Showing posts with label Crimean War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crimean War. Show all posts
Friday, 19 September 2014
Glasgow Cathedral - Crimean War memorial
On the walls of Glasgow Cathedral are a number of memorials relating to men who died in different campaigns.
This memorial is dedicated to local men who died during the Crimean War between 1854 and 1856.
The men surved with the ninety-third Sutherland Highlanders. Their stand against the Russians on 25 October 1854 has since been referred to as The Thin Red Line.
Friday, 11 April 2014
Crimean War - Thomas Bruce Hutton
Family history is one way to explore and help to understand military events.
Thomas Bruce Hutton (1834-1914) was born in India where his father was a captain in the British army serving in India until 1841. The family then returned to Scotland and Thomas was listed in the 1851 Scottish Census as a scholar living in Lanarkshire. He became a professional soldier and served in the British Army from his enlistment in 1855 aged 20 to his resignation from the service in 1872 aged 38. During that time he served with the 21st (Royal Scots) Fusiliers, the 61st (South Gloucester) Regiment of Foot and the 100th (Prince of Wales Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot. Deployments were to the Crimean War, Indian Mutiny, Canada, West Indies and West Africa as well as time spent at Aldershot in England training soldiers.
Thomas Bruce Hutton enlisted as an ensign in the 21st Royal Scots Fusiliers on10 January 1855 when he was 20. By July 1855 he was a lieutenant and on his way to the Crimean War (1853-1856). His first involvement was at the Siege of Sevastopol which took place from 25 September 1854 to 8 September 1855. Thomas would have arrived towards the end of the siege and during the final battle for Sevastopol on 8 September the regiment was in reserve and not involved in the actual battle.
With four other regiments from the Fourth Division the Fusiliers then took part in the bombardment of Kinburn on 7 October. The regiment then returned to the Crimea until the end of May 1856. From there they went to Malta before serving in the West Indies. For his services in the Crimea, Thomas received a medal and clasp from the Queen, and also a Turkish medal.
Details of Thomas' military history were listed in an article in the Argus on Saturday 11 February 1882 when Colonel Hutton was invited by the Government to take temporary command of the volunteer forces in Victoria. Information about military units can often be found on line. In this case
History of the Royal Scots Fusiliers is a book by Buchan available online and there is a Wikipedia article on the 100th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Foot.
The Crimea Medal was a campaign medal of the British Forces awarded for taking part in campaigns against the Russians on the Crimean peninsula and surrounding area from 28th March 1854 to 30th March 1856. Clasp-Sebastopol.
He was also awarded the Turkish Crimea Medal. The Sultan of Turkey awarded the medal to allied military personnel involved in the Crimean War.
Both of these images were found via a Google search the website, Forces War Records also has images of a number of British medals from various campaigns. They also have brief records relating to British soldiers who have fought in various wars including the Crimean War. This is a paid site and when I took out a one month subscription I found a little information. Like most databases additional records are constantly being added.
Thomas Bruce Hutton (1834-1914) was born in India where his father was a captain in the British army serving in India until 1841. The family then returned to Scotland and Thomas was listed in the 1851 Scottish Census as a scholar living in Lanarkshire. He became a professional soldier and served in the British Army from his enlistment in 1855 aged 20 to his resignation from the service in 1872 aged 38. During that time he served with the 21st (Royal Scots) Fusiliers, the 61st (South Gloucester) Regiment of Foot and the 100th (Prince of Wales Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot. Deployments were to the Crimean War, Indian Mutiny, Canada, West Indies and West Africa as well as time spent at Aldershot in England training soldiers.
Thomas Bruce Hutton enlisted as an ensign in the 21st Royal Scots Fusiliers on10 January 1855 when he was 20. By July 1855 he was a lieutenant and on his way to the Crimean War (1853-1856). His first involvement was at the Siege of Sevastopol which took place from 25 September 1854 to 8 September 1855. Thomas would have arrived towards the end of the siege and during the final battle for Sevastopol on 8 September the regiment was in reserve and not involved in the actual battle.
