Part 14

=Siege of Sebastopol.=--On September 23rd, 1854, the army began its slow and "most remarkable flank march in military history." Balaklava was ultimately reached, "the result of blind accident rather than knowledge of how war should be conducted," and the armies of Britain and France settled down on the Chersonese upland, and the siege of Sebastopol commenced. From September 28th, 1854, it ran its long course until September 11th, 1855, when the Russians, who had fought so well under Todleben, retired and the allies entered it unopposed. This long and complex siege cannot here be dealt with in detail. How the unfortunate troops fared in the trenches has passed into the history of this country as a blot upon the administration which allowed brave men to die like flies; "between November 1854 and February 1855 there were 9,000 deaths in hospital, and by the end of February there were no less than 13,600 officers and men in hospital," and no wonder when men, emaciated by disease and tried by the severe weather, "carrying great-coat and blanket, marched through a sea of mud to the trenches," where they remained in a cramped position all night until day broke, and, after a few hours' rest, "often in a puddle, which chilled their bones under a worn-out tent through which the rain beat"; they who had the heart of a lion were compelled to do asses' work. The hospitals were frequently merely bell tents, and "the men lay, often in mud, on the ground, and in many cases their diet was only meat and biscuit. They were, moreover, so crowded together that the doctors could scarcely pass between the patients." The heroic Florence Nightingale, as every one knows, with her band of nurses helped to lighten the burden of pain and suffering which the men endured, but the lasting disgrace which attaches to the callous administrators of the period is only accentuated when we consider the dire necessity for her action.

=Capture of the Mamelon.=--Sebastopol was bombarded, with the co-operation of the fleet, on October 17th, and the Russians made their first sortie on the 26th; in March 1855 they made another, and on April 9th the place was ineffectively bombarded; but on June 6th a bombardment was followed by an assault, and the Mamelon, an outwork of the Malakoff, was taken. Then the allies essayed the capture of the Malakoff and the Redan, the French to take the former and the British the latter; but despite the strenuous efforts of the men, the forts remained in the possession of the enemy. In these abortive attempts on June 17th and 18th the French lost 3,500 men, and the British 1,500; and of the six British and French Generals and Commanders who led the attacks on the 18th, 4 were killed and 1 wounded. The Royal Irish lost 259 officers and men by death and wounds in the attack on the Redan, and Captain Thomas Esmond of that regiment gained the V.C. and Sergeant John Grant the Meritorious Service medal. The Russians lost 4,500 officers and men killed and wounded. The siege was, following these repulses, resumed in the ordinary way, and the stubborn Russians, who were losing 250 men each day, began to realise that their magnificent courage could not stand much longer against the determination of the allies; and at the end of August, when the brave garrison was being depleted by the loss of over 900 each day, they determined upon the evacuation of the fortress they had held so well. So they built a bridge across the outer harbour, and made preparations to cover their retreat.

=Capture of the Malakoff.=--Then the allies again determined to reduce the fortress, and bombarded it for practically three days and nights, at the end of which, on September 8th, the French again assailed the Malakoff, and carried and held it against the enemy, but the British failed to capture the Redan. The British losses were 2,271 officers and men placed _hors de combat_, including three generals wounded, and the French 7,567, including 5 generals killed and 4 wounded. The Russian losses were 12,915, including 9 generals. During the night the Russians exploded their mines, and Prince Gortschakoff successfully took his garrison, with most of the wounded, across the bridge, which they destroyed, and took up a position on the heights to the north of Sebastopol, from whence they cannonaded the fortress which the allies had occupied. The war was thus virtually at an end, although hostilities continued until February 1856, and the treaty of peace was not signed in Paris until March 29th.

[Illustration: (Obverse.) MEDAL FOR INDIAN MUTINY, 1857-8.]

[Illustration: (Reverse.) MEDAL FOR NEW ZEALAND WARS, 1861-6.]

[Illustration: (Reverse.) MEDAL FOR INDIAN MUTINY, 1857-8.]

