Click here to read about the British Army at Inkerman.
The saying ‘the bayonet is a wise man, the bullet a fool’ probably held as good for the Russian army of the Crimea as it did during Suvarov’s time. Although the British never doubted the courage of the individual Russian soldier, the men lacked initiative and were taught rigid drill-ground tactics rather than the skirmishing that Inkerman demanded.
The battle rested on the artillery of both sides. Russian gunners were regarded as the elite of their army, each infantry division having its own artillery brigade with two 12-gun field batteries of six 12-pounders and six 18-pounders each, and two 12-gun light batteries of eight 6-pounders and four 9-pounders each.
The guns were brass smoothbores, mounted on pea-green painted carriages, that could fire three rounds a minute at ranges well over 1,000 yards. Both sides used round shot, shell, shrapnel, and canister to devastating effect at Inkerman, although the Russian guns were more vulnerable during the battle, firing as they did from open ground rather than prepared positions.
The Russian infantry consisted of men conscripted for 25 years, some of whom, after 10 years’ service and the passing of a simple exam, would be commissioned, providing the bulk of each regiment’s officers. Other officers would come from the landowning class and would serve for a few years as a semi-sergeant before taking the same exam. A few, usually the sons of the gentry, would attend officer-cadet schools.
The rank and file were trained to fight in company and battalion columns, which were easy to manoeuvre (so long as the ground was favourable – which it was not at Inkerman), but terribly vulnerable to rifle or artillery fire. Their 0.700 muskets were flintlock conversions and only really effective up to about 100 paces – although there were four rifle companies at the battle who were equipped with the 0.700 Littikhsky Russian infantry at Inkerman shown advancing towards British positions under shell-fire, and clashing with British Guards in the struggle for the Sandbag Battery. rifle of Liège design. A few of these weapons were issued to each line battalion, being used to great effect at Inkerman, mainly against mounted officers, colour parties, and gun crews.
Each infantry regiment had four battalions of about 800 men, the whole regiment having a number and a territorial title, but, confusingly, the number was repeated in each division. So, the 11th Division had, in its 1st Brigade, the 21st Selenghinsk (Light) Regiment, and in its 2nd Brigade, the 21st Okhotsk (Musketeer) Regiment. In practice, there was little difference, as each regiment was known by its name rather than by its number.
Importantly, though, the Russians had more battle experience at the time of Inkerman than the British. Pauloff’s troops, in particular, had seen much action against the Turks. Indeed, they were reluctant to be launched into battle on 4 November, as originally planned, as it was the first anniversary of their defeat by the Turks at Oltenitsa on the Danube.
Some say that the Russians’ stock of courage had been eroded before Inkerman, whilst others believe they were in their fighting prime. Whatever the truth, no-one who faced them on that misty, blood-soaked day questioned their valour or their tenacity.
