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Museum of money of Feodosia
>> COINS WITH UKRAINIAN THEME >> NORMAN ISLANDS >> Bailiwick of Guernsey. The battle of Alma. September 20, 1854. 
The battle of Alma (September 20, 1854), which is often considered the first battle of the Crimean War (1853 – 1856), took place in the vicinity of the River Alma in the Crimea. An Anglo-French force under General St. Arnaud and Lord Raglan defeated General Menshikov's Russian army, which lost around 6 000 troops. The Anglo-French forces landed on the western coast of the Crimean peninsula some 35 miles north of Sevastopol, on the 13th September 1854, at Calamity Bay. Six days later the two armies headed south. The march involved crossing three rivers. It was at the second of these, the River Alma that the Russians decided to stand. Although the Russian Army was numerically inferior to the combined Anglo-French army, they occupied a natural defensive position. The British and French bivouacked on the northern bank. Two redoubts had been constructed to protect Kourgane Hill from infantry assault; the Lesser Redoubt on the eastern slope and the Greater Redoubt on the west. The road to Sevastopol ran between Telegraph and Kourgane Hill, covered by Russian batteries sited on the hills and in the narrow valley between them. On the far right, General Bousquet's division, supported by the guns of the French fleet, crossed the river, scaled the cliffs and were able to expel the Russian infantry and artillery stationed there. To Canrobert's left Prince Napoleon's division were not even able to cross the river. In the face of heavy fire from Telegraph Hill their advance stalled and the troops took shelter in the vineyards outside the village of Bourliouk. Meanwhile, the British had moved forward. The army was arranged in two lines; the first had the Light Division on the left under Sir George Brown and the 2nd Division under Sir George de Lacy Evans on the right. Behind them on the right of the second line, Sir Richard England led his 3rd Division while on his left the Duke of Cambridge commanded the 1st Division. The 4th division under Sir George Cathcart and the cavalry under Lord Lucan were held in reserve. The British troops stopped and opened fire on the Russians. The skill of the British as professional rifleman forced the Russians back. As the red-coated line started back up the hill, the Russian guns opened up. Scrambling up the slopes of Kourgane Hill in the face of determined artillery fire, the British line was no solid mass of troops, more a thick skirmishing line leaving the Russian guns unable to stop the attack, only hurt it. The First Division, consisting of the Guards and Highland Brigades, was still crossing the river and a great Russian column was moving straight for the Greater redoubt in counterattack. As the Russians column marched down to the Greater Redoubt, an astonishing fact became apparent. Earlier in the day, Menshikov had left Kourgane Hill and proceeded to view the action on the far left of the Russian army where the French had seemed to be initially, causing a danger. The First Division had finally crossed the river and the Russians by the Greater Redoubt saw approaching below them the Grenadier Guards on the right of the British line, the Scots Fusilier Guards in the centre and the Coldstream Guards on the left. Out of sight on the far left was the Highland Brigade. Below the Greater Redoubt, however, a group of Royal Welch Fusiliers had held their ground when their comrades had retreated and were firing up at the redoubt. Suddenly the Russians unleashed hundreds of soldiers, who swarmed over the parapets of the retaken redoubt and poured a shattering volley of musket fire downwards. The Royal Welch Fusiliers were smashed and rushed down the hill, crashing into the advancing Scots Guards with such force that the line was broken in many places. The Scots Guards faltered, and when they were 40 yards from the redoubt the Russians mounted a massive bayonet charge. The Scots Guards were forced to retreat and they did so stopping only when they reached the river. Almost 200 of them lay dead on the slope. 
The last act came on the far right of the Russian line where 10 000 troops were still unused and uncommitted. They were faced by the advancing Highland Brigade; a mere three battalions. Led by Sir Colin Campbell, the 93rd (Highland) Regiment, the Cameron Highlanders and the Black Watch were advancing in a dangerously thin line extended for almost 2 000 yards although in the smoke and confusion of battle the Russians were unable to see that it was only two ranks deep. The highly disciplined Highland Brigade advanced firing, a task difficult to accomplish in those days. For the Russians it proved too much and they fell back. The Battle of the Alma was effectively over and a British victory. On the right of the Allied line, Canrobert had finally got his guns up the cliffs and his Zouaves seized Telegraph Hill. The ridge Lord Raglan had so dramatically made his own was now swarming with red-coated troops. The Russian right was fleeing before the Highland Brigade, the Greater Redoubt was taken and the road to Sevastopol was now open.The Russian retreat became a rout and Lord Raglan sought permission to pursue the Russians, but General St. Arnaud decided this was impossible for his French troops had left their packs at their start points across the river and would have to go back for them before further advances. Raglan was unwilling to pursue the enemy without French support and the broken Russian army was able to escape unmolested. During the battle, the First battalion of Zouaves lost 222 men, the Second battalion 74 men and the Third battalion 63 men. In the United Kingdom 'Alma', as a girls name, became popular as a result of the victory. Also numerous public houses and streets bear the name. In Paris, Pont de l'Alma is a bridge over the River Seine and other French streets are named after the battle. en.wikipedia.org
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