Crimean War

In the spring of 1854, British troops and their French allies were sailing east to the Black Sea, to help the Turks fight off Russia’s advances. The British Army that sailed that spring had been described as the finest ever to leave Britain’s shores.

But within months those British troops were dying in scores, falling victim to cholera and dysentery epidemics. The army’s medical support was found to be scandalously inadequate. Battles were mismanaged, leading to infamous blunders like the Charge of the Light Brigade. When winter came, the archaic army support services meant British troops were left frozen and on the brink of starvation.

The British Army faced total collapse, but partly with the help of volunteers like Florence Nightingale and The Times’ Crimean War Fund, by spring 1855 the army was able to stagger back to its feet and resume the fight against the Russians. The final act of the war was a bloody assault on the well-defended port of Sevastopol. The British attack failed, but French success forced the Russians to evacuate this significant naval base.

This programme uses the letters, diaries and journals of soldiers who fought in the Crimea to tell the story in their own words. It is largely illustrated with the paintings and drawings of soldiers and artists who were there. These are from the National Army Museum’s archive, and many have never before been seen by the public.