With four other regiments from the Fourth Division the Fusiliers then took part in the bombardment of Kinburn on 7 October. The regiment then returned to the Crimea until the end of May 1856. From there they went to Malta before serving in the West Indies. For his services in the Crimea, Thomas received a medal and clasp from the Queen, and also a Turkish medal.
Details of Thomas' military history were listed in an article in the Argus on Saturday 11 February 1882 when Colonel Hutton was invited by the Government to take temporary command of the volunteer forces in Victoria. Information about military units can often be found on line. In this case
History of the Royal Scots Fusiliers is a book by Buchan available online and there is a Wikipedia article on the 100th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Foot.
The Crimea Medal was a campaign medal of the British Forces awarded for taking part in campaigns against the Russians on the Crimean peninsula and surrounding area from 28th March 1854 to 30th March 1856. Clasp-Sebastopol.
Crimean War - locating information
Recent developments with Russia annexing the Crimean Peninsula from the Ukraine has raised interest in the dispute in the area in the mid nineteenth century.
The Crimean War (October 1853-February1856) was fought between the Russians and an unlikely partnership consisting primarily of British, French and Ottoman (Turkish) armies. The Ottoman Empire was in decline and the Russians wanted access to Ottoman territories, particularly to gain access to the Mediterranean Sea. The British and the French did not want Russia to move into this area especially if it resulted in a risk to shipping through the Mediterranean. There were also disputes about access to religious sites in the area. Most of the battles were fought on the Crimean Peninsula. Major battles and sieges included Sevastopol, Balaklava and Inkerman. The icy winters played a crucial part in the sieges with all the armies suffering from the extreme cold. Major military tactical blunders on both sides were also prevalent during the campaigns in the Crimea. The end of the Siege at Sevastopol on the 8th September 1855 was one such example with the French taking the Malakhov which was their target but the British failing to take the Redan. Some of the British soldiers did succeed in scaling the fortifications but most remained outside refusing to enter, therefore providing no support to those who had breached the walls. Although the Russians later evacuated the city and the Russian naval base at Sevastopol was destroyed, the victory of the French further compounded the embarrassment of the British defeat. The war finally came to an end after the Austrians told the Russians that they would enter the war on the side of the Allies if Russia did not accept an ultimatum by 18 January 1856. Points included freedom for ships of all nations to sail on the Danube and the Black Sea, plus Russia relinquishing the protectorate of Wallachia, Moldavia and Serbia and also over the Orthodox population of the Turkish Empire. Other issues could be raised at a Peace Conference. At the end of the war all parties had suffered severe casualties for only marginal changes to the situation before the war.
The Crimean War was noted for the use of new techniques in warfare including the use of railway and the electric telegraph. Florence Nightingale gained prominence during this period with changes introduced in the treatment of British wounded soldiers. The events of the war were also documented extensively with written reports in newspapers and photographs and other illustrations keeping the public aware of developments.
A number of websites provide a summary of events during the Crimean War. A selection includes:
The National Archives (UK) provides a summary of the events leading up to and during the fighting. The site also contains copies of maps and documents relating to the events.
The Economist (March 18, 2014) provided a summary of events leading to the war while on 24 March 2014 it published an article originally written on 25 March 1854 about the possibilities of war with Russia.
BBC History has an article by Andrew Lambert about the Crimean War.
Many books have been written on the topic. Two books that may currently be available in public libraries are:
Fletcher, Ian and Natalia Ishchinko. (2008) War in the Crimea: an illustrated history
Kerr, Paul et al. (1997) The Crimean War
It is probable that additional material will be available as recent events have probably renewed interest in events that occurred 160 years ago.
As noted earlier, British newspapers carried regular reports about what was happening. Many of these newspapers have now been digitised and can be searched online via databases such as The Times Digital Archive (1785-1985), Nineteenth Century British Newspapers and The British Newspaper Archives. Many libraries subscribe to these databases making the information available to their members.
