A History of the Nineteenth Century, Year by Year Part 58

[Sidenote: Liprandi's victory]

The whole Brigade would have been wiped out after the repulse, when the Russian cavalry rode in pursuit, had not several squadrons of French cuira.s.siers ridden to the rescue. The fact that the Russians retained the hills which they had captured justified Liprandi in claiming the victory.

[Sidenote: Preparing for battle]

In November, the French infantry in the Crimea numbered 81,000, the British 16,000, and the Turkish 11,000. Brave as the Moslems undoubtedly were, they were not permitted to demonstrate their value in subsequent encounters.

While the allies strengthened their batteries and replenished their magazines, the Russians likewise fortified their position and gathered reinforcements. It was a race on both sides for the first delivery of the attack. On November 4, the allied commanders definitely arranged for a cannonade and an a.s.sault which was to place Sebastopol at their mercy. The Russians, recognizing their peril, completed the a.s.sembly of their forces to attack the allies and forestall them. In all, Menzikov could oppose 115,000 soldiers to the 65,000 available men of the allies. The Russian commander a.s.signed the main attack to General Soimonov with 19,000 infantry and 38 guns and to General Paulov with 16,000 infantry and 96 guns. The regiments in the valley of the Tchernaya, formerly commanded by Liprandi, but now led by Gortschakov, were "to support the general attack by drawing the enemy's forces toward them." The garrison of Sebastopol was to cover with its artillery fire the right flank of the attacking force. After effecting their junction, the two divisions were to place themselves under General Danneberg's command.

[Sidenote: Inkermann]

Soimonov issued under cover of a thick fog from the fortress before dawn on November 5, and to the surprise of the allies began the attack on the English left. The timely arrival of reinforcements under Buller enabled the British to repel the Russians. Soimonov was left dead on the field. The attack of Paulov on the right was no more successful. The Russians were here repulsed with frightful loss. When Danneberg arrived on the scene he found that, with Paulov's battalions on Mount Inkermann and with those of Soimonov, he could recommence the battle with 19,000 men and 90 guns. Ten thousand of these men were hurled against the English centre and right by Danneberg. The carnage was frightful. Between the hostile lines rose a rampart of fallen men. The Russians would probably have swept away the British by the sheer force of greater numbers, had they not been taken in the flank and repulsed by a French regiment which arrived just in time to save their English comrades.

[Sidenote: A dear victory]

Although the Russian attacking force had been diminished to 6,000 men, it was once more resolutely launched against the enemy, this time against the centre and left of the allied armies. So impetuous was the a.s.sault, that for a time the Russians carried all before them. But a simultaneous, irresistible advance of the French and English not only repulsed the attacking force, but drove it off the field. Shortly before noon the battle was decided. The heavy losses suffered by the Russians enabled the allies to oppose greater numbers of men against Danneberg's broken battalions and his still unused reserve, and to make use of their guns, now for the first time superior in number to the Russian ordnance. The battle of Inkermann closed with no grand charge on the one side, nor wild flight on the other.

When the Russians saw that success was hopeless, they withdrew gradually, with no attempt on the part of the wearied allies to convert the repulse into a rout. On both sides, men had been ruthlessly sacrificed.

[Sidenote: Crimean horrors]

Inkermann was followed by a gloomy winter. The Black Sea was swept by terrible storms which destroyed transport ships laden with stores for the army. The horses that charged at Balaklava became unfit for service; the men who had fought at Inkermann languished in field hospitals. In the wretchedly organized lazarets at Scutari the sick and wounded died by scores for lack of proper medical attendance. Shameful frauds were perpetrated in filling the contracts for preserved meats. With grim humor "Punch" exclaimed: "One man's preserved meat is another man's poison."

After the harrowing misery that prevailed in camp had been pictured in the London newspapers, something like system was finally established in the hospitals by the energy of Miss Florence Nightingale.

[Sidenote: Sardinia's offered help]

Balaklava and Inkermann had a profound effect upon the diplomatic negotiation of the Powers. England and France attempted to induce Austria and Prussia to take arms against the Czar. But Prussia would do nothing without the Confederation; and Austria would do nothing without Prussia.

Buol-Schauenstein, the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, would gladly have mediated; but the prospects of success were not rosy. To the annoyance of Austria, Piedmont, which had maintained its position in Italy despite Austria, offered to take part in the war. Austria saw that she must now act quickly if she wished to preserve her European prestige. On December 2, she signed a treaty with England and France binding herself not to negotiate separately with the Czar; to defend the princ.i.p.alities which she had occupied in accordance with her compact with Turkey, after their evacuation by the Russians; and to deliberate with the Powers as to the best course to be pursued if the war were not ended by January 1, 1855. The treaty was intended merely to thwart Piedmont.

