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A war fought in the Crimea, 1854 - 1856

In a nutshell, the campaign arose out of the need to contain Russian expansionism and to protect Turkey from the threat of having its interests undermined - the Turkish-controlled Bosphorus being the only exit from the Black Sea for Russia's fleet. An Anglo-French expedition was mounted to assist Turkey to this end. The (then) Kingdom of Sardinia also provided a token force.

Obviously, we had forgotten the first rule of war: don't get involved in a land war in Asia. Fortunately no Sicilians were involved.

Needless to say, the extreme suffering & hardship suffered by the British & French armies highlighted just how ill-prepared they were for such an arduous campaign; the equipment & methods of fighting having changed little since Waterloo. A few senior British officers (who were veterans of the Napoleonic wars) still referred to the French as 'the enemy', despite them being allies - though I think they might have been on to something.

Notable "firsts" were:

• First photographs from the front lines
• War correspondents sending reports by telegraph
• tactical use of railways
• cigarettes
• Florence Nightingale
• ambulances
• Indirect artillery fire.

It also saw the British infantryman armed with a muzzle loading .577 inch Enfield 2nd Pattern (1853) which finally gave the 19th century squaddie a weapon as good (accuracy & range) as the Longbow.

Some major battles of the Crimean war include Inkerman, Sevastopol, Alma and Balaclava (aka the Charge of the Light Brigade).

A fuller version can be found on this wiki page.