
iron winnowed the ranks of the British. Barely fifty men of the
first line reached the Russian guns. They rushed past, slashing at
those gunners who had been slow to find cover, and slammed into the
Russian cavalry behind the guns. They drove it backwards in disorder,
until overwhelming numbers slowed the momentum of their charge and
they were forced to retire. The second line slaughtered the Russian
gunners and pushing forward was met by the remnants of the first
line in retreat. The English turned their horses back down the
valley up which they had charged at such cost. As they retired the
Russian lancers seemed to part to let them through with just a few
desultory lance prods to see them on their way. Some said this was a
Russian gesture of respect for the heroism of the charge. Some said
it was the result of the ineffectual leadership that was apparent in
the handling of Russian cavalry. Perhaps it was simply the ordinary
Russian troopers disdaining to risk their lives against an obviously
spent force that had shown such a proclivity to insanity. More than
500 British horses died in the charge and it's possible the Russians
just felt sorry for the surviving mounts. The Battle of Balaklava
was claimed as a victory by the British but in reality it was not. British cavalry played were unable to play any significant role
for the remainder of the war and the Causeway Heights were left in
Russian hands. This would greatly add to the misery of the British
Army, as it faced the Crimean winter.
The war
settled down to one of spade and artillery as the Allies pushed
their trenches nearer the defensive lines of Sevastopol. The winter
of 1854 - 1855 brought great misery to the troops, particularly the
British as their commissary department was grossly incompetent and
for months the men were clothed in rags, cold, hungry and short of
everything. The only bright light in this tale of stupidity was the
work of Florence Nightingale who almost single-handedly drastically
cut mortality rates for the British wounded at the hospital in
Scutari.
Finally, in
early 1856, Sevastopol fell and the war was ended by the Peace of
Paris.
