British in Crimea
Gabriele Esposito describes the composition and organisation of British forces in the Crimean War of 1853-1856
Gabriele Esposito describes the composition and organisation of British forces in the Crimean War of 1853-1856.
In March 1854 Great Britain and France declared war on Russia, thus officially starting the Crimean War. The two great powers joined the Ottoman Empire, which had already been at war against Tsar Nicholas I since October 1853. The conflict was caused by the Russian expansionist policy in the Balkans, which led to the occupation of the Danubian Principalities (Moldavia and Wallachia, both vassal states of the Turks) in May 1853. Great Britain and France considered the Ottoman Empire as the only possible bulwark against the Russian advance to the Mediterranean Sea and the Dardanelles. For this reason they decided to join Turkey and sent their military forces to prevent further Russian victories. Moldavia and Wallachia were soon reconquered by the Ottomans and the military operations in the Balkans came to an end. At this point Britain and France decided to attack Crimea, in order to open a new front in the Black Sea. Their main objective was that of punishing Russia for her imperialistic ambitions, as well as damaging Russian naval power as much as possible. Despite their enthusiastic predictions, however, the Allies soon found themselves locked in a terrible campaign made of long and difficult siege operations. In March 1855 the military alliance confronting Russia was
expanded with the addition of Piedmont (officially known as Kingdom of
Sardinia), but the conflict continued until 1856 when some important victories of the allies, including the conquest of Sevastopol in late 1855, obliged the Russians to come to terms.
The infantry
At the beginning of the Crimean
War the British infantry consisted of three regiments of Foot Guards, three regiments of Fusiliers, 79 regiments of Line Infantry, seven regiments of Highland Infantry, eight regiments of Light Infantry and two Rifle Regiments. This general structure had not changed a lot since the days of the Napoleonic Wars, being based on six categories of foot troops. The regiments of Foot Guards were the elite of the British infantry and had a very long history, which dated back to the 17th century. They acted as the foot bodyguard of the Royal House but also had excellent combat capabilities. The 1st Foot Guards or Grenadier Guards had been created in 1665, the 2nd Foot Guards or Coldstream Guards had been created in 1650 and the 3rd Foot Guards or Scots Guards had been created in 1642. The backbone of these three regiments was represented by the NCOs (non-commissioned officers), professionals who were able to train their men in the best possible way. It was their duty to transform young recruits into battle-hardened veterans, by preserving the traditions of their unit. Obedience, endurance, loyalty and pride were the four key factors behind the elite status of the foot guardsmen. The latter’s uniforms and equipment always had to be in perfect order and completely clean, especially when performing guard duties
at Windsor or at Saint James’ Palace.
Most of the common soldiers serving in the Foot Guard regiments came from the militia and thus already had some experience of military life. Under guidance of the NCOs, however, they rapidly turned into professionals who were able to face any combat situation. Even more important than the NCOs were the officers who gave the Foot Guard regiments their real and distinctive character. Most of them came from important aristocratic families of land-owners, which had long military traditions. They were known as Gentlemen’s Sons who Wellington had called, “Fellows in silk stockings.” Despite their nicknames, however, they showed on most occasions that their military competence was unrivalled and that they were not lacking courage. Buying an officer’s commission in the Guard infantry regiments was extremely costly, meaning that only the young sons of the aristocracy or of the upper middle class could do this. Daily life, in time of peace, was very expensive for such officers.
It was spent in the most prestigious gentlemen’s clubs of London and obliged them to invest large sums of money in order to have the most elegant uniforms and to be part of high society.
The three regiments of Fusiliers, despite their peculiar denomination, had the same standard features of the normal line infantry units. They were, however, some of the most ancient foot
corps of the British Army. Originally the Fusiliers were infantry soldiers tasked with escorting the artillery train of the army but with the progression of time they became standard Line Infantrymen. The three regiments of Fusiliers existing in the British Army by 1854 were the Royal Fusiliers (created in 1685), the Royal Scots Fusiliers (created in 1678) and the Royal Welch Fusiliers (created in 1689). The three regiments of Foot Guards, as well as some of the lowestnumbered and therefore senior Line Infantry regiments, had three battalions each whereas the majority of the Line Infantry regiments consisted of two battalions. Each of the latter comprised eight field companies and one depot company plus a small staff. Of the field companies, two had an elite status and were known as flank companies since they were deployed on the flanks of the other ones. These were the Grenadier company (heavy infantry) and the Light Infantry company.
The Scottish regiments
The Scottish regiments of the British Army could be divided in two main categories: those recruited from the Lowlands and those recruited from the Highlands. The first were part of the British Line Infantry’s establishment, while the second had a separate establishment and wore peculiar Scottish uniforms. The internal organisation of the Highland infantry regiments was the same of the British Line Infantry units. Generally speaking, the Highlanders were excellent soldiers. Sometimes they could be less disciplined than their English comrades, but their courage and fitness were unrivalled. They could defend a position to the last man and were extremely proud of their regimental traditions. On many occasions they were able to achieve success even when facing larger forces and their morale was usually very high. The Highlanders were used to living in a poor and rocky countryside, where conditions of life were extremely harsh. As a result, they
could endure hardships of any kind while on campaign and could live for days with very little food. These mountaineers were able to move very rapidly on every kind of terrain and thus had excellent skirmishing abilities. In combat the Highlanders were prone to use their bayonets much more frequently than their English comrades, since their fighting spirit was still that of the ancient Celtic warriors. When needed, however, they could deliver very accurate fire upon the enemy ranks.
