raglan failure

Question 1

Raglan’s poor leadership skills, lack of ingenuity by sticking to Wellington era fighting and poor communication were reasons for Britain struggling in Crimea

Answer 1

• lack of experience in leading men
  o he had never commanded a large force of men into battle
  o still hell bent on Wellington based tactics of cavalry charges and bright red uniforms
• poor communicator and tactician
  o his vague order given to Nolan to pass to Lucan led to the failure of the Charge of the Light Brigade
  o decision not to chase the fleeing Russians after the Battle of Alma
  o decision to stay at Balaclava put a massive strain on his army having to march all the way down to the south
• was not close to his men, his allies, or his government
  o seemed distant from the battlefield
   watched from afar during the Battle of Balaclava
  o never spoke with his men
   led to his men not trusting him

Question 2

other influential British commanders and individuals played a part in creating a mess in Crimea

Answer 2

• Nolan
  o with his own selfish interests in heart, he had directed the Light Brigade in the wrong direction to their horrible fate
   110 killed in the charge due to Lucan’s misdirection
   cost him his own life
• Lucan
  o did not have the nerve to question Raglan’s orders to attack known artillery positions with a cavalry charge
  o led his men to their deaths
  o again, lack of experience in warfare (he had simply applied for the post of commander of the cavalry)
   how could an inexperienced man command hundreds of men

HOWEVER
it was Raglan who gave the order to charge and as it was the duty of any other officer to follow their superiors’ orders, Lucan was simply following Raglan’s orders
Raglan’s poor communication of the order to charge was the likely reason for Nolan’s misdirection

Question 3

weather caused the poor health situation in Crimea spearheaded by Dr Hall led to more deaths from illness than from warfare giving Raglan fewer fit troops to utilise on the battlefield

Answer 3

• weather/climate made things worse
  o storm of November 1854
   lost 20 ships carrying well needed supplies
   HMS Progress
  o Winter of 1854 one of the worst winters in Crimea
   this with the lack of supplies led to soldiers struggling to keep warm and ultimately falling ill —–> losing troops to fight the Russians with
• along with colds…cholera, typhus, dysentery, scurvy, gangrene put more soldiers down
  o more patients being treated for disease than battle wounds
   3025 for sickness
   564 for wounds
   Raglan himself dying from dysentery
  o poorly maintained hospitals in Balaclava meant Soldiers had little chance of recovering and returning to the battlefield
   liquid filth on the floor
   lack of medical supplies
  how could there be a strong British army showing in Crimea when most of the troops were falling ill and were not being treated properly

Question 4

transport and supplies
the administrative situation in Crimea was poor with both the interservice rivalry back in London being evident in Crimea as well as poor organisation by the likes of Admiral Boxer

Answer 4

• Boxer at Balaclava
  o his inefficiency in organising the arrival of ships entering the harbour meant that harbour workers had no clue what was being carried by each ship
   would mean that the logistics needed in supplying British troops was non-existent and hence left British troops without supplies
   w/ consumables rotting in the port it was a waste of resources which could have been used by British forces
• bureaucratic infighting in London meant that decisions regarding Crimea were often ignored
  o there was no centralised power in charge of the running of the army
   secretary of colonies
   secretary of war
   commander-in-chief
   ordnance board
   commissariat
  o all these roles vital in the supplying and the running of the army in Crimea but were all run in individual departments by different people
   lack of coordination between departments meant poorly coordinated decisions made regarding Crimea

Question 5

conclusion

Answer 5

• was not mainly Raglan’s fault
• important to recognise the failures Raglan made on the ground in Crimea as well as the fact that the medical situation diminished the troops he had at his disposal and the weather gave British troops who lacked winter clothing a hard time
  HOWEVER
• the fact that Raglan never had the supplies needed to fight a war was the main reason for British failure in Crimea
• the Russians being a poor fighting force covered a lot of the cracks in the admin system being run at the time… something reforms after the war looked to change