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Queen Victoria followed the movements of the troops as they prepared for war in 1853-54. She and Prince Albert watched some of the regiments practising their military skills at Virginia Water in Windsor Great Park and in February 1854 the 1st Battalion of Scots Fusilier Guards paid a farewell visit to Buckingham Palace on their way to Portsmouth to embark for the Black Sea.
In her diary entry for that day Queen Victoria wrote of the soldiers who presented arms and 'gave three hearty cheers, which went to my heart... May God protect these fine men, may they be preserved and be victorious!'
Reporting the war
Such pre-war optimism would not last once the conflict had begun. At the infamous 'Charge of the Light Brigade' at the Battle of Balaklava, a confusion of orders resulted in the Light Cavalry Brigade charging into a valley surrounded on three sides by the enemy. 107 men and 397 horses were killed in the action.
In addition, troops were having to cope with the windswept terrains of the Crimea in winter, and the weather conditions prevented supplies from reaching the troops, so that they were short of food, warm clothing and medical supplies.
Approximately 20,000 British soldiers died in the Crimean peninsula, of whom at least 16,000 died through disease.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were patrons of the photographer Roger Fenton prior to the war, and provided him with letters of introduction to Lord Raglan (the Commander-in-Chief) and other officers in the Crimea.
Fenton's evocative photographs show the terrain in which British soldiers were living and fighting. For the first time an arena of war was visible to the public through contemporary photographs.
Queen Victoria, anxious to hear about the welfare of the soldiers, was kept up to date with events, and copies of some of the soldiers' letters home were passed on to her.
The following extract from a letter written by the wife of the Paymaster of the 8th Hussars, provides an insight into the harsh conditions faced that winter:
'It was not the personal privation, the cold, and bad food that I felt - but it was the terrible horrors that met me at every step - suffering, and death of man and beast, that ground my heart into the dust. Pain is pain, and death is death - however much we may shut our eyes to it, and harden our hearts.'
Queen Victoria was deeply affected by such reports, and in December 1854 she wrote a letter expressing her admiration for the wounded soldiers in the Crimea. In it she wrote, 'no one takes a warmer interest, or feels more for their suffering, or admires their courage and heroism more than their Queen'.
The 'Queen's Letter' as it became known, was written privately, but published in the press. It was well received and was copied and distributed among the sick and wounded in the hospital at Scutari on the Bosphorous, the main hospital for the British Army.
Queen Victoria also instituted the Patriotic Fund to co-ordinate the collection and distribution of money donated by the public for the widows and orphans of men killed during the Crimean War. Commissioners were appointed across the country for this purpose and the aid was distributed according to the needs of each family.
Homecoming for the Troops
The war finally came to an end in March 1856, and the soldiers soon began to return home. Several battalions were inspected by Queen Victoria on their arrival in this country and they provided a stark contrast to the optimistic, hearty troops which the royal family had waved off two years earlier.
The Queen noted in her journal: 'They had all long beards and were heavily laden with large knapsacks... The whole sight gave one a real idea of what the life and appearance of the men, on service out there, must have been...'
The Queen, Prince Albert and their three eldest sons received some of the first wounded men to return from the Crimea in the Marble Hall of Buckingham Palace. The Queen recorded in her journal: 'It was a touching sight, and one could not see a finer set of men ... whom it made one's heart bleed, to see so mutilated... I had meant to make some kind of general speech, but I was so agitated, that it all stuck in my throat'.
In order to recognise those who had carried out acts of great courage, Queen Victoria instituted the Victoria Cross in January 1856.
The decoration is the highest award for valour in the United Kingdom and is open to all ranks of the armed forces. Prince Albert worked with the government on the drafting of the Royal Warrant, and Queen Victoria chose the final design, suggesting the motto 'For Valour'.
The medal was, and still is, cast from the bronze of cannon captured in the Crimean War.
In addition, the Crimea Medal was issued to all officers and men who had served in the war, and the Baltic Medal was awarded to those involved in the operations in the Baltic Sea between 1854 and 1855., Both medals were introduced at the instigation of Queen Victoria.
The campaign medals and the Victoria Cross acknowledged the bravery and courage of British soldiers in the first war that the British public were able to follow from home. They are also the legacy of a Queen who wished to acknowledge the sacrifices made by her troops for their country. |