The Crimean War in Imperial Context, 1854-1856

327 Pages·2015·7.727 MB·English

by  Andrew C. Rath

The Crimean War in Imperial
Context, 1854–1856

The Crimean War in Imperial
Context, 1854–1856
Andrew C. Rath
the crimean war in imperial context, 1854–1856
Copyright © Andrew C. Rath, 2015.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978–1–137–54451–3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rath, Andrew C.
The Crimean War in imperial context, 1854–1856 / by Andrew C. Rath.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–1–137–54451–3 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Crimean War, 1853–1856—Naval operations. 2. Crimean War,
1853–1856—Campaigns. I. Title.
DK215.R237 2015
9479.07381—dc23 2015006797
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: August 2015
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Sarah and Dad

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: More than a “Crimean” War xi
Maps xix
Notes on Terminology xxiii
1 Allied Prewar Planning: The “Nelson Touch” That Never
Materialized 1
2 The White Sea, Finmark, and Russian Strategy 15
3 The Crimean War’s First Shots in the Baltic, 1854 33
4 Bomarsund, Sweden, and Sweaborg 55
5 Campaigns in the White Sea, 1854 77
6 Kola, Blockade, and Advances in Naval Medicine 93
7 The Crimean War in the Pacific World, 1854 111
8 Petropavlovsk, Japan, and After 131
9 Frustration in the Pacific, Shifts along the Amur 151
10 Sweaborg and Another Baltic Campaign, 1855 165
Conclusion 1856 and a “Peace that Sticks in the Throat” 191
Notes 203
Bibliography 271
Index 289

Acknowledgments
Special thanks are due to McGill University professor emeritus,
Valentin Boss, and his wife, Militsa Krivokapich-Boss. In addi-
tion to recognizing Dr. Carman Miller at McGill, the author espe-
cially wishes to acknowledge the assistance provided by Susanne
Pastuschek, Johanna Leinonen, and the wonderful team at Palgrave
Macmillan, especially Kristin Purdy and Brigitte Shull. Drs. Brian
Farrell of the National University of Singapore and Andrew Lambert
of King’s College (London) were wonderfully supportive of the pro-
ject, which was partially funded by project grants from Finland’s
Kone Foundation (Koneen Säätiö).
Assembling and interpreting a wide range of sources in English,
French, Russian, German, Japanese, Finnish, and Swedish would not
have been possible without the linguistic acumen of Sven Carlsson
(Swedish); Mark Conrad, Maria Hristova, Darya Ivashniova,
Vladimir Nikitin, and Dr. Svetlana Chervonnaya (Russian); Johanna
Beil (German); Aleksi Huhta and Robert Lindberg (Finnish and
Swedish); Daniel and Azusa Lachapelle Lemire (Japanese); Jamie Liu
Chen (Chinese); and Alexandra Merrill, Celeste Lordet, and Sarah
Limoges Rath (French). The author also appreciates John Bowen’s
and Dayne Weber’s cartographic abilities and the assistance of David
Retter of the National Library of New Zealand.
The staffs of the National Maritime Museum and the Service
Historique de la Défense at Vincinnes were extremely helpful, espe-
cially Professor Thomas Vaisset. Hervé de Miniac and Baudoin
de Pimodan generously opened their family archives. A great deal
of credit is also due to Dr. Howard Fuller of the University of
Wolverhampton, Dr. Ruslan Davydov of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, Dr. Jan Martin Lemnitzer of Oxford University, David
Retter at the National Library of New Zealand, Dr. Barry Gough,
and Professor Patrick Louvier and Alexandre Studeny of Université
Paul Valéry Montpellier III.
The inevitable typographic errors are the sole responsibility of the
author.