Battle Report - The Battle of Inkerman 5th November 1854

Battle Report – The Battle of Inkerman 5 November 1854

Whilst project Battle Cry gets underway, up in the spare room the Inkerman wargame has been played out over the last four nights. Just to set the scene here is the map of the battlefield and the Russian plan of attack:

The action starts at 6am as General Soimonov and some 6000 troops begin their slog up the Careenage Ravine, which is masked by a dense mist. The plan calls for an attack to be coordinated with Gen Paulov, who will strike up the Quarry Ravine and sweep around the Sandbag Battery. In the real battle Paulov is delayed crossing the Tchernaya River. Using random dice he is awarded a one and a quarter hour delay; Soimonov is unaware of this. The British pickets on the heights above initially do not detect the movement (again random dice, with likelihood increased each roll).

At 6:30am, the British Guards picket at the head of the Careenage Ravine spots movement and open fire. Figures can be seen tumbling amongst the Russian ranks and the dense column falters for a few minutes. The Guards picket continues to pour fire into the tight packed ranks.

By 7am, alerted by the firing, the 2^nd Division forms up under Brigadier Pennefeather, who tries to assess the situation.

At 07:30am the 2^nd Division begins to deploy towards the firing and the pickets near the barrier. By this time the Russian artillery has established itself on Shell Hill and begins to target the 2^nd Division camp.

The British pickets on Victoria Ridge join the fray pouring volleys into the flank of the Russian columns. By now nearly two hundred Russians lie dead on the field.

On the other side of the field, General Paulov’s forces begin their assault up the Quarry Ravine.

Lord Raglan arrives on the field from his headquarters and he immediately orders an 18pdr battery to move forward to home ridge.

The Guards picket begins to sustain losses from Russian skirmishers; however on that flank, troops from the Light Division start to arrive on the field.

At 8:00 am, Lord Raglan receives word from the French that they will support the British and are on their way. At the same time some troops from the 4^th Division under General Cathcart begin to arrive. Around the Barrier the 2^nd Division are now fully engaged with the advancing Russian. Their commander Brigadier Pennefeather is shot from his horse seriously wounded.

A Russian column advancing from the Tchernaya valley assaults the Sandbag Battery, but is held off by the weakened pickets. Help is on the way as Cathcart and his 4^th Division hurry towards this fight.

The British Guards Brigade arrives on the field.

At 08:15am, the Light Division work around to the flank of the advancing columns coming out of the Careenage Ravine and pour volley after volley into their flank. The nearest column loses 25% of its strength, stutters and then falls back. A second column also staggers back under the heavy fire. Soimonov’s right has collapsed.

In the centre the Scots Fusilier Guards (SFG) arrive in the area of the 2^nd Division camp and come under heavy fire from the Russian guns on Shell Hill (the first shots miss). 

Meanwhile the British 18pdr battery unlimbers on Home Ridge and immediately engages the Russian artillery.

On the Russian left, Paulov’s columns storm out of the Quarry Ravine onto the ridge. With virtually nothing in front of them they are in reach of Home Ridge, as the Barrier is taken by the Russians.

The pressure on the remaining pickets at the Sandbag Battery is too great and they fall back. The Russians capture the Sandbag Battery.

 

By 08:30am Paulov’s columns are relentlessly pushing onto Home Ridge. The remnants of 2^nd Division are reduced to isolated companies that buckle under the pressure.

Seeing the danger around the Sandbag Battery, Cathcart orders his 4^th Division to block Paulov’s advance, as the remainder of the Guards Brigade move up behind him in support.

At 08:45am, in the centre, two huge Russian columns move around the Barrier and reach Home Ridge and crash into the remaining 2^nd Division companies. Caught by a volley, General Soimonov is wounded and carried to the rear. Much to his relief, Lord Raglan spots French troops coming up behind the Guards, as a Regiment of Light Infantry march into view.

