Michael D.Heath-Caldwell M.Arch.

1854/55 Appendix

Commander Leopold G. Heath -  on board 'Niger' - Black Sea - aged 37/38

Appendix

Order of Sailing of the Combined Squadrons.

The Two Squadrons will generally sail in two columns*The English Column on the Right of the French Squadron. The French Steamers to keep a good distance on the Left of their Squadron, and the English Steamers a good distance on the Right of their Squadron. Thus placed, the Steamers offer a double advantage; they can repeat the signals of the two lines, and be ready immediately to execute the orders of their Admirals: their distance abreast of their squadrons should be such that always following the movements of their columns they may not in any way impede or endanger them. This well be the more easy being always under steam (the French Steamers at least).Should the Order of Sailing in one line be adopted, the French Admiral, being always at the head of his Squadron, will be in the centre of the line if the English Squadron takes the lead under the direction of its own Admiral.The Steamers will then continue to keep always abreast of their Squadrons, and a much as possible to windward.By night the columns will be about two miles apart.

Order of Battle.

The Order of Battle must alike be according to circumstances: The Order in one or two columns. The following propositions are made to provide for the principal case should a meeting occur with the Enemy’s Forces and to ensure a common action to both Squadrons.

1st – The Enemy’s Squadron is signalized to Leeward in Line of Battle: the Combined Fleet is ranged to Windward in a Single Line.On the signal to bear up together, each of the Ships of the Combined Fleet will by degrees, steer, so as to place themselves abreast of the Enemy’s Vessels, or, if it be wished to cut the Line, the leading ships will steer – so as to reach the Enemy’s Line, will employ against them a numerical superiority of force, whether their vessels take a position abreast of the Enemy’s Line, or whether they cut it, and place between two fires its Centre and Rear Ships.

2nd. – The Enemy’s Squadron is signalized to Windward and in Line of Battle: The Combined Fleet is ranged to Leeward in One Line.The Fleet is to be beat to Windward so as to steer on the opposite tack towards the centre of the Enemy’s line, or defile towards its extremity, and place its rear “Hors de Combat,” but in general they will not commence action to Leeward except on the opposite Tack.

3rd. – The Enemy’s Squadron is signalled to Leeward and in Line of Battle: the Combined Fleet is ranged to Windward in two columns.On the Signal to bear up, each of the Admirals in Chief in the columns steer to cut the Enemy’s Line to place the Centre and Rear between two Fires with so much the  more chance of success that the wind is favourable to them.

4th. – The Enemy’s Squadron is signalized to Windward and in Line of Battle: the Combined Fleet is ranged to Leeward in two columns, steering on the opposite Tack.If it be wished to attack in this order, it must beat to Windward so that the column most to Windward may steer to cut the third ship before the centre of the Enemy’s Line; and the column to Leeward, towards the Centre of the Rear. The Action of the two columns will then concentrate with superior force towards a part only of the Enemy’s Squadron; but from a position to Leeward, the attack by two columns is very difficult.

5th. – If, in conclusion, the Enemy’s Fleet is signalized at Anchor with Springs, on their Cables, and the Combined Fleet decide to attack them there, they will adopt if possible, in engaging them at anchor, the same mode of attack as that which was chosen in engaging them under sail: thus the Combined Fleet will steer so as to envelope if possible, the Centre and Van of the Enemy’s Line, in case the Van and Centre are haed to wind and current;and on the contrary to surround their Centre and Rear, if the rear should be to Windward of the said Line.It will follow that the part of the Enemy’s Fleet not attacked, finding themselves placed to Leeward of the Group of Combatants, could not without difficulty and great delay render them help.

With regard to the Steamers, their part is to keep under shelter of their Ships, so as to be able to take them in tow if necessary, to man prizes, and carry the orders of the Admirals, and to take a favourable position.

(signed)

J.W.D. Dundas

Vice-Admiral.

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General After Order.

Head Quarters before Sebastopol.

December 13th, 1854.
The Commander of the Forces has great satisfaction in publishing copies and extracts of despatches which he has received from His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, Minister-at-War, announcing the Queen’s gracious approbation of the conduct of the Army, and the Royal Navy and Marines in co-operation with the Troops; and expressing Her Majesty’s sympathy in the sufferings of the wounded of both Services, and her deep regret for the loss of the Soldiers and Sailors who have fallen in the late operations.

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No.152

War Department.

November 20th, 1854

My Lord,I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship’s despatches Nos.83 and 84, of the 18th and 23rd of October.I have submitted to the Queen the interesting reports with which your Lordship has furnished me, in these despatches, of the commencement and subsequent progress of those vast operations in which the Allied Armies and Fleets of Her Majesty and the Emperor of the French, in conjunction with those of the Sultan, are engaged against the stronghold of their common enemy; and I am commanded by Her Majesty to express to your Lordship, and, through you, to the Army under your command, the high satisfaction with which she has received the intelligence, no less of the very effective manner in which the fire of the allied batteries was opened, than of the energy and determination with which the fire was subsequently sustained.

