Date September 20, 1854
Place On the banks of the Alma
Issue Franco-British Victory-
Turkish-Piedmontese
Belligerents
British, Turkish, Piedmontese and French Coalition Russian Army
Commanders
General of Saint Arnaud
Lord Raglan Alexander Menshikov
Forces present
British:
26,000 infantry
1,000 cavalry
60 guns
French:
28,000 infantry
72 guns
Turkish:
7,000 infantry 33,000 infantry
3,400 cavalry
120 guns
Losses
British:
2,002 dead
France:
1,340 dead
Total:3,342 5,709 dead
The Battle of the Alma is a battle which on September 20, 1854 opposed a Franco-British-Turkish-Piedmontese coalition to the Russian army during the Crimean War on the banks of the Alma River.
Preamble
The allies landed their troops on September 14 at Eupatoria. In Sevastopol, immediately informed, Prince-General Menshikov gathers the maximum number of units scattered in Crimea. He decides to fight on the Alma, where his troops will be overhanging the opposing forces.
Menshikov fielded 40,000 men, or 42 and a half battalions, 16 cavalry squadrons, 11 sotnias of Cossacks and a hundred artillery pieces.
Opposite, the British hold the left flank, the French the center and the right. The fleet holds the coast.
In the afternoon of the 19th, some clashes took place between Russians and British, the Russians coming to “test” the opposing resistance. The Allied troops are not all assembled, however, and some British units will still arrive in the night.
The battle
If the French are on the march before dawn, the British immediately fall behind, upsetting the battle plan.
The zouaves - 3rd regiment of zouaves - of the Bousquet division will carry out the decisive manoeuvre:climbing the cliff with the support of the guns of the fleet, they seize the Russian artillery and turn it against Menshikov's troops. Finding themselves at the forefront, they must resist the waves of infantry opposing them while waiting for reinforcements.
Under Russian fire, the rest of the French army struggles and finally stops towards the village of Bourliouk. General Canrobert's artillery arrives at the foot of the cliff, but the slopes are too steep and the guns cannot climb into position to reinforce the Zouaves.
On the left flank of the French, the British are catching up, but an error in Sir George Brown's maneuver undermines the formation of the British army. Hoping to take advantage of this disorganization, the Russians charged but were repulsed by the British riflemen. There followed a series of rather confused exchanges:Menshikov fearing that the action of the Zouaves would be fatal to him, moved with his command against the French. From his outlying position, he struggled to perceive the situation facing the British and launched counter-attacks against elements of the British army. Believing to face divisions, the Russian infantry found themselves facing battalions and skirmishers, with the bulk of the British on their flanks. Despite contradictory orders, the commanders of the British units do not let the opportunity pass and decimate their adversary.
On the extreme left flank of the British front, three battalions, or two to three thousand men, faced more than 10,000 Russian troops, fresh and not yet having participated in the battle. The British, stretched in a thin line of two ranks for almost two kilometers, advanced by firing (a difficult maneuver at the time). In the smoke and confusion of the battle, the Russians overestimate the number of troops facing them and withdraw.
On the right, General Canrobert finally manages to hoist his guns up the cliff. The zouaves leave and manage to break through and take the highest point hitherto occupied by the Russian general staff.
In retreat along the entire front and without reserves capable of opposing the Franco-British, the battle ended in rout for the Russian army.
It is in memory of this battle and to salute their courage that Le Zouave du pont de l'Alma in Paris was created by the sculptor Georges Diebolt. The city of Alma in Quebec was also named in commemoration of this battle.