The Scots Fusilier Guards wheel left away from the Guards Brigade to support 2^nd Division, but continue to receive heavy fire from the Russian guns, losing around 100 men in 15 minutes.

At 9am the Russians capture Home Ridge and the 18pdr battery is overrun, but not before it destroys one of the Russian batteries. The 4^th Division is assaulted by a massive Russian column and is carved up by bayonets and is pushed back away from the Sandbag Battery.

The Russians are now in control of the key positions; the Barrier, the Sandbag Battery and Home Ridge, They decide to launch their reserves to take advantage of the successful assault. A huge block of fresh infantry moves forward.

By 09:30 both the British 2^nd and 4^th Divisions have broken as the relentless push of the dense Russian columns continues. Russian skirmishers harry the Scots Fusilier Guards as they position themselves to block the onslaught.

On the Russian right the British have some success as the light Division pour intense fire into the Rusians causing one column to disintegrate. The allied left is now secured, but the main threat is to their centre and right.

At 09:45, the Russian commander spots the threat developing from the French and orders a Regiment of Grenadiers to reinforce in the area of the Sandbag Battery. The French, however, do not hesitate and the light infantry assault the Russian Grenadiers.

At 10am, Russian infantry are now descending off Home Ridge into the 2^nd Division camp area, slowly forcing the British Guards brigade back. The Scots Fusilier Guards have lost around one third of their number.

On the Russian left, the French light infantry recapture the Sandbag Battery, and are joined by a regiment of Zouaves and another line infantry regiment.

By 10:15 am the French attack checks the Russian advance on their left, although two fresh Russian Regiments are about to join the fray.

Meanwhile, in the area of the 2^nd Division camp the Guards cling on under increasing pressure. A Russian surge forward sees the Colonel of the Scots Fusilier Guards fall and their colours are lost too. The Russian guns can no longer see targets around Home Ridge, so they turn their attention towards the French. The French light infantry in the Sandbag Battery begin to suffer heavily.

At 10:30am, the British Guards finally collapse as the Russian sweep around them. The Coldstreams and Grenadiers fall back. At the same time Russian reinforcements and heavy artillery fire blunt the French attack.

 

By 10:45 the Russians sweep the remaining British Guards from the field. The Russian reserve assaults the French and once more captures the sandbag Battery; the light infantry break and fresh Russian troops slam into the Zouaves forcing them back too. The French attack crumbles.

At 11am the fighting dies down. The Russians are in possession of all of the key terrain features of the Inkerman position. The allies would now need to organise a major assault with fresh troops to dislodge the Russians.

The battle is declared a Russian victory. I thought that this would be a dull game and as we saw during the Alma and Balaclava games the Russians would be swept aside by the superior fire of the British; however; to my surprise the dogged columns stormed onto the ridge and after a bitter struggle were victorious. The pickets fought well and the game mechanisms worked fine. Inkerman provided an interesting and exciting battle.

Battle of Inkerman - Terrain Limitations

I have been studying Google Earth overviews and contemporary/recent pictures to try to understand why the Russians took the routes that they did. It becomes very obvious when photographs looking up the ravines are studied, as parts of the ravine walls are sheer cliffs, which in turn would be totally impassable to formed troops and in many cases to any troops.

I have transposed these areas on to my map and denoted areas classed as totally impassible as red lines. It then becomes clear why the battle unfolded the way it did - from a terrain perspective. It also explains the British dispositions along the heights.

Inkerman - Forces Deploy

I think I have worked out how to create the necessary balance to permit the British pickets to take on the massive Russian forces prior to the deployment of the main elements of the 2nd Division:

1. The pickets will be classed as skirmishers, that is to say they will be in open order and will make use of cover where possible.
2. The pickets will be classed as in soft cover when receiving fire - I am assuming that they would kneel or lie down and maybe utilise some protective scrapes in the ground. Those in the Sandbag Battery and behind the Barrier will be in hard cover.
3. The pickets can both move and fire during a game move.
4. Due to the steep slopes, massed formations and uneven terrain, including scrub, the Russians move at 50% of their normal move rate.
5. The Russian infantry represent a close order dense target.
6. The Russians will be firing at targets uphill while in the ravines and this will reduce the effectiveness of their fire, also, only their skirmishers and those in the front ranks will be able to fire. Once they have fired, those in the columns will not be able to fire again, unless the column stops while they reload.

