BMMHS Quiz – The Crimean War

Agincourt, in 1415. Crecy took place on 26^th August 1346 and Poitiers on 19^th September 1356.

Queen’s Dragoon Guards: neither of the predecessor regiments – King’s Dragoon Guards and Queen’s Bays – participated in the battle.

General Sir James Simpson, who was himself succeeded by Codrington at the end of the war. Cambridge commanded the 1^st Division but resigned in late 1854 in protest at Raglan’s decision to keep troops on the exposed heights about Sevastopol in the depths of winter.

General Sir George Cathcart, former Adjutant-General, victor in the 8^th Cape Frontier War and one-time appointed successor to Raglan. The spot where he dies was later known as ‘Cathcart’s Hill’. No prize for seeing the Hi De Hi reference in the names!

Alexis Soyer – he designed the Soyer Stove, still in British Army use as late as the early 1980’s.

The Soldier’s Battle’ – fought in thick fog, the Russian attack quickly broke down into confused fighting generally out of control of higher command. Twelve VCs were won, and 49 Battery, RA, and a Company of the Grenadier Guards bear the ‘Inkerman’ title.

Evpatoria: a seaport on the north west coast of the Crimea, it had been occupied before the landings north of Sevastopol and was held by 20,000 Ottoman troops. The Tsar feared it would be used for landing a force to cut off the neck of the Crimea from Russia. The attack was a disaster, with a loss of over 1,500 from a strength of 19,000 – probably more were lost.

The British Hotel, sited at Spring Hill, near Kadikoi, on the route between Balaklava and Sevastopol. Seacole (of mixed-race parentage) was a nurse but had been rejected for service, probably because of her colour.

A railway. 10 kilometres in length, it was built, mostly by Irish navvies, in around two months. At the end of the war it was bought with the intention of establishing a line between Jaffa and Jerusalem, but ended up being sold as scrap.

General Scarlett, late 5^th Dragoon Guards. General Sir George Brown commanded the Light Division, while General Sir George White commanded British Forces in Natal in 1899.

Finland: the islands – then controlled by Russia – commanded the entrance to the Gulf of Finland; an Anglo-French naval force attempted to attack the Russian naval base at Kronstadt but found the defences too strong. The 1856 Treaty of Paris demilitarised the islands, which became an autonomous (though Swedish-speaking) part of Finland in 1921.

Dryad. Still living on his yacht, Lucan missed the start of the Battle of Inkerman, asking the journalist William Russell what was going on as he came ashore.