- Date:
- September 20, 1854
- Location:
- Crimea
- Sevastopol
- Ukraine
- Participants:
- France
- Russia
- United Kingdom
- Context:
- Crimean War
Battle of Alma
-
What was the Battle of Alma?
The Battle of Alma, fought on September 20, 1854, was the first major engagement of the Crimean War. It was a victory for the British and French forces against the Russians, which left the Russian naval base of Sevastopol vulnerable.
The Russian army, commanded by Prince Aleksandr Menshikov, had occupied a position on the heights above the Alma River, blocking the road to Sevastopol. To advance, the allied French and British army had to assault Telegraph Hill and Kourgane Hill, which were topped with Russian redoubts. The French commander planned to cross the river under the cover of naval bombardment to divert the Russians and allow the British to attack the redoubts. The British eventually took both hills after hard fighting. The Russians were defeated and suffered approximately 5,700 casualties.
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Which countries fought in the Battle of Alma?
The Battle of Alma in 1854 was a significant engagement in the Crimean War. It pitted the allied forces of the British and French against the Russians. The battle occurred on September 20, 1854, marking the first major clash of the war. The allied victory endangered the Russian position in the war and left the naval base of Sevastopol vulnerable.
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Why did the Battle of Alma take place during the Crimean War?
The Battle of Alma occurred because Allied forces wanted to advance into Sevastopol, a Russian naval base, but Russian troops blocked the road. Commanded by Prince Aleksandr Menshikov, the Russians occupied heights above the Alma River, a strategic defensive position. To advance, the Allied army had to assault Telegraph Hill and Kourgane Hill, which were topped with Russian redoubts. The Allied forces landed on the Crimean Peninsula on September 14, and met the Russian army at the Alma River on September 20. The British and French victory at the Battle of Alma endangered the entire Russian position in the war.
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Where did the Battle of Alma happen, and what was the setting like?
The Battle of Alma, the first major engagement of the Crimean War, occurred on September 20, 1854. The battle was fought near the Alma River, which flows for 50 miles (80 kilometers) into the Black Sea in southwestern Crimea.
The Russian forces, commanded by Prince Aleksandr Menshikov, occupied the heights above where the Alma River meets the Black Sea, blocking the road to Sevastopol. The landscape included Telegraph Hill and Kourgane Hill, ranging from 400 to about 950 feet in height, topped with Russian redoubts. The valley between these hills led to Sevastopol.
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How did the Battle of Alma unfold on the day it was fought?
On September 20, 1854, the Battle of Alma commenced with the French intending to cross the Alma River under naval bombardment cover to scale the cliffs, diverting the Russians and allowing the British to attack the redoubts. While the initial French plan succeeded, it soon faltered, and the Russians restored their lines. The British attack faced heavy artillery fire from the heights, causing their battalions to become chaotic.
Lord Raglan, the British commander, found a vantage point overlooking the Russian rear and ordered guns to fire, turning the battle in favor of the allies. After intense fighting, both Telegraph Hill and Kourgane Hill were captured, with the Scots Fusiliers enduring significant casualties during frontal assaults on Russian defenses. Despite the allied victory and heavy Russian losses, the allied army failed to capitalize on their advantage, allowing the Russians to retreat towards Sevastopol.
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What was the outcome of the Battle of Alma, and why was it important in the Crimean War?
The Battle of Alma on September 20, 1854, marked the first major engagement of the Crimean War. Allied forces, primarily British and French, won against the Russians, which left the Russian naval base of Sevastopol vulnerable. The allied forces had around 60,000 troops, while the Russian forces had 37,000. The battle occurred on heights above the Alma River, where the Russians had occupied a strong defensive position. After hard fighting, the hills were taken by the infantry, with the brunt of the fight borne by the Scots Fusiliers on the British side. Although the Russians were defeated, the allied army did not follow through with their advantage, and the Russians retreated to Sevastopol.
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Battle of Alma, battle fought on September 20, 1854, the first major engagement of the Crimean War. The victory by the British and the French left the Russian naval base of Sevastopol vulnerable and endangered the entire Russian position in the war.
Commanded by Prince Aleksandr Menshikov, the Russians had occupied a position on the heights above the confluence of the Alma River with the Black Sea in southwestern Crimea, thus blocking the road to Sevastopol. In order to advance, the allied French and British army, which had some 60,000 troops to the Russians 37,000, would have to assault Telegraph Hill, and to the east, Kourgane Hill, both of which were topped with Russian redoubts, and which ranged in height from 400 to about 950 feet. The valley in between led to Sevastopol, but no advance would be possible, even with their numerical advantage, if the Russians held the two hills.
The allies landed on the Crimean Peninsula some 35 miles (56 km) north of Sevastopol on September 14. Suffering from dysentery and cholera, it would be six days before the armies headed south. It was at the Alma, the second of the east-west rivers north of the Sevastopol, where they enjoyed a prime defensive position, that the Russians decided to stand their ground on September 20.
To attack the Russians, the French commander, General Jacques St. Arnaud, decided to cross the river under the cover of a naval bombardment and scale the cliffs with a detachment of French troops. This would divert the Russians and allow the British to attack the redoubts. The French part of the plan began successfully but lost momentum, and the Russians restored their lines. Under fire from Russian artillery batteries on the heights above them, the British attack faltered and their battalions became entangled in chaos.
Meanwhile, the British commander, Lord Raglan, sought a good vantage point from which to watch the progress of the battle. Advancing fearlessly—even foolhardily—to an exposed forward position, he found a spot that overlooked the Russian rear and ordered guns to be brought up. The guns opened fire with great effect, surprising the Russians and turning the battle in the allies’ favor. Both hills were taken after hard fighting by the infantry, with the brunt of the fight borne by the Scots Fusiliers on the British side, taking heavy losses in their frontal assaults on Russian defenses. Russian losses were higher still. The allied army failed to press home its advantage, though, and after a panicked evacuation of the hills, the Russians were able to retreat unmolested toward Sevastopol, which at the time was poorly fortified.
The Russians, heavily bombed from allied navies along the coast, had been soundly defeated, suffering some 5,700 casualties, not least from the British use of the novel spinning Minié ball (which would be used to such devastating effect in the U.S. Civil War). The allies (which had lost some 3,600 men in the battle) then blundered, deciding not to pursue a decisive victory against the badly wounded enemy. The fight would renew, at the Battle of Balaklava, another river north of Sevastopol, one month later.
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