Telescope used by Lord Raglan in the Crimea, 1854-55
Trouble Ahead
NAM 1963-10-214
General Lord Raglan’s ill-phrased orders to Lord Lucan contributed to the destruction of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War (1854-56). Raglan had last seen active service at Waterloo and had spent 25 years at a desk as military secretary at the Horse Guards. At 65 years old he had never led an army in the field. His selection as commander of the Army in the East had been influenced by his skills as a diplomat, considered highly significant in developing a working relationship with Britain’s French allies.
Yet the talents that recommended his appointment were to cause difficulty in the field. Prior to the disaster at Balaklava, Raglan’s habit of phrasing commands as polite requests rather than orders caused confusion and life-threatening delays at the Battle of the Alma. Alexander Kinglake, who was an eye-witness at the Alma on 20 September 1854, recalled seeing Raglan demonstrate the use of this telescope to the French commander, Marshal Jacques Leroy de St Arnaud.
The order that launched the Charge of the Light Brigade, 1854
The Gallant 600
NAM 1962-11-4-3
The Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava on 25 October 1854 has come to symbolize both the bravery of the British soldier and the incompetence of the Army commanders during the Crimean War. In one of the most notorious military blunders in history, over 260 men out of the 673 who attacked the Russian guns were killed or wounded. The order, written by General Airey and approved by Lord Raglan, the Commander-in-Chief in the East, reads as follows:
‘Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front, follow the enemy & try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns. Troop Horse Artillery may accompany. French cavalry is on your left. Immediate. R. Airey’.
Disastrously, Airey’s orders were misunderstood, some of the blame resting with Captain Nolan, who took the message to the Light Brigade. The horsemen charged in the wrong direction straight towards the entire Russian army, rather than towards the guns the enemy had captured earlier. The casualties sustained, along with the loss of 475 horses, meant that the Light Brigade was almost wiped out as an operational force. But the legend of the ‘gallant 600’ remains deeply rooted in the public mind today. It has taken its place in the British popular memory alongside other ‘heroic defeats’ such as Dunkirk in 1940 and Arnhem in 1944.
Paper lantern used by Florence Nightingale, c1855
Women on top
NAM 1962-12-29
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was famous for her work at the Military Hospital at Scutari in Turkey during the Crimean War. During her rounds there she used this paper lantern. At first, the male Army doctors did not want Nightingale and her nurses at Scutari and were contemptuous of their ability to help. After the arrival of fresh casualties from the Battle of Inkerman in November 1854, the staff were soon fully stretched. They now accepted the nurses’ aid. The 'Lady-in-Chief', as Florence was called, improved medical and sanitary arrangements, set up food kitchens, washed linen and clothes, wrote home on behalf of the soldiers and introduced reading rooms. Before Nightingale nursing was not considered a respectable profession. With the exception of nuns, the women who worked as nurses were often ill trained and poorly disciplined.
Florence was determined to encourage educated, 'respectable' women into nursing. Her work in the Crimea set the standards for modern nursing and helped transform its public image. She became something of a legend in her own lifetime, but was publicity-shy and appalled at the adulation she received. One of the main creators of the Nightingale cult was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who immortalized her as the ‘Lady with a Lamp’ in his poem Santa Filomena:
‘A Lady with a lamp shall stand.
In the great history of the land,
A noble type pf good,
Heroic Womanhood’.
Early casting of a Victoria Cross, 1856
For Valour
NAM 1963-10-59
The year 2006 marks the 150th anniversary of the Royal Warrant that established the Victoria Cross (VC), the most famous gallantry award in the world. Since its inception, 1355 VCs have been awarded. The most recent was awarded to Private Johnson Beharry, 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment, for twice saving members of his unit from ambushes in May-June 2004 at Al-Amarah in Iraq.
Legend has it that along with the first 111 crosses awarded, it was cast from the bronze of Russian guns captured in the Crimea. There is, however, a possibility that the bronze cannon used was Chinese, having been captured during the First Opium War (1839-1842) and then stored at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. The Queen presented the first VCs to Crimean War veterans in June 1857 at Hyde Park.
Unlike its predecessors, the new award was open to all ranks and would only be presented for acts of supreme gallantry in the face of the enemy. As well as being the most democratic of awards, the VC is also the highest gallantry award for soldiers. It was not approached in status until 1940 when the George Cross was created for acts of gallantry not in the face of the enemy.
Battle of Isandlwana, 22 January 1879
Zulu triumph
NAM 1960-11-182
Charles Fripp’s depiction of the 24th Regiment’s last stand at Isandlwana symbolizes how the Victorian public preferred to view colonial warfare. The painting emphasizes the heroism of the soldiers rather than the fact that a well-equipped army had been defeated during the Zulu War (1879). The Victorian public was dumbstruck by the news that 'spear-wielding savages' had defeated the British.
Unsurprisingly, it was the subsequent defence of the Rorke’s Drift mission station, rather than the defeat at Isandlwana, that passed into British folklore. The award of 11 VCs during that heroic action has become legendary. This is partly due to the blockbuster film ‘Zulu’ (1964), which starred Michael Caine and Stanley Baker.
In a move designed to force the Zulus to cooperate in an imperial federation in South Africa, a field force under Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford had invaded Zululand in January 1879. Chelmsford took command of the central of the three invasion columns himself. He crossed the Buffalo River at Rorke’s Drift to seek out the Zulu army. Underestimating the Zulus’ speed of movement and fighting ability, he split his column. On 22 January 1879, his camp, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Pulleine, was surprised by the main Zulu army at Isandlwana. The camp was not prepared to resist attack and most of Pulleine’s 1,700 troops were killed.
At the end of May, Chelmsford re-invaded Zululand, this time with a reinforced army. Despite problems of supply, his force made steady progress. On 4 July 1879 he drew up his army in a square opposite the Zulu capital Ulundi. The Zulus attacked in their usual fashion but after less than an hour their charges petered out and the 17th Lancers drove them from the field. After the Zulu King Cetshwayo was captured, the British quickly suppressed his army and monarchy.
Photograph of Boer civilians in a British concentration camp, c1901
Total War
NAM 1992-03-194-36
During the Boer War (1899-1902), concentration camps were used to house Boer guerillas and their families. Over 20,000 of these people died from hunger and disease. The majority of inmates were people caught up in the British military drives. Both white and black people were cleared from the country to prevent Boer commandos obtaining supplies and information, and from using farms as positions from which to snipe at British troops.
It was also believed that the presence of Boer families at British camps would induce those in the field to surrender. In the event, the policy proved to be counter-productive. It aroused widespread criticism at home, not least because of the fatalities, and by relieving the Boers of responsibility for their families, allowed them to concentrate on fighting.
The primary cause for the deaths in the camps was incompetence and a lack of adequate medical care rather than any deliberate attempt to kill. Nevertheless, the use of camps as a weapon against civilian populations pointed the way ahead to the horrors of total war in the 20th century.