Meanwhile the battles of Balaklava and Inkermann had been fought, both brought about by the efforts of the Russians to raise the siege, and both battles remarkable for the courage and fearlessness of the British troops, and alas! for the lack of simple military genius on the part of many of the officers. As a military authority has stated, "The army ought to have been beaten according to all the canons of war, but it wasn't!" Tommy Atkins saved the face of his superiors.

=Balaklava.=--The charge of the Light Brigade in this battle was an example of what appears to have been either muddle-headedness or overweening belief in the importance of our cavalry, but it gave to the Light Cavalry of the British Army undying fame. Their "death-ride" gave them eternal life! The battle of Balaklava was fought on October 25th, 1854, the anniversary of Agincourt. The Russian relieving force, numbering 22,000 infantry and 3,400 cavalry, with 78 guns, advanced from the Tchernaya by Kamara across the Woronzoff Road to attack the front of the position at Balaklava, and to meet them Lord Raglan took down the first and fourth divisions to the plain, which General Canrobert--St. Arnaud had died--reinforced with the first division of French Infantry and the Chasseurs d'Afrique.

="The Thin Red Line."=--The Russians obtained possession of three forts, and managed to retain two of them with 7 guns; then "their artillery advanced with a large mass of cavalry, and their guns ranged to the 93rd Highlanders, which, with 100 invalids, under Lieutenant-Colonel Daveney, in support, occupied very insufficiently, from the smallness of their numbers, the slightly rising ground in front of No. 4 Battery." Then a body of the enemy's cavalry, "amounting to about 400, turned to their left, separating themselves from those who attacked Lord Lucan's Division, and charged the 93rd Highlanders, who immediately advanced to the crest of the hill, on which they stood and opened their fire, which forced the Russian cavalry to give way and turn to their left; after which they made an attempt to turn the flank of the 93rd ... upon which the Grenadiers of the 93rd under Captain Ross were wheeled up to their right and fired on the enemy, which manœuvre completely discomforted them." Thus the gallant Sir Colin Campbell officially described the deed of the "thin red line" at Balaklava; that line of imperturbable Highlanders armed only with muzzle loaders, that, despite the rounds of shot and shell which harried them, dared to accept the charge of cavalry and drove them off.

=Charge of the Heavy Brigade.=--Then the main body of the Russian horsemen, about 3,000, advanced against the British Heavy Brigade, 900 sabres strong. The light-blue jackets, with embroidery of silver lace, the grey coats of the Dragoons, and the glitter of the lances, made a brave picture as the enemy's cavalry cantered toward their objective. They "nearly halted. Their first line was at least double the length of ours--it was three times as deep. Behind them was a similar line, equally strong and compact. They evidently despised their insignificant-looking enemy," but the trumpets rang out again in the valley; then Brigadier-General Scarlett, with about 300 Scots Greys and Enniskilleners, went right at the centre of the Russian cavalry, and then, as W. H. Russell, the famous _Times_ correspondent, graphically described, "as lightning flashes through a cloud the Greys and Enniskilleners pierced through the dark masses of the Russians. The shock was but of a moment. There was a clash of steel, and a light play of sword blades in the air, and then the Greys and the redcoats disappeared in the midst of the shaken and quivering columns. In another moment we saw them emerging with diminished numbers, and in broken order, charging against the second line. It was a terrible moment.... With unbated fire the noble hearts dashed at the enemy. It was a fight of heroes.... By sheer steel and sheer courage, Enniskillener and Scot were winning their desperate way through the enemy's squadrons, and already grey horses and red coats had appeared right at the rear of the second mass, when, with visible force, like one bolt from a bow, the 4th Dragoon Guards riding straight at the right flank of the Russians, and the 5th Dragoon Guards, following close after the Enniskilleners, rushed at the remnants of the first line of the enemy, went through it as though it were made of pasteboard, and put them to utter rout." Then followed that "superb incident--at once a blunder and a miracle."