1855

[Sidenote: Crimean war scandals]

[Sidenote: Parliamentary inquiry]

Complaints of neglect and maladministration in the Crimea waxed ever louder. The reports of the war correspondents at the front aroused indignation in London and Paris. Now the London "Times" came out with a leading article which produced a profound sensation throughout England. The burden of it was a bitter complaint that "the n.o.blest army ever sent from our sh.o.r.es has been sacrificed to the grossest mismanagement. Incompetency, lethargy, aristocratic hauteur, official indifference, favor, routine, perverseness and stupidity reign, revel, and riot in the camp before Sebastopol, in the harbor of Balaklava, in the hospitals of Scutari, and how much nearer home we do not venture to say. We say it with extremest reluctance, no one sees or hears anything of the Commander-in-Chief.

Officers who landed on the 14th of September, and have incessantly been engaged in all the operations of the siege, are not even acquainted with the face of their commander." The exposures of the "Times" were taken up in Parliament. Already Lord John Russell had urged upon the Earl of Aberdeen the necessity of having the War Minister in the House of Commons, and recommended that Lord Palmerston should be intrusted with the portfolio of war. The Prime Minister refused to recommend the proposed change to the Queen, on the ground that it would be unfair to the Duke of Newcastle, against whom, he said, no positive defect had been proved. As soon as Parliament a.s.sembled on January 25, the opposition moved for a commission of inquiry "into the condition of our army before Sebastopol, and into the conduct of those departments whose duty it has been to minister to the wants of that army." Lord John Russell at once wrote to Lord Aberdeen that since this motion could not be resisted, and was sure to involve a censure of the War Department, he preferred to tender his resignation. The retirement of the leaders of the House of Commons served to paralyze the government's resistance. After a debate of two nights the motion for an inquiry was accepted by 305 against 148 votes. As Mr. Molesworth, who was present, wrote:

[Sidenote: Aberdeen's Ministry defeated]

"Never, perhaps, had a government been more decisively defeated. When the numbers were announced, the House seemed to be surprised, and almost stunned by its own act. There was no cheering; but for a few moments a dead silence, followed by a burst of derisive laughter. The Ministers of course resigned."

[Sidenote: Palmerston, Premier]

Lord John Russell and Lord Derby, each in turn, tried to form a Ministry, but both failed. Lord Palmerston was then called in, and succeeded in rallying a Cabinet composed largely of the members of the old Administration. Thus Lord Granville, Earl Grey, the Duke of Argyll, Lord Clarendon and William E. Gladstone were retained. The chief change was the appointment of Lord Panmure to take the place of the Duke of Newcastle as Secretary of War. Lord Panmure, better known as Fox Maule, had already served as Minister of War during the six years of Lord Russell's administration, and had shown himself thoroughly capable in that post.

Commissions of inquiry were now sent to the Crimea. At the same time diplomatic conferences were reopened at Vienna.

[Sidenote: Cavour's master-stroke]

The evident insincerity of Count Buol stirred up a hornet's nest of indignation. The people of England and France became incensed as they saw that Austria showed no inclination to fight. Prussia flatly refused to a.s.sist Austria in any warlike undertaking. Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia took advantage of the situation to join the allies. On April 21 he sent 15,000 men to the Crimea.

During the diplomatic parleys of the Powers, the siege of Sebastopol wearily dragged along. The commissariat and land-transport systems broke down. The armies were weakened by cholera, cold, and starvation.

Negotiations for peace were set on foot by Austria. A conference was opened at Vienna under promising auspices.

[Sidenote: Death of Emperor Nicholas]

[Sidenote: The Four Points]

Czar Nicholas, with whom the war was a personal grievance, died on March 2--of pulmonary apoplexy, reported the physicians--of bitter disappointment and despair, claimed his people. His son, Alexander II., peace-loving as he was known to be, did not venture to show himself less of a true Russian than his father. The Conference proved a failure. Lord John Russell, England's representative, was instructed to insist upon the admission of Turkey into the Concert of Powers. To secure this end, four princ.i.p.al points were to be considered, now famous under the name of the Four Points--the fate of the Danube princ.i.p.alities, the free navigation of the Danube, the limitation of Russian supremacy in the Black Sea, and the preservation of the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. The attempt to limit Russia's supremacy in the Black Sea was the chief point upon which the Powers could not agree.

[Sidenote: Changes at the front]

The operations in the Crimea were vigorously renewed. Lord Raglan died and was succeeded by General Simpson. Long before him, old Marshal St. Arnaud was carried away by disease. His post was taken by Canrobert, who afterward resigned in favor of Pelissier. On August 16, the Russians under Liprandi made a desperate effort to raise the siege by an attack on the allies. The a.s.sault was made on the French divisions and on the Sardinian contingent.

Liprandi was foiled. Northern Italy was in a delirium of joy when the news came that the banner of Piedmont had been carried to victory over a great Power, side by side with the flag of France. The far-sightedness of Cavour's audacious policy was now fully appreciated.

