A Crimean War Snippet and A Happy New Year!

 

I was researching the 13^th Somerset Light Infantry. I wanted to know when their facing colour went from yellow to blue. I came across the extract below.

“Sevastopol, 6 - 9 Sep 1855

One part of the 13th went into the trenches before Sevastopol for the first time on the night of 6 Sep. Many of them were unfamiliar with the Enfield rifles they had. On 7 Sep they moved up to the advanced trenches and came under fire. Eleven men were wounded. “

It looks like a partial lift from a Regimental History. These can, as I have learned, obscure more than they reveal. Let’s unpick what we can.

First, the men had not been in the Sevastopol Trenches before. Quite simply it was Hell there. The advantages of the British rifles were negated by the Russian position and the lethality of the Russian Artillery. We can assume the soldiers didn’t like what they found. They would need time to acclimatize. They got until the next day.

Then they were pushed into the advanced trenches. This brought them within range of Russian muskets.

Upon reaching the advanced trenches they came under fire and took 11 wounded. Somehow, that relates to many of them not knowing how to use their Enfield Rifles. Presumably it means they couldn’t shoot back, or set their sights correctly or something.  Whatever, the narrator links that circumstance with the number of wounded.

That leads me to a conclusion. “Many of them (the 13^th) were unfamiliar with the Enfield rifles they had.” Why so? Because they had not been trained to use the Enfield.  

Why not? I suspect these unfortunate fellows were new recruits. The Siege ate the lives of the combatants at a fierce rate. Russell comments on many of the replacements being rushed from England being mere boys. Perhaps that was the case here.

As it happens I have the 13^th, but for India 1857. Blue facings there and in the Crimea. Why the change from yellow? They became "Prince Albert's" and blue was the royal colour.

It was in pursuit of my Indian interest that I came Across Mr Ralph Astley's You tube review of Jon Sutherland's Mad Dogs and Englishmen-Indian Mutiny rules. Mr Astley has much to say in 30 minutes and most of it critical. All the same it piqued my interest. We will return to this subject.

Next in Mr Astley's listing was an extensive review of Robert Kershaw's 24 Hours at Balaclava. I listened. 

If Mr Astley has it right Robert Kershaw has maintained some of the fictions that accrue to that action. We really should understand by now that Campbell's Highlanders appeared on the flank of a Russian Cavalry charge. They were not the target of that charge. Campbell never pretended otherwise.

Importantly Mr Kershaw has more than that to offer. He has visited the ground. He has diligently uncovered a wealth of small details that help our understanding of what happened. For example it was British Officers who commanded the guns in the Turkish redoubts. Also, the Turks manning the redoubts were irregulars. New info' to me. I was sufficiently engaged to order a copy. We will be coming back to that too. A review even.

On an unrelated topic I have begun putting my much neglected Napoleonic French and Russians in order. Units of 24 infantry and 12 cavalry. Expect pic's. 

Here we are in 2026, I hope you had a Merry Christmas in '25.

Have A Happy New Year!