According to the Crimean War Research Society, the first British troops sailed for Turkey on February 23rd, 1854 and arrived on April 5th. That’s significantly longer than 2 weeks.
http://cwrs.russianwar.co.uk/cwrsentry.html
And from the same site, Britain declared war on Russia on March 28th and didn’t land the first troops in the Crimea until September 14th. That’s a lot more than 2 weeks as well.
and?
The problem is you're looking at a timeline with no idea of the events not included. How long did it take the "Eastern Infantry Division" (as indeed the first troops in theatre were styled) to move, when did then split the Division into two divisions? How long were various transport moves? How long were the British in Bulgaria before the Russians collapsed there under weight of Turkish arms (before the Anglo-French could move up and get involved) etc.
The Crimea is about 2 weeks out from Queenstown on a fast steamer. Quebec is 6 days away by the same.
Britain had the same naval advantage in the Crimean War. Yet it took them better than 5 months to get half that many poorly-supplied men to Crimea. And another year before they and their French, Turkish, and Piedmontese allies managed to capture Sevastopol.
No, the expeditionary force was prettymuch complete in theatre mid-April, 6 weeks after the first units were alerted for overseas service (that is Light, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Divisions, the 4th, or Reserve Division under Cathcart was dispatched later). They simply did other things before investing Sebastopol. As to the siege of Sebastopol, you might like to read up on it...
Indeed, upto 12th December 1854, 54,736 OR's had been dispatched to the Crimean (i.e. about 60,000 all ranks).
Okay, that’s considerably less than my guesses of 52,000 rising to 82,000 and 45,000 rising to 75,000. The important thing is how swiftly Britain moves the reinforcements in to reach the higher level. How long did the British warplan estimate they would take to reach these numbers of 85,000 and 55,000?
They're waiting at home, and there is transport. The problem is the St. Lawrence was frozen in late 1861-early 1862 so they could be delivered directly to theatre. If a war kicks off when the St. Lawrence is open, it will be relatively rapid.
Funny, every account I’ve read says the allied forces succeeded in spite of Raglan, not because of him.
Question, did McClellan ever witness Raglan's command in the field?
The fact remains, he won at the Alma (in spite of St. Arnaud, who was incredibly bad, but like to blame "les Anglais" for all his mistakes), he won at Balaklava, and he even won at Inkerman (although his influence on the battle didn't really extend to the infantry melee, he certainly won the battle by coordinating the allied artillery and smashing the Russians at long range).
Bosquet's influence at Inkerman is minimal, for the most part he only had a single brigade (Bourbaki's, 6e Ligne and 7e Leger), with his other brigade (d'Autemme's, 3eme Zouaves and 50e Ligne) not engaged. Prince Napoleon had the 2er Zouaves and 20e Ligne on the Lancaster Battery Road, but they weren't engaged either.
I did a lot of research into this last year, in an effort to produce a VNB scenario:
Allied Orbat at Inkerman
Scale: 1 SP = 250men or 3 guns
6am: 2nd Division Pickets on the lip
In Sandbag Battery:
55th Regiment M6 [ ] [ ]
On Shell Hill:
41st Regiment M6 [ ] [ ]1
On Home Ridge:
1st Bde, 2nd Division
Pennefather (DC)2
(55th Regiment)
30th Regiment M6 [ ] [ ]
95th Regiment M6 [ ] [ ]3
2nd Bde, 2nd Division
Adams (BC)
(41st Regiment)
47th Regiment M6 [ ] [ ]
49th Regiment M6 [ ] [ ]
B Bty M6 [ ] [ ] Fd (9 pdrs)
G Bty M6 [ ] [ ] Fd (9 pdrs)
At the Lancaster Battery
1st Div Sharpshooters M7 [ss]4
7.00am
arriving up the Post Road (i.e. behind Home Ridge)
Raglan (AC)
2nd Bde, Light Division
Buller (BC)
88th Regiment M7 [ ] [ ] Shock5
P Bty M6 [ ] [ ] Fd (9 pdrs)
7.30am
2nd Bde, Light Division
(88th Regiment)
19th Regiment M7 [ ] [ ]
77th Regiment M7 [ ] [ ]
3rd RM Battalion M6 [ ]
Wing/2 Rifles M7 [ss]
(P Bty)
Arriving on the Lancaster Battery Road:
1st Bde, Light Division
Codrington (BC, acting DC)
7th Fusiliers M7 [ ] [ ]
23rd Fusiliers M7 [ ] [ ]
33rd Regiment M6 [ ] [ ]
E Bty M6 [ ] [ ] Fd (9 pdrs)
8.30am
Arriving up the Post Road
1st Division
Duke of Cambridge (DC)
