For Russia, the Crimean War is such a significant event that there is even a monument to the battle of Inkerman. But what is this historical event? Many years have passed since then. Not every modern person can tell about this event. We will try to fill this gap.
More than a century and a half ago, the famous Inkerman battle took place. Under the leadership of generals Soimonov and Pavlov, the British army was attacked. November 5, 1854 is the official date of the Inkerman battle. The British were in a hopeless situation, only the intervention of the French general Bosque saved them. The Russian army was forced to retreat due to heavy losses. The general assault on Sevastopol had to be postponed for a day.
Background. Reasons for the Inkerman battle
In England and France they were already loudly talking about the victory over Balaclava, which was more like a rout, and the defeat of one of the English brigades. The Crimean campaign was extremely disappointing. The capitals of England and France wanted an immediate attack by Sevastopol in order to rehabilitate themselves. Subsequently, this battle was called the battle of Inkerman.
Assumptions
The command of the Russian army had long suspected that they would storm Sevastopol. General Menshikov was well informed about all the actions of the enemy from deserters. It became clear that the fourth bastion, the fourth battalion of the Volyn regiment and the two companies of the sixth infantry battalion (consisting of 800 soldiers) were not enough to repel an enemy attack. But the strengthening of the army was not possible, since the bastion did not have sufficiently stable defensive fortifications that could accommodate a large garrison. It would be foolish to send fighters to be shot.
Intelligence service
At the end of October, a test raid was carried out from Sevastopol to Sapun-gora in order to understand whether a military attack on this territory was possible. For this purpose, the Russian army allocated a detachment of six battalions of the Butyr and Borodino regiments with four light guns. The operation was conducted under the leadership of the commander of the Butyrsky regiment, Colonel Fedorov. The Russian army, having passed Kylen-beam, went to the English division of Lesia Evens. The British troops, having seen the advance of the Russians, grouped their 11 battalions with 18 guns. Bosque sent five battalions to help. Despite the numerical and technical superiority of the enemy, as well as the difficult terrain, Fedorov’s detachment attacked the French and English troops anyway, which was an absolute mistake. Colonel Fedorov was seriously wounded, the losses of the Russian army amounted to 270 people, including 25 officers.
Were the forces equal
It is worth saying that the advantages before the battle of Inkerman on both sides were different - Russia outnumbered the enemy, and the British took a rather advantageous position. The elevations between the Black River and Kylen-beam were part of a plateau. Between the upper reaches of the Kilen-beam and the cliffs of the Sapun-mountain there was an extremely advantageous position, covered from the side of Sevastopol by two ravines, one of which fell into the Kilen-beam, and the second (Kamenolomny) headed to the Chernaya river. The only advantageous position for the attack was between these ravines. It was not possible to use the space from the Quarry Gully to the Balaklava Road during the battle of Inkerman because of the steep cliffs on Sapun Mountain. It was unusually difficult to capture this mountain, since it was necessary to overcome many obstacles.
Disagreements within the Russian army
It is worth noting that one of the obstacles in the Inkerman battle of the Crimean War for Russia was the inconsistency of the actions of the leadership. General Dannenberg was a fairly experienced soldier. Even in his youth, he participated in the landmark battles of the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Russian campaign of 1813-1814. Dannenberg was directly involved in the liquidation of the uprisings in Poland and Hungary. During the outbreak of the Eastern War, General Dannenberg took part in battles on the Danube Front. He and his troops were defeated in the battle of Oltenitsa with Turkey, for which he was charged with accusations of an unsuccessful battle.
If you look objectively, then the blame for the lost battles lies not with Dannenberg, but with the main command. The general was awarded the emperor himself with all kinds of awards for attacking the enemy’s defended position near the Oltenitsky quarantine. During the landing of the allies in Crimea, the commander of the Russian troops, Prince Gorchakov, instructed Dannenberg, with his troops entrusted to him, to enter the Crimea, moving with a forced march. The order was executed.
For unknown reasons, Menshikov did not particularly like Dannenberg. When he found out about the fourth infantry corps approaching the Crimea, he began to express extreme discontent to his colleagues about the general among the commanders of the Crimean army. Dannenberg and the other generals responsible for commanding the troops were unjustly excluded from drawing up a general strategy and a final offensive plan. Dannenberg finds himself in an unpleasant situation - he had to command troops whose strategies he knew nothing about. The general was removed from strategic action before the start of the battle. Then, reporting on the Inkerman battle in the Crimean War, General Menshikov argued that he was instructing Dannenberg to lead the troops. Therefore, you need to blame the loser for it.
Strategy
The plan of attack of the Inkerman battle was drawn up. The garrison of Sevastopol was preparing a detachment under the leadership of Major General Timofeev - the Minsk and Tobolsk regiments with twelve light guns (about five thousand military men). Timofeev’s detachment was to leave the bastion No. 6, as soon as confusion and confusion on the enemy’s positions began there, and strike at the left flank of the enemy troops. Additional troops were provided on Mekenzieva Hill to protect Bakhchisarai. In total, there were six battalions with 36 guns (about 4 thousand people).
