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| The Russian cannons in Nottingham's Arboretum |
Nottingham's Arboretum proudly displays four Russian cannons as if defending the park's Chinese bell tower from imminent attack. Two of them were captured in 1855 after the Siege of Sebastopol during the Crimean War. There in the thick of the hand-to-hand bayonet fighting was Lady Maud Rolleston's father, the 38-year-old Major Robert Dalzell.
The injuries and illness he picked up there would affect him for the rest of his life. So was he just an aristocratic Quality Street chocolate box soldier or a bona vide hero of Crimea? This is his story and the link to the Arboretum cannons...
"On came the Russians, the bayonet was used with terrible effect by all regiments. The enemy, driven on by their brave officers, had to and did literally, climb over heaps of their slain countrymen and ours to renew this bloodthirsty contest; but they had to go back time after time much quicker than they came."
Report of the Battle of Inkerman during the siege of Sebastopol Nov 5th 1854
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| 1839 - the 23-year-old Robert Dalzell, in the undress uniform of a lieutenant of the Grenadier Company of the 81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers). 5th and youngest son of the 6th Earl of Carnwath |
He was born into an aristocratic Scottish family, son of the 6th Earl of Carnwath. As youngest son though his prospects were not too good and he had to make his own way in the world which for his family meant joining the Army.
Unluckily, he never inherited the Earl of Carnwath title himself, but his three brothers all did, as well as his two sons, as he died before his elder brother.
https://www.britishbattles.com/crimean-war/battle-of-inkerman/
Dalzell peerage in old books...
He met Lady Maud's Canadian mother, Sarah Bushby Harris, when he was serving with his regiment of the Grenadier Guards in Canada. They were married in 1846 in London, Ontario.
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| Colonel Robert Alexander George Dalzell, CB b.19/8/1816 d.19/10/1878 Honorary Colonel of the Grenadier Guards; Knight of the Medjidi. |
After living a year in Toronto, she accompanied him when his regiment returned to England in 1847.
Aged 38, he transferred to the 63rd Regiment of Foot for the 1854 Crimea campaign. He fought gallantly amid the hand-to-hand, bayonet intense Battle of Inkerman against the Russians in November 1854 and was promoted to its Commanding Officer after the death in action of his predecessor Lt-Colonel Exham Swyny.
Crimea Battle Honours
His own gallantry earned him battle honours but his quick promotion along with terrible disease and the Russian winter was too much for him to handle. He became severely ill, cholera and dysentery being rife in the makeshift, weather-battered camps on the exposed plateau above Sebastopol. Many of his men died that winter, far more soldiers died of disease or exposure than were killed by the Russians. His run-down regiment suffered poor management including shortages of food, tents and warm clothing and was the subject of a damning report in Jan 1855 by the Brigade's adjutant James Bucknall Estcourt. While not entirely Dalzell's fault, he was relieved of command by Lord Raglan and shipped rather ignominiously back to England...
15th April 1855 - "Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable R.A.G. Dalzell left the regiment, which he had commanded since the 5th November, 1854, for England, in the steamer Indian, on the 15th April. He was very ill, having, indeed, to be carried on board ship."
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| Men from the 21st Royal North British Fusiliers, Dalzell's 63rd and the Rifle Brigade were sent to retake "The Barrier" which remained in British hands for the rest of the battle, despite repeated and determined assaults by the Russians. |
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| Dalzell's men of the 63rd Foot then helped to defend "The Barrier", just a low stone wall built as a defence against the Russians |
Dalzell was to be awarded the Companionship of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath; the Turkish Order of Medjedie (5th Class) and the Sardinian Medal Al Valore for his services at the Battle of Inkerman. He retired onto half pay on 1 October 1856, "owing to impaired health".
His beard is unusual for a British army officer but in the freezing conditions of the Crimea they were allowed to grow and then keep their beards almost as battle honours.
VC recommendation for the man who saved his life
Dalzell's story at Sebastopol echoes Lancelot Rolleston of Watnall Hall's own famous 1900 Boer War story where one of his men gallantly saves his life on the battlefield.
On 22nd April 1857 Dalzell writes a letter from Brighton supporting the award of a Victoria Cross to Ensign James Slack who, amongst other heroic deeds, helped save him from the enemy at Inkerman...
"JAMES SLACK, Ensign 63rd Regiment - For leading, under a heavy fire, some soldiers, and liberating Major the Honourable R. A. G. Dalzell, commanding the 63rd Regiment, from his horse, which had been killed under him when far in advance at the battle of Inkerman, saving him thereby from being either killed or taken prisoner by the Russians."
