The Crimean War

 

The Crimean War was a conflict that lasted from 1853 to 1856, mainly on the Crimean Peninsula. It involved the Russian Empire against an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, Britain, and Sardinia. The war was caused by several factors, such as the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the religious disputes over the holy places in Palestine, and the Russian expansionism in the Black Sea and the Balkans. Some of the most famous battles of the war were the Battle of Alma, the Battle of Balaklava, the Siege of Sevastopol, and the Charge of the Light Brigade. The war resulted in a victory for the allies, who forced Russia to give up some of its territories and influence in the region.

Famous people in the Crimean War

Florence Nightingale: She was a British nurse who improved the sanitary conditions and medical care of the wounded soldiers in the Crimea. She is considered the founder of modern nursing.

Mary Seacole: She was a Jamaican-born nurse and businesswoman who traveled to the Crimea to offer her services to the British army. She set up a hotel and a hospital near the battlefield and treated many soldiers. She was known as “Mother Seacole” by the troops.

Lord Raglan: He was the British commander-in-chief during the Crimean War. He was responsible for the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade, which resulted in heavy casualties for the British cavalry. He died of dysentery in 1855.

Leo Tolstoy: He was a Russian writer and soldier who fought in the Siege of Sevastopol. He wrote several stories based on his experiences in the war, such as The Sebastopol Sketches. He later became famous for his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

The Charge of the Light Brigade was a military action undertaken by British light cavalry against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, resulting in many casualties to the cavalry. On 25 October 1854, the Light Brigade, led by Lord Cardigan, mounted a frontal assault against a Russian artillery battery which was well prepared with excellent fields of defensive fire. The charge was the result of a misunderstood order from the commander in chief, Lord Raglan, who had intended the Light Brigade to attack a different objective for which light cavalry was better suited, to prevent the Russians from removing captured guns from overrun Turkish positions. The Light Brigade made its charge under withering direct fire and reached its target, scattering some of the gunners, but was forced to retreat immediately. The events were the subject of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s narrative poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” (1854), published six weeks after the event. Its lines emphasise the valour of the cavalry in carrying out their orders regardless of the risk.