As a result, about 60 thousand people took part in the Inkerman battle during the Crimean War. The main role was played by the detachments of Pavlov and Soymonov. Both commanders made a significant contribution to the preceding Danube campaign. The remaining garrisons were distributed to the allies in the center and on the left flank. The soldiers, impressed by the victory in the Battle of Balaklava and delighted by the arrival of eminent generals, were ready to give their lives for the victorious outcome of the battle for Sevastopol.
Start
In short, the battle of Inkerman at the planning stage was accompanied by a number of errors. It was completely not taken into account that the bridge at Inkerman was to be restored by Pavlov's detachment. In addition, he could not go on the offensive with Soymonov’s detachment. Also, Pavlov’s detachment had to move along the uncomfortable and blurry Sapper road, which could not but affect the outcome of the Inkerman battle. Before the start of the battle there was heavy rain, which negatively affected all nearby roads. General Soimonov wanted to start the battle sooner and started the attack sooner than it should.
The attack began from bastion No. 2, continued near Kilen-beam, descended into a ravine, the soldiers crossed the river and continued to climb the Sapper road blurred by rain. About six o’clock, Russian soldiers led the troops into battle formation. This happened near the camp of the second English division under the command of General Lesia Evens.
Battle progress
The plan of advance of the Inkerman battle on both sides did not coincide with reality. The British missed the ongoing Russian attack. The enemy troops did not attach importance to the suspicious noise in the Russian camp. Despite the confusion, the British quickly orientated themselves, the division of Lesia Evens was soon in full combat readiness. Brown’s division also joined the battle. One of its units with six guns reinforced the army of Lesia Evens, and the other with the same number of guns was fixed in the west of the Kilen-beam river.
A little later, the troops of Bentink, John Campbell and the fourth division of Cathcart went into action. Air troops from the third division were guarded by trenches, and Colin-Kempbel’s troops with part of the fleet’s crews were guarded in the fortresses of Balaklava. Because of this, twelve thousand British soldiers were concentrated in one direction for several hours. But this did not become an obstacle for the Russian army, which defeated General Pennefazer's troops. The Russian army managed to capture the fortification of the enemy and inflict damage on the guns located there.
Short advantage
The huntsmen of the Russian tenth regiment defeated the advanced English regiments - the teams of Pennefazer and Buller. The soldiers from the Yekaterinburg regiment, who were in Soymonov’s reserve, moved to the beginning of the Kylen beam and struck General Codrington’s brigade. The battalions of our army seized the enemy battery. But the Russian advantage at this stage was short-lived - the enemy fought back.
The sad result
The Yekaterinburg regiment was driven back from the epicenter of the battle. The rangers were also running out - the attack was too strong for them. After some time, several Russian commanders fell out of order. Fedor Soimonov, the great Russian general who participated in this battle, tragically passed away. Major General Vilboa began to command his troops, who soon also could not participate in the battle due to injuries. The commanders of the troops Pustovoitov and Uvazhnov-Aleksandrov were also wounded, the last of whom died from the wounds received. The commander of the tenth artillery brigade, Colonel Zagoskin, tragically passed away.
Of course, due to the death of almost all the senior staff, confusion began, the huntsmen began to retreat. The cover was provided by soldiers of the Butyrsky and Uglitsky regiments with sixteen guns of the seventeenth regiment under the leadership of General Zhabokritsky. Under the protection of artillery guns, Russian troops began a retreat. In this situation, the only hope was for Pavlov’s detachment, which was delayed for unknown reasons.
The situation is changing
Unexpectedly, the situation on the battlefield has changed dramatically. General Pavlov arrived at the scene of the battle with his sixteen thousandth detachment.
The catastrophe was already planned in the British units - their losses grew before our eyes, the threat of complete defeat hung in the air.
But then the eight thousandth detachment of the French general Bosque arrived in time for the British. The final result of the Inkerman battle was affected by the technical superiority of the enemy - the French had more powerful shotguns, which significantly exceeded the Russians in terms of firing range.
At about 11 am, the commanders of the Russian army gave the command to retreat. The retreat led to irreparable consequences - the Russian soldiers "mowed" the allies with the help of their advanced artillery.
The passivity of some troops could not but reflect on the course of the battle. The numerous regiment of General Gorchakov was quite capable of attracting part of the French troops, but due to the lack of a direct order, this did not happen.
Summary
The consequences of the Inkerman battle were as follows - the enemy’s losses were limited to five thousand dead soldiers, and the Russian army lost about twelve thousand people. General Soymonov, who was mortally wounded in the stomach, was tragically killed.
Conclusions and consequences. Historical meaning
The assault on Sevastopol was disrupted, but the price was too high.
The close associates of Emperor Nicholas I said that the news of the defeat at Inkerman negatively affected the general situation in the courtyard.
Increasingly, they said that the entire campaign was unsuccessful, so nothing good will come of it. In military circles, they began to recognize that it was important not only military skill, but also the technical advantage that Britain and France had.
The whole burden of pressure from outside was felt by Nicholas I, who wrote to Prince Mikhail Gorchakov after an insulting defeat at Inkerman that the most terrible event in this war would be to lose Sevastopol, where so many great generals and ordinary soldiers died.
No one even thought of admitting defeat in this war, but victory was also called into question. But Nicholas I could not see all the consequences of this battle and the whole war, in general. They lay on the shoulders of his son Alexander.