"The battle of Inkerman admits of no description; it was a series of hand to hand fights... that lasted without a moment's pause, from daylight on Sunday, the 5th of November, till about half-past two in the afternoon eight and a half hours' fighting, such as was seldom witnessed on any battlefield. Colonel Swyny charged at the head of his regiment, but one barrel of his revolver only had been discharged before he fell in this murderous mêlée... Major the Honourable Dalzell, who had succeeded to the command, rode up, when his horse, being shot, galloped a considerable distance down the road towards Sebastopol before he fell dead with Major Dalzell under him. We followed after him with a few men of the regiment, who charged the Russians down the road and extricated him from his perilous position. Some few men of a French line regiment fought with us in driving the enemy down the ravine; they appeared to be stragglers from their regiments. Our ammunition was expended, and we were supplying ourselves from the pouches of dead men, when the [French/N.African] Zouaves came bounding down the ravine like deer and joined in the fray."
Retirement
After a few years travelling in Europe (Lady Maud was born in 1859 in Bruges, Belgium) Dalzell and his young family then moved to Devon where Lady Maud grew up. Family finances always seemed to be a little tight, his Canadian mother-in-law's diary revealing his frequent worries about his investments. True to his breeding though, she always describes him acting like an honourable gentleman in all matters. He died of tuberculosis on 19 October 1878, aged 62, three years before his daughter Maud married Lancelot Rolleston and moved to Watnall Hall. Lady Maud's mother Sarah lived with them at Watnall Hall to a grand old age and died aged 94 in 1916.
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| Fellow infantryman of the 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot, later the Sherwood Foresters, after Inkerman. Historically correct colourisation. |
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| Crimean Peninsula - the intense cold during the war gave us the word Balaclava after a coastal village and the battle that took place there |
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| “The Battle of Inkerman lasted without a moment's pause, from daylight on Sunday, the 5th of November, till about half-past two in the afternoon eight and a half hours' fighting, such as was seldom witnessed on any battlefield." Dalzell's 63rd were positioned with the 21st, defending Quarry Road and The Barrier. They were part of the 4th Division, commanded by Lt General Sir George Cathcart. |
A Run-down Regiment
Before Crimea, the 63rd, then in Ireland, were twice called upon to send experienced volunteers to other under-strength regiments awaiting embarkation and as a result were themselves considerably under-strength when new Colours were presented to them in Dublin in May 1854. Then, given less than 6 weeks to join the expeditionary force to the Crimea, a large number of fresh inexperienced and unfit recruits were obtained from the young men of Dublin. There was consequently very little esprit de corps in the Regiment and few older men to help the youngsters. The loss of his CO and Dalzell's sudden promotion to an unfamiliar role along with the deplorable conditions they suffered all lead to his eventual rather ignominious dismissal.
The war had been cruel upon Dalzell and the 63rd, and due to limited manpower in early 1855, the regiment was withdrawn from the line. Cruel but at least not fatal for Dalzell which was not the case for the two officers involved in his damning report. Its author Adjutant Estcourt and recipient Lord Raglan would both be dead from Crimean cholera by June. Fellow officers sent rather unsympathetic gossipy letters about Dalzell's situation..
"The poor 63rd have at last almost disappeared, and have, I believe, no-one fit for duty." [letter from Lt.Col. G.F Dallas dated 14 January 1855] "...I think I told you how one Regiment had gone away, the 63rd, I mean they marched away 25 in number! Poor fellows; it was not a very nice Regiment, but they fought like fun at Inkermann". [letter dated 26 January 1855]
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| The four Arboretum cannons - two Sebastopol originals and two replicas made in Nottingham for symmetry! |
Photographs of Sebastopol in 1855
The cannons in the Nottingham Arboretum
A Russian cannon in an English local park was by no means an isolated memorial to the men who fought for their country in the Crimean War. There were a large number of similar cannon distributed throughout the British Isles and world wide¹. At least 141 towns received one and often several Crimean cannons! At Sebastopol a substantial ordnance depot was captured that held a large quantity of obsolete and damaged guns. These supplemented those actually captured in active service. The whole totalled some 4000 items of ordnance. Some were melted down and famously one was used to make Victoria Crosses.
May 1852 - The Arboretum Opens
The Arboretum was formally opened on 11 May 1852 by the Mayor and lacemaker, William Felkin. There was an admission charge of 6d. for adults and 3d. for children. A small brass plate in front of the west lodge of the Arboretum gives some background information:
You can read all about the fascinating inspiration for the Art School in another of my blog posts here...
Dalzell's Army Career
Remarkably, there was one of the world's first war photographers present at Sebastopol, Roger Fenton.
His pictures capture the life and living conditions of the soldiers during the siege...