The unfortunate occurrences of the explosion of a Magazine in one of the French batteries, which took place at an early stage of the operations, must doubtless have prevented any immediate effect of a decisive nature being produced on the enemy’s works; but Her Majesty rejoices to find that the energetic and persevering efforts of the French Commander enabled him to overcome the temporary check which this disaster appears to have imposed upon the exertions of the forces under his command.Her Majesty is fully sensible of the motives which induced your Lordship to secure the co-operation of the Combined Fleets in the attack upon the enemy’s works at the mouth of the harbour simultaneously with the fire from the batteries on the land side. The aid which, so far as they were enabled to render it, was thus afforded by the Naval, to the exertions of the Land Forces, is highly appreciated by Her Majesty; and I am further commanded to express the gratification with which

Her Majesty has received the intelligence communicated by you of the able and gallant assistance afforded by the Sailors from the Fleet, under the command of Captain Lushington and Captain Peel, in the Land Batteries.Her Majesty deeply sympathises with those who, during the progress of the operations which form the subject of your present despatches, have been wounded in the service of their Country, and has received with sincere sorrow your report of the loss of those of her gallant Soldiers and Sailors who have been killed. It is impossible that operations of such great magnitude and difficulty – more especially when the vast resources of the enemy and his powerful means  of resistance are taken into consideration – should be unattended by loss; and Her Majesty cannot but rejoice that, under the continued exposure to the incessant fire of an enemy vastly superior in numbers, to which Her Forces, both Naval and Military, have been subjected , that loss, during the period included in the Returns of Casualties enclosed in your despatches, is not so great as might have been anticipated.

I have the honour to be

My Lord,Your Lordship’s most obedient humble Servant,

Newcastle

Field Marshal – The  Lord Raglan. G.C.B., Etc, Etc.

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Extract of a Letter from the Duke of Newcastle to Lord Raglan.

Dated, November 21st, 1854.

“I take the present opportunity to assure your Lordship of the satisfaction with which I have received the testimony borne by Major-General Sir Colin Campbell, in his report enclosed in your despatch of the 28th of October, to the assistance rendered by the Royal Marine Artillery and Royal Marines in opposing the advance of the Enemy’s Cavalry in the Action before Balaklava of the 25th of that month.”

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War Department.

23rd November, 1854

My Lord,I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship’s despatch, No.94, of the 31st of October, which reached me on the 17th instant.I have lost no time in submitting to the Queen the names of those Officers whom Lieutenant-General the Earl of Lucan considers as entitled to be specially mentioned for their services in the Action of the 25th of October in front of Balaklava, and whom your Lordship commends to my notice; and I have received Her Majesty’s commands to desire that your Lordship will convey to each of the Officers in question the high approbation with which Her Majesty has viewed their valour and excellent conduct in that Acion.

I have the honour to be,

My Lord,Your Lordship’s most obedient humble Servant,

Newcastle.

Field Marshal the Lord Raglan, G.C.B., 

By order (Signed) J.B.B. Estcourt Adj.General.

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General Orders.Head Quarters, before Sebastopol,

December 24th, 1854.

The Commander of the Forces has the greatest satisfaction in publishing to the Army two despatches from the Minister of War, the one expressing the Queen’s entire approbation of the conduct of the Troops at the battle of Inkerman, the other signifying Her Majesty’s gracious intention of conferring a Medal upon all the Officers and Soldiers of the Army who have been engaged in the arduous and brilliant campaign in the Crimea.The Commander of the Forces congratulates the Army on receiving so distinguished a mark of Her Majesty’s favour and high appreciation of their gallant exertions; and he deems it his duty at the same time to draw the particular attention of all to the following passage in the Duke of Newcastle’s despatch of the 27th instant:- “Let not any private soldier in the ranks believe that his conduct is unheeded – the Queen thanks him – his Country honours him.”

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War Department

November 27th, 1854.

My Lord,I received on the 22nd instant your Lordship’s despatch of the 8th of this month, communicating the intelligence of the glorious battle of the 5th, in which a determined attack by vastly superior numbers of the Enemy was completely repulsed by the unfaltering steadiness and gallantry of the Allied Armies. I immediately laid before the Queen the details of this important victory, and it is now my grateful duty to express to your Lordship Her Majesty’s high appreciation of the noble exertions of her Troops in a conflict which is unsurpassed in the annals of war for persevering valour and chivalrous devotion.

The strength and fury of the attacks, repeatedly renewed by fresh columns with a desperation which appeared to be irresistible, were spent in vain against the unbroken lines and the matchless intrepidity of the men they had to encounter. Such attacks could only be repulsed by the cool courage, under circumstances the most adverse, and that confidence of victory which have ever animated the British Army.The banks of the Alma proved that no advantages of position can withstand the impetuous assault of the Army under your command.