=Charge of the Light Brigade.=--Lord Raglan, being desirous that the withdrawal of the Russians should be taken advantage of to regain the heights, and fearing that the enemy might attempt to remove the guns from the redoubts captured from the Turks, gave orders for the Light Cavalry to be moved forward. Captain Nolan misconstrued the order, and indicated to Lord Lucan that the heavy battery of guns a mile away, supported by masses of cavalry and infantry, with other batteries on either flank, was to be charged. Lucan hesitated to carry the mad order into effect, but ultimately decided that it was his duty to do so, and gave the order to the Earl of Cardigan to take the terrible odds which he saw arrayed against him. Cardigan, like Scarlett, was a brave and daring cavalry leader, and into the "valley of death" he rode with his Light Brigade of 621 men. Encircled by fire they charged down the valley, dashed through the guns, sabred the gunners where they stood, cut their way through a brigade of Russian cavalry and a company of infantry, turned about, what was left of them, when four squadrons of Lancers were hurled at them, but they met the charge gallantly, and then the Russian artillerymen, recovering from their shock, but without regaining their senses, turned their guns upon the daring British cavalry and their own men who were struggling with them! The Greys and Enniskilleners, and the Chasseurs d'Afrique created a diversion, otherwise it is doubtful whether a single man of that brave little band, which rode so fearlessly and fought so uselessly, would have survived to receive the plaudits of his countrymen, and--shame of shames--as was the case with several of them, to end his days in the workhouse or eke them out with the aid of charity. It were almost idle for the poet to sing:

"Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred!"

Four hundred and twenty-six of the brigade were placed _hors de combat_, 13 officers and 162 men were killed or taken prisoners, the former including Captain Nolan, who was struck early in the charge by a piece of shell and killed; 27 officers and 224 men were wounded. There struggled back to camp, in scattered groups, a remnant of 195 mounted men. In this charge Quartermaster Charles Wooden, whose group of medals forms the frontispiece to this volume, as Sergeant-Major in the 17th Lancers, gained the Victoria Cross by assisting Surgeon Mouat in saving the life of Lieutenant-Colonel Morris of his own regiment when lying exposed to a heavy fire of shot and shell, and carrying him to a place of safety. The Sergeant-Major had a horse shot under him.

The regiments engaged at Balaklava were the Heavy Brigade, comprising the 1st, 2nd, and 6th Dragoons; 4th and 5th Dragoon Guards; the Light Brigade, consisting of the 13th Light Dragoons and 17th Lancers in the first line, 4th Light Dragoons and 8th and 11th Hussars in the second line, and the 93rd Highlanders; but men of the Rifle and Naval Brigades, and of the artillery and various line regiments, including the 4th, 19th, 21st, 30th, 33rd, 44th, 47th, 50th, 53rd, 68th, and 77th, were also present and received the medal with the bar for Balaklava.

[Illustration: ABYSSINIAN WAR MEDAL, 1867-8.]

[Illustration: CANADA MEDAL, 1866 AND 1870.]

[Illustration: ASHANTEE WAR MEDAL, 1873-4.]

[Illustration: ZULU WAR MEDAL, 1877-9.]