The above modifiers should give the pickets a fair chance of surviving to achieve the effect noted in the real battle.

Here is an image of the table with the initial troop deployments. The Russians are at the top, while the pickets are deployed in an arc across the high ground:

Inkerman Wargame - The Russian Plan

The Russian plan is quite simple, a simultaneous attack along two axes supported by massive artilley fire. The first assault would be along the direction of Quarry Ravine by General Paulov, with the aim of taking the area of the Barrier, taking the Sandbag Battery and on to the main ridge. Meanwhile a second force under General Soimonov, would advance up the Careenage Ravine, sweeping up onto the ridge from the North West. Shell hill would be secured, where the Russians planned to establish a massive battery of artillery to support the assault. Key to success will be coordination of the two forces and the ability to sieze and hold the main Inkerman feature.

The Allies, mainly British, were at this time in barracks in their respective camps, with a number of pickets formed from eight companies of infantry screening the likely approaches. They also occupy the Sandbag Battery, which has no guns installed, and the Barrier. The British 2nd Divsion, which is camped behind Home Ridge, has the responsibility for the defence of the Inkerman feature, while the Light Division is encamped further to the rear on the left and the First Division, minus the Highland Brigade is camped about a mile further to the rear. Further back, with a promise to assist in the event of a Russian attack, are the French. To be successful the allies must hold off overwhelming Russian forces until sufficient reserves can be brought up.

Here is a rough overview of the Russian plan:

In effect the battle will be a meeting engagement, with the Russians having numerical superiority at the outset, while allied force numbers increase as the day moves on. The battle will start with the detection of the Russian assault, which will commence at around 05:30.

Victory conditions are: At the end of the battle the Russians must hold the Barrier, Shell Hill and the Sandbag Battery. The British must deny the Russians these three features to win.

My sources for this action are:
1. Stuart Asquith's 'The crimean War', Partizan Press (good map and orbat),
2. Battles of the Crimean War, W Baring Pemberton, Pan Books,
3. Crimean War Basics, Michael Cox & John Lenton, Partizan Press
4. And the wonderful eyewitness account by Cadogan.

Battle of Inkerman - Wargame

Having had a go at recreating the Battles of The Alma and Balaclava, the next major action in the Crimea would be the Battle of Inkerman. I have been working up to this for many months, slowed down by a number of factors, including a lack of Russian infantry and, more problematic, how to design the terrain. I have already had several attempts. At first I tried out foam board hills as per my Balaclava action - this did not work at all. I then contemplated building the battlefield using layers of expanded polystyrene - again this was not very successful. I then saw on Bob Cordery's Wargaming Miscellany website a battle fought over hexagons made from a clip together game called ' Heroscape'. I had some of this stuff bought for a 15mm project never started. All of my previous ideas were tied to using the 45mm (or so) hexagons, but what if they are ignored and the terrain is simply used to form ridges and ravines. So after a bit of experimenting I have come up with a battlefield that looks reasonable, especially after the hexagons were given a splash of green paint.

The table is 6 x 4 feet and I think it will work with my 20mm figures. Here is the battlefield before any troops are deployed:

Sorting out the terrain is one thing, but designing the game to reflect the actual battle is another. There are some tricky issues:
1. The battlefield was shrouded in mist and how to manage the detection of the Russians by the allies
2. How do small pickets take on large numbers of Russian columns effectively on the wargame table?
3. How to reflect the command and control challenges.
4. How to represent the reinforcement of the allies.
5. The use of Russian naval artillery.

All of the above will need to be worked ou, although I have some advanced ideast. The next step will be the troop ratios and their deployment. So far so good. This could be fun!!