Guards Brigade
Bentinck (BC)
3rd Gren Gds M7 [ ] [ ] Shock
1st Coldstm Gds M7 [ ] [ ] Shock
1st Scots Fus Gds M7 [ ] [ ] Shock
Light Brigade, Cavalry Division6
Light Brigade M7 [ ] Shock, Heavy Cavalry
4th Division
Cathcart (DC)
1st Bde, 4th Division
Goldie (BC)
20th Regiment M6 [ ] [ ] Partially armed with smoothbores7
21st Regiment M6 [ ] [ ] Partially armed with smoothbores
57th Regiment M7 [ ] [ ] Shock, partially armed with smoothbores
2nd Bde, 4th Division8
Torrens (BC)
63rd Regiment M6 [ ] [ ] Partially armed with smoothbores
68th Light Infantry M7 [ ] [ ] Shock, partially armed with smoothbores
1st Rifles M7 [ss] [ss] Fully armed with rifles
9am
French forces arrive up the Post Road9
2e Division
Bosquet (DC)
2/12 Bty M6 [ ] [ ] Fd
3/14 Bty M6 [ ] [ ] Fd
2e Bde, 2e Division
Bourbaki (BC)
6e de Ligne M5 [ ] [ ] [ ]
7e Leger M6 [ ] [ ] [ ]
3eme Chas a Pied M6 [ss] armed with rifles (?)
9.30am
1er Bde, 2e Division
de Autemarre (BC)
3eme Zouaves M7 [ ] [ ]
50 de Ligne M5 [ ] [ ] [ ]
2e Tiralleurs Algerian M6 [ss] armed with rifles (?)
The 2 British siege guns ordered up arrive
Dickson's Tp M6 [ ] Siege (18 pdrs)
11am
Arriving at the Lancaster Battery Road
3eme Division10
Prince Napoleon (DC)
20er Leger M6 [ ] [ ]
2/2er Zouaves M6 [ ]
6/7 Bty M6 [ ] [ ] Fd
6/13 Bty M6 [ ] [ ] Fd
D'Allonville's Cavalry Brigade
4th Chas d'Afrique M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] Light
Russian Order of Battle
6am
Arriving at Mt Inkerman:
Town Column
Soimonoff (CC)
Column Artillery
2/10 Hvy Bty M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Hvy (12 pdrs)
1/16 Hvy Bty M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] Hvy (12 pdrs)
4/17 Light Bty M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] Fd
5/17 Light Bty M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] Fd
6th Rifle Bn M5
SKO
57th Don Cossacks M4 Light Cav, SKO
10th Infantry Division (Ex = 15)
Villebois (DC)
L/Tomsk Regiment M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Tomsk Regiment M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
L/Kolivansk Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Kolivansk Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
L/Ekaterinsburg Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Ekaterinsburg Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
Combined 16th/17th Infantry Division (Ex = 15)
Jacobritsky (DC)
L/Vladimir Regiment M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Vladimir Regiment M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
L/Sousdal Regiment M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Sousdal Regiment M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
L/Bourtoursk Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Bourtoursk Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
Ouglitz Jaegars M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
7am:
Arriving up the Post Road from the north:
River Column
Palov (CC)
Column Artillery11
1/10 Hvy Bty M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Hvy
3/11 Hvy Bty M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Hvy
3/17 Hvy Bty M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Hvy
1/10 Light Bty M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Fd
2/10 Light Bty M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Fd
3/11 Light Bty M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Fd
4/11 Light Bty M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Fd
2 Don Cossack Bty M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Fd
4th Rifle Bn M5 SKO
11th Infantry Division (Ex = 16)
L/Selenghinsk Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Selenghinsk Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
L/Iakoutsk Regiment M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Iakousk Regiment M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
L/Okhotsk Regiment M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Okhotsk Regiment M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
2nd Brigade, 17th Division (Ex = 10)
L/Borodino Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Borodino Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
L/Taroutine Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Taroutine Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
10am
Crossing the Tchernya?