=Inkermann.=--On Sunday, November 5th, 1854, the battle of Inkermann was fought. The Russians had received considerable reinforcements; it is estimated that by that time 120,000 troops were under Prince Mentschikoff's command, and the Czar's soldiers were in high fettle, owing to the presence in camp of the Czar's sons, Michael and Nicholas. A general advance was made by the Russians, Mount Inkermann being the objective, and the battle commenced by an assault thereon by General Danneburg with about 40,000 men. The Mount of Inkermann and the district thereof was held by the Second Division under General Pennefeather. At daybreak masses of Russians were discerned marching to the attack, and soon afterwards the armies were in conflict. Then began the "soldiers' battle," which was to add lustre to the record of the several British regiments whose gallantry gained the day. How can one adequately paint the picture of 200 men of the 30th charging a couple of Russian battalions and putting them to rout, or of the 49th defeating a strong column and chasing their flying foemen? How can one do justice to the 525 men of the 41st who fought and dispersed five battalions of the enemy, and the 260 men of the 77th who put to rout 1,500 of the famous Tomsk Regiment? In the first stage of the battle 4,000 British soldiers beat back 15,000 Russians from the slopes of Inkermann, where, in the detached fighting that had taken place, many a V.C. was well earned. In the second stage the terrific struggle ranged around the worthless sand-bag battery; seven times did the Russians capture it, and as often was it retaken by the British, each time with awful slaughter, until the dead lay around the battery in heaps and filled the entrenchment. In this useless and stubborn fight Generals Adams, Cathcart, and Torrens fell. There young Captain Stanley of the "Die Hards" fell as he called to his men to "remember Albuera" and follow him. There a few hundred Coldstreams, who had 8 officers killed, fought back to back against 6,000 Russians, and sustained "the bloodiest struggle ever witnessed since war cursed the earth." Then two 18-pounders were ordered up by Lord Raglan, and, as happened at the Alma, helped to determine the events of the day. An artillery duel resulted, many a British gunner falling by his gun, in the discomfiture of the enemy ere the Zouaves, led by their Vivandière, pushed into the fight and drove the Russians toward the sand-bag battery, where the dead had formed a wall. The French Zouaves and British soldiers then made short work of the contest, and the Zouaves' standard was firmly planted on the sand-bag battery. By 1 o'clock the battle was decided, but such was the straggling and intermittent nature of the fighting that it was not until 3 o'clock that Mount Inkermann was again entirely in the possession of the allies. In this great battle 10 British Generals were killed or wounded--Lord Raglan alone being unharmed--39 officers and 558 men killed, and 1,760 officers and men wounded (rather more than one-third of the total strength of the army engaged). The French lost 130 killed and wounded, and the Russians over 11,000, including 256 officers killed.

The following regiments were present at Inkermann: Grenadiers, Coldstreams, and Scots Fusilier Guards; 1st, 4th, 7th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 23rd, 28th, 30th, 33rd, 38th, 41st, 2 companies 46th, 47th, 49th, 50th, 55th, 57th, 63rd, 68th, 77th, 88th, 95th; 4th, 8th, 11th, and 13th Hussars; 17th Lancers and 2 batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery.

Medals with bars for the Alma or Inkermann, or both, are rare to the 46th Foot, while the medals awarded the Coldstream Guards and to participants in the charge of the Light Brigade realise good prices when offered for sale.

=The Crimean Medals.=--In December 1854 Queen Victoria commanded that a medal bearing the word "CRIMEA" should be struck, and that bars for the ALMA and INKERMANN ("the soldiers' battle") should be awarded to those who had taken part in the battles; but the world had wondered at the "death-ride" of the Light Brigade--on October 29th, 1854--and so no one was surprised when, in February 1855, a clasp for BALAKLAVA was granted to those who rode so bravely into the jaws of death, and, wonder of wonders, came out again; likewise to the Heavy Brigade and to the regiments engaged in the vicinity. The bar for SEBASTOPOL was added to the list in October 1855, so that the four-bar medal illustrated is a complete record of one of the greatest of modern wars, significant because of the fact that we fought shoulder to shoulder with our old adversaries the French, and side by side with the Turks and Sardinians against the Russian Army. The medal, designed by W. Wyon, represents on the reverse a Roman warrior with a flying figure of Victory crowning him with a laurel wreath; to the right of the figure is the word CRIMEA arranged perpendicularly. The obverse is the same as that on the Peninsular and India General Service medals. The bars are the most ornate of the whole series given with British medals. A special bar for AZOFF was given to the Navy. The suspender is of a very appropriate character, suggesting a palm wreath issuing from a conventional cusp. The ribbon is of pale blue with yellow edges, and, be it noted, the ribbon for the Baltic medal--illustrated facing page 296--granted to sailors and a few marines, is yellow, with pale-blue edges. The Baltic medals were all issued unnamed, as were also the Crimean; but some recipients of the latter had their name and regiment engraved privately. Others were officially named later, with the same stamps as were used for the Army General Service and early Kaffir War medals, in square Roman capitals.

Five bars in all were issued, but four is the greatest number awarded with any medal. The bars should read upward from the medal as follows: Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol, but a number of the medals were issued without the bars being fixed, and the order is consequently sometimes found to be inaccurate; care should therefore be taken to verify the record of the person named on the medal. Many medals were issued before the grant of the bar for Sebastopol at the end of October 1855, and many exist without this bar, although all who took part in the battles of Balaklava and Inkermann were entitled to it. The troops who landed in the Crimea after September 9th, 1855, the day Sebastopol fell, were not entitled to the medal unless they had been engaged against the enemy after that date.