The heights of Inkerman have now shown that the dense columns of an entire army are unable to force the ranks of less than one-fourth their numbers in the hand-to-hand encounters with the bayonet which characterised this bloody day.Her Majesty has noticed with liveliest feelings of gratification the manner in which the Troops of her Ally the Emperor of the French came to the aid of the Divisions of the British Army engaged in this numerically unequal contest.

The Queen is deeply sensible of the cordial co-operation of the French Commander-in-Chief, General Canrobert, and the gallant conduct of that distinguished Officer, General Bosquet, and Her Majesty recognises in the cheers with which the men of both Nations encouraged each other in their united charge proofs of the esteem and admiration mutually engendered by the Campaign, and the deeds of heroism it has produced.

The Queen desires that your Lordship will receive her thanks for your conduct throughout this noble and successful struggle, and that you will take measures for making known her no less warm approval of the services of all the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Soldiers who have so gloriously won by their blood, freely shed, fresh honours for the Army of a Country which sympathises as deeply with their privations and exertions, as it glories in their victories and exults in their fame. Let not any private soldier in those ranks believe that his conduct is unheeded – the Queen thanks him – his Country honours him.

Her Majesty will anxiously expect the further despatch in which your Lordship propose to name those Officers whose services have been especially worthy of notice. In the meantime, I am commanded by Her Majesty to signify her approbation of the admirable behaviour of Lieutenant-General Sir George Browne, and her regret that he has been wounded in Action.

Her Majesty has received with feelings of no ordinary pleasure your Lordship’s report of the matter in which Lieutenant-General His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge distinguished himself. That one of the Illustrious Members of Her Royal House should be associated with the toils and glories of such an Army is to the Queen a source of pride and congratulation.

To Major-General Bentinck, Major-General Codrington, Brigadier-Generals Adams, Torrens, and Buller, your Lordship will be pleased to convey the Queen’s sympathy in their wounds, and thanks for their services.

To the other Officers named by your Lordship, I am directed to express Her Majesty’s approbation. The gallant conduct of Lieutenant-General Sir De Lacy Evans has attracted the Queen’s especial thanks. Weak from a bed of sickness, he rose at the sound of the battle – not to claim his share in prominent command, but to aid with his veteran counsel and assistance the Junior Officer upon whom, in his absence, he devolved the duty of leading his Division.Proud of the victory won by her brave Army – grateful to those who wear the laurels of this great conflict – the Queen is painfully affected by the heavy loss which has been incurred, and deeply sensible of what is owing to the dead.

Those illustrious men cannot indeed receive the thanks of their Sovereign, which have so often cheered the Soldier in his severest trials, but their blood has not been shed in vain. Laid low in their grave of victory, their names will be cherished for ever by a grateful Country, and posterity will look upon the list of Officers who have fallen, as a proof of ardent courage and zeal with which they pointed out the path of honour to no less willing followers.

The loss of Lieutenant-General the Honourable Sir George Cathcart is to the Queen and to her People a cause of sorrow which even dims the triumph of this great occasion. His loyalty, his patriotism, and self-devotion were not less conspicuous than his high military reputation. One of a family of warriors, he was an honour to them and an ornament to his profession. Arrived in his native land from a Colony to which he had succeeded in restoring peace and contentment, he obeyed at a moment’s notice the call of duty, and hastened to join that Army in which the Queen and the Country fondly hoped he would have lived to win increased renown.

The death of Brigadier-General Strangways and Brigadier-General Goldie has added to the sorrow which mingles in the rejoicing of this memorable battle.The Queen sympathises in the loss sustained by the Families both of her Officers and Soldiers, but Her Majesty bids them reflect with her, and derive consolation from the thought, that they fell in the sacred cause of Justice and in the ranks of a Noble Army.

I have the honour to be 

My Lord,Your Lordship’s obedient humble Servant,

Newcastle.

Field Marshal the Lord Raglan, G.C.B., etc., etc.

Major-General Codrington is erroneously stated to have been wounded.

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War Department.

2nd December, 1854

My Lord,I have received the Queen’s Commands to signify to your Lordship Her Majesty’s gracious intention to confer a Medal upon all the Officers and Soldiers of the Army who have been engaged in the arduous and brilliant Campaign in the Crimea.

This Medal will bear on it the work “Crimea” with and appropriate device – a design for which has been ordered to be prepared.It is also Her Majesty’s desire that Clasps, with the names of “Alma” and “Inkerman” inscribed upon them, shall be accorded to those who have been in either, or both, of those hard fought battles, and that the same names shall in future be borne on the Colours of all the Regiments which were engaged on those bloody and glorious days.

Your Lordship will be pleased to convey to the Army this Royal Command, an additional proof of Her Majesty’s appreciation of its noble services, and Her sympathy with its valour and renown.I have the honour to be, My Lord,Your Lordship’s obedient humble Servant,Newcastle.Field-Marshal The Lord Raglan, G.C.B., etc., etc.By order (Signed) J.B.B. Estcourt, Adj.-General.