[Sidenote: Russian works a.s.saulted]

[Sidenote: Zouaves storm the Malakov]

[Sidenote: British beaten off]

[Sidenote: Sebastopol yielded to allies]

[Sidenote: Cost of the great siege]

The repulse proved fatal to the Russians. Nearer and nearer the French drew to the city. But the ingenious Todleben threw up works which also brought the Russians closer to the enemy. Sometimes it seemed as if the allies were the besieged and not the besiegers. Malakov Tower and the Mamelon battery in front of it were the scenes of b.l.o.o.d.y conflicts. Night sorties were made and repelled. On June 7, the English a.s.saulted the quarries in front of the Redan, and the French a.s.sailed the Mamelon. Both attempts were successful.

On the 18th, a fierce attack was made on the Redan and the Malakov batteries, which resulted in failure, because the French did not act with sufficient precision. A simultaneous a.s.sault was made on the Malakov and the Redan on September 5. The French upon capturing the Malakov were to hoist their flag, and thereby signal to the English when to move against the Redan. A brilliant success was won by the Zouaves. Their tricolor waved over the ramparts fifteen minutes after they had started to scale the steep heights. The task of the English troops proved more difficult. They were compelled to advance under a galling fire, but stormed the parapets despite the resistance which they encountered. The attacking force, however, was too small; reinforcements did not come in time, and the remnant of the party was compelled to withdraw. It was the story of Balaklava told over again with b.l.o.o.d.y emphasis--the story of splendid courage on the part of the men, of wretched generalship on the part of their commanders. After the attack, the Russians withdrew from the south side of Sebastopol. That portion of the city had been so thoroughly bombarded that Gortschakov could no longer hold out. "It is not Sebastopol that we have left to them, but the burning ruins of the town, to which we ourselves set fire," wrote the Russian commander after his brave defence. He could indeed boast that later generations would "recall with pride" the great siege and its stirring events. The investment had lasted eleven months. It involved the construction of seventy miles of trenches and the employment of 60,000 fascines, 80,000 gabions, and 1,000,000 sandbags. One and one-half million sh.e.l.ls and shot were fired into the town from the cannon of the besiegers.

The Russian forces in and about Sebastopol numbered 150,000; their losses sustained in its defence amounted, in killed, wounded and missing, to 90,142. The allied armies numbered 80,650 French, 43,000 English, and 20,000 Turks in January, 1855. The British troops suffered terribly from disease. The forty-one English infantry battalions, which embarked originally, mustered 36,923, and were reinforced by 27,884. Their strength at the conclusion of hostilities was 653 less than it was at the beginning.

The Sardinians suffered proportionately. The wastage, due princ.i.p.ally to disease, thus amounted to 28,537 men.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BALAKLAVA--"OUT OF THE MOUTH OF h.e.l.l--"

Painted by Elizabeth Thompson (Lady Butler) Copyright. By permission of Henry Graves & Co., Ltd., London]

[Sidenote: The defense of Kars]

With the fall of Sebastopol the war may be said to have ended. A brilliant chapter which had little effect on the Crimean campaign, partly because it occurred after the fall of Sebastopol, partly because it concerned chiefly the Armenians, was the long defence of Kars by Colonel Williams and Wa.s.sif Pasha against an overwhelming Russian army under General Muraviev. Williams st.u.r.dily held his ground, bravely repulsed a violent attack in which the Russians lost over 5,000 men, and surrendered on November 27, with all the honors of war, only when starvation stared his little garrison in the face.

[Sidenote: First ironclads before Kinburn]

[Sidenote: Success of first trial]

Hostilities still continued for a time in the Crimea. The allied fleet was sent to bombard various sea forts. The most important of these naval operations from a historical standpoint was the expedition against Kinburn, for here it was that the modern ironclad was first tried. On September 5, 1854, Napoleon had ordered the construction of five armored floating batteries, which embodied the results obtained in the tests of plating made before the War Ministry's representatives at Vincennes. The ships were of 1,400 tons displacement, were armed with eighteen 50-pounder smoothbores, and protected by four inches of iron armor. They were the prototypes of the later ironclads. Not without some misgivings three of these batteries were sent to the Crimea to join the allied fleet under Admirals Lyons and Bruat.

The English squadron consisted of six line-of-battle ships, seventeen frigates and sloops, ten gunboats, six mortar-boats and ten transports. The French fleet, besides the three armored batteries mentioned, included four line-of-battle ships, three corvettes, four despatch boats, twelve gun boats and five mortar-boats. The combined fleets prepared to attack the Russian works at Kinburn. On October 18, the bombardment began. The ironclads steamed up to within 800 yards of the main fort; the other ships took up positions at distances varying from 1,200 to 2,800 yards. Without appreciable effect the Russian 32-pound and 18-pound shot and sh.e.l.l dropped into the sea from the iron plating of the French ships. Whatever injury was sustained was caused by the entrance of shot and splinters through the portholes. Unable to withstand the well-directed fire of their invulnerable enemy, the Russians hoisted the white flag, after having lost 45 killed and 130 wounded. The allies lost but two killed and had but forty-five wounded--all on board the armored ships. "Everything may be expected of these formidable engines of war," wrote Admiral Bruat in his report. The Black Sea was the cradle of the modern ironclad.

[Sidenote: Achievements in Science and Letter]