=The Turkish Medals.=--The Turkish Government, in whose cause we took up arms, gave to the allies a silver medal suspended by a bright-red ribbon with green edges ½ in. wide running through a small ring. This is illustrated beside the British Crimean medal. These medals vary; they were intended for the British, French, and Sardinian soldiers, and had among the trophy of flags that of the country the recipient belonged to in the front, beside the Turkish flag, and in the exergue either CRIMEA 1855, LA CRIMEA 1855, or CRIMEE 1855, but as the ship which was bringing the medals to England foundered, many men received the French or Sardinian variety. These medals, 1⅖ in. in diameter, bear on the obverse the Sultan's cypher encircled by a laurel wreath, with the date in Arabic Hegira "1271."

They were generally issued unnamed, but I have several impressed.

=The French Medal.=--The Emperor of the French awarded crosses of the Legion of Honour to officers and men who had been conspicuous during the war, and the Médaille Militaire to about 500 non-commissioned officers and men who had distinguished themselves. The Duke of Wellington and Sir William Cordington, who was presented by Marshal Pellisier with his own medal, were the only two British officers to receive it. The medal is silver, the eagle and centre being gilt, and the band surrounding the head of Louis Napoleon enamelled, likewise that on the reverse, encircling VALEUR ET DISCIPLINE. The medal is suspended from an orange-coloured ribbon with green edges.

=The Sardinian Medal.=--The King of Sardinia awarded the Sardinian war medal to 400 officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the Army, sailors, and marines. The obverse has the arms of Savoy within a wreath of palm or laurel encircled by the legend AL VALORE MILITARE. On the reverse is a laurel wreath and the inscription SPEDIZIONE D'ORIENTE 1855-1856. The medal of silver is suspended by blue watered silk ribbon through a broad loop with a flat top, much the same as the handle of a flat-iron; medals of gunmetal with similar loops were given by the German States for certain campaigns.

=Turkish General Service Medal.=--The Turkish General Service medal, incorrectly called the "Danube Medal," was awarded by the Turkish Government in 1855 to the officers and 30 men comprising the crew of a British gunboat, and to a Colonel and 16 men of the Royal Engineers, for services rendered on the Danube in 1854. On the obverse is the cypher of the Sultan Abdil Mageed Khan II within a beaded circle, with flags and laurel branches, and above all a crescent and star. On the reverse is an elliptical star of twelve points, with a smaller one of six in the centre; underneath is a scroll bearing an inscription in Persian characters, reading "Mischani Iftikar" (Medal for Glory), and under all a small star between laurel wreaths. The medal is 1⅕ in. in diameter, and was suspended from a silver scroll bar by the same ribbon as used with the Turkish Crimean medal. The General Service medals were issued in gold and silver, gold to the officers and silver to the men.

=The Silistria Medal.=--Sir John Lintorn Arabin Simmonds, who was one of the officers to receive the medal referred to above, was awarded another in gold for his services in the defence of Silistria in 1854. Six other British officers also received the medal, but in silver. The obverse is the same as the General Service medal, but on the reverse is, within a beaded border, the fortress of Silistria, over which the Turkish flag is flying, with the Danube in the foreground. In the exergue on a scroll is SILISTRIA and the year of the Hegira "1271" in Arabic characters. The medal is 1⁹⁄₂₀ in. in diameter, and was suspended from a steel ring run through it by the same ribbon as used with the Turkish Crimean medal.

=Kars Medal.=--The Sultan of Turkey granted a silver medal for his brilliant defence of Kars to Sir William Fenwick Williams, and to several other British officers who had served with him, and also to his artillery servant. It has the same obverse as the Turkish General Service medal, but on the reverse is depicted the citadel and town of Kars, with the Turkish flag flying over the citadel, and underneath KARS and the date Hegira "1272" (1856). The medal, 1⁹⁄₂₀ in. in diameter, has a milled edge and was suspended from a straight silver bar and clip by 1½ in. crimson ribbon with green stripes at the side.