Flanking Column12
Gortchakov (CC)
Column Artillery
? Hvy Bty M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Hvy
? Hvy Bty M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Hvy
? Light Bty M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Fd
? Light Bty M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Fd
? Horse Bty M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Light
? Horse Bty M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Light
12th Infantry Division13 (Ex = 22)
Liprandi (DC)
L/Azov Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Azov Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
L/Dneprovsk Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/ Dneprovsk Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
L/Ukrain Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Ukrain Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
L/Odessa Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
R/Odessa Regt M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] EFD
Cavalry Division (Ex = 8)
Ruzhov (DC)
Ingermanland Hrs M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] light
Kiev Hrs M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] light
Combined Uhlans M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] light, lancers
Ural Cossacks M4 light
Don Cossacks M4 light
Bibliography
Inkerman: 1854 – The Soldiers Battle by Patrick Mercer (Osprey)
Give Them a Volley and Charge: The Battle of Inkerman, 1854 by Patrick
Mercer
The Highland Brigade in the Crimea by Lt Col Anthony Sterling (Brigade
Major of the Highland Brigade)
The Crimean Campaign with the Connaught Rangers by Lt Col Nathaniel
Steevens
Sharpshooter in the Crimea: The Letters of Captain Gerald Goodlake VC
by Michael Springman
A Bearskins Crimea: Lt Col Henry Percy VC and his Brother Officers by
Algernon Percy
The Crimean War by RLV ffrench Blake
The British Army of the Crimean by JBR Nicholson (Osprey)
The Russian Army of the Crimean War 1854-56 by Robert HG Thomas (Osprey)
1 Actually a wing of the 41st and a wing of the 47th, which were
reinforced with the other wing from the camp. In this orbat I've made
the forward wings of the 41st and 47th just the 41st, and the two
wings in camp the 47th.
2 Although 2nd Division Commander, he effectively commanded 1st Bde
during the battle in the absence of a BC.
3 This regiment carried colours at Inkerman, but lacking spare
officers they were carried by 2 sergeants
4 Under Captain Goodlakes command, only 66 ORs and him
5 In fact, only 4 Coys (Grenadier, 5, 7 and Light) arrived at this
time, with 290R&F. 2 Coy and additional reinforcements came up later
the day bring the Bn upto nearly 500. I've chosen not to track the
reinforcements but rather have them "all up". You may choose to reduce
the 88th to 1 SP, and add another wing of 1SP arriving several hours
later.
6 Historically never brought forward of the reserve, due to Lord
Cardigans total lack of initiative, this tiny formation has no leader,
and can only be used if within Lord Raglans command radius.
7 The majority of 4th Division carried smoothbores, but the light coys
and sharpshooters carried Minie rifles. To reflect this, they roll
their full number of dice at musket range, but only 1 die out to rifle
range
8 2 Coys of the 46th were also present, but have been adsorbed into
the rest of the Bde
9 In fact, the leading French battalions were on the field over half
an hour earlier, but refused to move to support the British without
Bourbaki's orders, thus the French arrival has been pushed back until
Bourbaki's arrival.
10 Only a small portion of the Division, consisting of 1st and 2nd Bns
of the 20th Leger and 2nd Bn of the 2nd Zouaves were dispatched from
the French camps, along with the 4th African Cavalry
11 Reserve Bty has been amalgamated into the other Btys
12 In reality they never pressed the attack, and another division was
left on the far bank and not even committed to the diversion
13 Numbers etc. not confirmed
For numbers, most any coverage of the Irish in the war. The Union had more jobs and was a lot more welcoming to immigrants. For attitudes, largely Celts, Catholics, and Copperheads.
Really, again, source?