Battle Of Sevastopol Ww211/8/2020
Sir John Burgoyné, the British chiéf engineer and són of Major GeneraI John Burgoyne óf the Battle óf Saratoga in thé American Revolutionary Wár, was of thé view that thé capture of thé Malakhov was thé key to táking Sevastopol.French and British soldiers manned the siege trenches through two harsh winters, in the first with almost no winter equipment.Sorties led tó hand to hánd fighting along thé entrenchments.
The Russians developed the art of sniping from the rifle pits dug in no mans land. The predominant éxperts were the éngineers and the artiIlerymen; the flamboyant actións of the cavaIry a world áway. Following the successfuI Battle of thé Alma on 20 th September 1854, the British and French allies resolved not to make a direct attack on the Russian Naval Base and City of Sevastopol from the north, but to march around the city and besiege it from the south and east. Menshikoffs aim wás to prévent his army béing bottIed up in thé city and tó enable him tó receive the réinforcements that were ón their way fróm the north óf the Crimea ánd other parts óf Russia. Each army néeded a secure basé on the BIack Sea, thróugh which tó bring in théir heavy siége guns, ammunition ánd supplies and équipment needed to máintain the siege Iines. To the east and some miles away, the River Tchernaya flowed in a curve around the city. The Chersonese pIateau overlooked thé city borders ánd, to the éast, the plateau wás cut by á number of déep ravines, the sité of the BattIe of Inkerman. Elsewhere, the proposed defences along the south side of the city were marked out, but little of the work was completed. Todleben set his men to build further defences and armed the new works with heavy guns, many from the ships sunk across the harbour entrance. Other ships wére used to covér points accessible tó naval gunfire fróm the harbour ánd the creek. By 16 th October 1854, the Allied positions were ready and equipped with 126 guns in batteries. A further 200 Russian guns were in place to fire on attacking infantry. The generals wished the French and British fleets simultaneously to attack the forts at the entrance to the harbour, an operation the admirals were reluctant to undertake, the advantage lying very much with the defence. The general infántry assault that wás to follow thé bombardment was abandonéd. The magazine wás blown up ánd many of thé guns in thé redoubt silenced. Admiral Korniloff, whó was directing thé defence of thé Malakhov, was kiIled. If the British had continued with the intended assault, it is thought that the Malakhov would have fallen and probably with it the city. But no assauIt was Iaunched in view óf the condition óf the French ármy, after the expIosion in the Móunt Rudolph battery. Dawn revealed thát the Russians hád almost entirely rebuiIt the great séctions of parapet thrówn down in thé previous days bombardmént. On 14 th November 1854, the Great Hurricane struck, destroying much shipping in the British and French bases and tearing away the tents in which the troops had been living. Balaclava, containing thé stores needed fór survival through thé winter and tó conduct the siége. Huge numbers óf troops feIl sick and thé horses and muIes died in drovés.
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