Trove which includes digitised Australian newspapers is another place to search. Using the advanced search and the term Crimean War limited by the years 1853 to 1856 provided 118 articles. Searching for articles including the term Crimea includes thousands more If interested in a particular battle type the name of the battle - Sevastopol for example - for articles restricted to that topic.
The National Archives UK contains records relating to the Crimean War. It is best to begin with the information sheet explaining what is available in the archive and elsewhere and how to locate the records.
The Crimean War (October 1853-February1856) was fought between the Russians and an unlikely partnership consisting primarily of British, French and Ottoman (Turkish) armies. The Ottoman Empire was in decline and the Russians wanted access to Ottoman territories, particularly to gain access to the Mediterranean Sea. The British and the French did not want Russia to move into this area especially if it resulted in a risk to shipping through the Mediterranean. There were also disputes about access to religious sites in the area. Most of the battles were fought on the Crimean Peninsula. Major battles and sieges included Sevastopol, Balaklava and Inkerman. The icy winters played a crucial part in the sieges with all the armies suffering from the extreme cold. Major military tactical blunders on both sides were also prevalent during the campaigns in the Crimea. The end of the Siege at Sevastopol on the 8th September 1855 was one such example with the French taking the Malakhov which was their target but the British failing to take the Redan. Some of the British soldiers did succeed in scaling the fortifications but most remained outside refusing to enter, therefore providing no support to those who had breached the walls. Although the Russians later evacuated the city and the Russian naval base at Sevastopol was destroyed, the victory of the French further compounded the embarrassment of the British defeat. The war finally came to an end after the Austrians told the Russians that they would enter the war on the side of the Allies if Russia did not accept an ultimatum by 18 January 1856. Points included freedom for ships of all nations to sail on the Danube and the Black Sea, plus Russia relinquishing the protectorate of Wallachia, Moldavia and Serbia and also over the Orthodox population of the Turkish Empire. Other issues could be raised at a Peace Conference. At the end of the war all parties had suffered severe casualties for only marginal changes to the situation before the war.
The Crimean War was noted for the use of new techniques in warfare including the use of railway and the electric telegraph. Florence Nightingale gained prominence during this period with changes introduced in the treatment of British wounded soldiers. The events of the war were also documented extensively with written reports in newspapers and photographs and other illustrations keeping the public aware of developments.
A number of websites provide a summary of events during the Crimean War. A selection includes:
The National Archives (UK) provides a summary of the events leading up to and during the fighting. The site also contains copies of maps and documents relating to the events.
The Economist (March 18, 2014) provided a summary of events leading to the war while on 24 March 2014 it published an article originally written on 25 March 1854 about the possibilities of war with Russia.
BBC History has an article by Andrew Lambert about the Crimean War.
Many books have been written on the topic. Two books that may currently be available in public libraries are:
Fletcher, Ian and Natalia Ishchinko. (2008) War in the Crimea: an illustrated history
Kerr, Paul et al. (1997) The Crimean War
It is probable that additional material will be available as recent events have probably renewed interest in events that occurred 160 years ago.
As noted earlier, British newspapers carried regular reports about what was happening. Many of these newspapers have now been digitised and can be searched online via databases such as The Times Digital Archive (1785-1985), Nineteenth Century British Newspapers and The British Newspaper Archives. Many libraries subscribe to these databases making the information available to their members.
Trove which includes digitised Australian newspapers is another place to search. Using the advanced search and the term Crimean War limited by the years 1853 to 1856 provided 118 articles. Searching for articles including the term Crimea includes thousands more If interested in a particular battle type the name of the battle - Sevastopol for example - for articles restricted to that topic.
The National Archives UK contains records relating to the Crimean War. It is best to begin with the information sheet explaining what is available in the archive and elsewhere and how to locate the records.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)