Both the Light Infantry regiments and the Rifle regiments of the British Army were created during the Napoleonic Wars. Until the beginning of the 19th century the British infantry comprised just a few light corps that were usually recruited from foreigners. The main difference between the Light Infantry regiments and the Rifle regiments was in their personal equipment. The first regiment were uniformed in red like the Line Infantry and were armed with a lighter version of the smoothbore M1842 Brown Bess musket used by the Line Infantrymen. The second regiment were uniformed in dark green and were armed with the rifled and short M1846 Brunswick rifle. The Rifle regiments could trace their origins back to the formation of the Experimental Corps of Riflemen in August 1800. The latter soon became an elite unit during the Napoleonic Wars, being tasked with conducting special operations and whose members all received specific training as marksmen. In practice the soldiers of the Rifle units acted as the elite sharpshooters, scouts and skirmishers of the British Army.
In 1816, as a result of their excellent performances during the Napoleonic Wars, the three existing battalions of Riflemen were separated from the rest of the British infantry and were organised as the autonomous Rifle Brigade. This was later expanded to four battalions with eight companies each and thus was re-structured as two regiments with two battalions each. In 1852 Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, took over the role of Colonel-in-Chief of the Rifle Brigade and did of his best to preserve the elite status of the unit during the Crimean War. The early success of the Rifles encouraged the British high command to implement a proper Light Infantry reform, by transforming several of the existing Line regiments into Light ones. This process began in 1803 and continued during the following decades. The British Light Infantry regiments were organised like the Line Infantry ones, on eight active companies and one depot company, but were specifically trained to fight in open order and to skirmish. During the Crimean War the new Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musket was gradually adopted as the standard weapon of the British infantry.
The Cavalry and Technical Corps
At the beginning of the Crimean War the British cavalry consisted of three regiments of Household Cavalry, seven regiments of Dragoon Guards, four regiments of Dragoons, four regiments of Light Dragoons, four regiments of Hussars and four regiments of Lancers. Like all the major European military forces of the 19th century the British Army also had some cavalry units that had guard status. These acted as the mounted bodyguard of the Royal Family and were considered to be the elite of the British heavy cavalry, since they were the only mounted regiments to use metal cuirasses. The three Guard corps of the British cavalry were the
1st Regiment of Life Guards (created in 1658), the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards (created in 1788) and the Royal Horse Guards (created in 1650). The
first two were uniformed in red, while the latter was uniformed in dark blue. They had received cuirasses in 1821 after the British high command was greatly impressed by the combat capabilities of the French cuirassiers during the Battle of Waterloo. Until 1820 the Royal Horse Guards were not formally part of the Household Cavalry, but they already enjoyed a series of privileges deriving from their special status.
At the outbreak of the Crimean War the British heavy cavalry consisted of two distinct categories of units: the Dragoon Guards and the Dragoons. From a formal point of view, the former were made up of heavy horsemen and the latter were made up of medium horsemen. In practice, however, there was very little difference between the two categories since both of them were trained and equipped to act as shock cavalry.
The Dragoon Guards were first created in 1746, when the general organisation of the British heavy cavalry underwent a radical reform. From 1660 the English cavalry had been made up of horse regiments and of Dragoon regiments.
The horse regiments were equipped with cuirasses until the last decades of the 17th century and consisted of proper heavy cavalry. The Dragoons were originally raised as mounted infantry corps that were not tasked with conducting frontal charges. With the progression of time, most notably during the first decades of the 18th century, the Dragoons gradually lost their original nature and transformed themselves into normal line cavalry. At the same time, the horse regiments discarded their metal cuirasses and started to use lighter personal equipment. As a result of these changes, the existing tactical differences that distinguished the horse regiments from the Dragoon ones practically ceased to exist. Both the heavy horsemen and the Dragoons, in fact, did not wear cuirasses and were now employed to perform the same duties. As a result, in 1746, the British government decided to transform the horse regiments into Dragoon ones in order to cut economic costs and to eliminate a tactical differentiation that no longer existed in practice. The heavy mounts of the horse regiments had a considerable cost but produced no real advantages during field battles. In addition, the soldiers of the horse regiments had the privilege of being paid much more than those of the Dragoon units. The new Dragoon units created by converting horse regiments received the peculiar denomination of Dragoon Guards, but in practice they were equal to the standard Dragoon regiments under all aspects.
The first regiments of Light Dragoons of the British Army were formed in 1759, while the first regiments of Hussars were organised during 1806-1807 by converting some of the existing units of Light Dragoons. During the early phase of the Napoleonic Wars the French hussars dominated the battlefields of Europe and thus became famous for their dash. As a result, following the French example, the British Army also created its own units of hussars.
The first regiments of Lancers of the British Army were created in 1816, by converting some of the existing units of Light Dragoons. The British superior officers were greatly impressed by the combat performances of the French lancers during the Battle of Waterloo and thus decided to have some cavalry corps equipped with lances inside their military forces as well. All the British mounted regiments consisted of four squadrons plus one regimental depot.
The Royal Artillery consisted of one regiment of Foot Artillery with 12 battalions and one brigade of Horse Artillery with eight batteries. Each of the foot artillery battalions had eight batteries; one of the Horse Artillery’s batteries was equipped with rockets. Each battery consisted of five guns and one howitzer; the foot batteries had 12-pounder guns and 5.5cm howitzers, while the mounted batteries had 9-pounder guns and 4.5cm howitzers. The technical corps of the British Army were completed by the Royal Engineers and by the Royal Sappers and Miners. The former was a corps of specialist officers, while the latter provided the labour force for the Royal Engineers and was composed of NCOs/soldiers. The Royal Sappers and Miners had been reorganised in 1837 on 12 independent companies with 100 NCOs/rankers each.
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