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| Fenton's Photographic Van with assistant Marcus Sparling 1855. Fenton lived among the troops and travelled in a photo truck that doubled as his darkroom while photographing Russia’s defeat by an alliance that included Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. |
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| Lieutenant-Colonel Studholme Brownrigg commanded a battalion of the Grenadier Guards in the Crimea. In 1876, Brownrigg became the Colonel of the 95th Foot, 2nd Derbyshire's. He is pictured here with two Russian youths, probably drummer boys, who were captured in battle |
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| Colonel Edward Birch Reynardson another compatriot of Dalzell at Inkerman. |
The cannons in the Nottingham Arboretum
A Russian cannon in an English local park was by no means an isolated memorial to the men who fought for their country in the Crimean War. There were a large number of similar cannon distributed throughout the British Isles and world wide¹. At least 141 towns received one and often several Crimean cannons! At Sebastopol a substantial ordnance depot was captured that held a large quantity of obsolete and damaged guns. These supplemented those actually captured in active service. The whole totalled some 4000 items of ordnance. Some were melted down and famously one was used to make Victoria Crosses.
On 3 October 1855 a great gala was held at the recently-opened Arboretum, where between 15,000-20,000 people saw, among the entertainment, a grand representation of the siege and fall of Sebastopol. The two pieces of cannon from Sebastopol duly arrived in Nottingham during April 1857. Replica Russian gun carriages were obtained from Woolwich Arsenal and the guns were mounted and placed in front of the Refreshment Rooms in 1858.
The tower for the Chinese bell (which was captured from Canton in China during the 1857 Opium War) was designed by Mr Mariott Ogle Tarbotton, the Corporation Engineer and Surveyor, and erected between 1862-63. Tо preserve Victorian symmetry two replica cannon were cast by the Britannia Foundry in Canal Street and until 1950, when local youths rolled them down to the lake, a pyramid of (wooden) cannon balls stood between each pair of cannon. For safety reasons they have not been replaced.
May 1852 - The Arboretum Opens
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| 1853 - The view from the top of the Arboretum over the new pond towards Nottingham's not so built-up city centre. There's no Art School and no Trent Uni. |
The fabulous drawing above shows Nottingham's Arboretum just over a year after its opening in May 1852. The pond and gatehouse are still recognisable from the tram picture below.
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| Mayor William Felkin (definitely not Les Dawson!) |
"These grounds, selected under the authority of the Act for enclosing the Commonable Lands in Nottingham, passed in the 9th. year of the reign of Queen Victoria were laid out in the year 1850, with the public funds of the town for the benefit and recreation of the inhabitants pursuant to the said Act in the Mayoralty of Richard Birkin, Esq. under the direction of the Committee appointed by the Town Council for the purpose."
Note there is no Nottingham School of Art in the view towards Nottingham's city centre, that grand edifice was built ten years later in 1863. I wonder what the big house on the opposite side of Waverley Street is?
Today Nottingham's NET trams run past the Arboretum down Waverley Street but the drawing pre-dates even the original Nottingham trams which didn't come along until 1877. Nor did the old trams run down Waverley Street, that only began with the new NET trams in 2005...
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| Modern Nottingham tram going past the same gate posts and gatehouse as in the 1853 picture and the picture below. |
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| c.1905 - You can see the new School of Art in these pictures which was built in 1863 |
You can read all about the fascinating inspiration for the Art School in another of my blog posts here...
"Today we look at how the success of a Nottingham art school, founded on the lace and textile trade, led to one of Nottingham's grandest royal parades and the resurrection of Nottingham Castle from a burnt out hulk to today's fabulous Art Gallery and Museum..."
There are plenty more historical "Tales from Watnall Hall" and hereabouts at the main blog page here...
https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/
https://watnallhall.blogspot.com/
------ THE END ------
Picture credits, notes and sources
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| Aged 23, the Hon. Robert Dalzell, in the undress uniform of a lieutenant of the Grenadier Company of the 81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers). Portrait by an unknown Spanish artist dated 1839. Reproduced with the kind permission of Mr and Mrs Glyn Olden. |
Dalzell's Army Career
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL THE HONOURABLE R. A. G. DALZELL. C.Ð’.
"Ensign, 81st Foot, 21st March, 1834.
"Lieutenant 11th September, 1835. (See picture above)
"Captain 30th July, 1844. (Married 1846)
"Major 7th March, 1851. "
"Major, 63rd Foot, 3rd June, 1853.
"Lieutenant-Colonel, 63rd Foot, 6th November, 1854.
"Lieutenant-Colonel, provisional battalion, 7th September, 1855.
"Lieutenant-Colonel, half-pay, provisional battalion, 26th October, 1856.
"Lieutenant-Colonel, Grenadier Guards, 17th July, 1857 (exchange.) Sold out 17th July, 1857.
"Eastern campaign of 1854-5, with the 63rd regiment, including the "actions in the Crimea" and siege of Sebastopol (medal and clasps.) Horse killed under him at the battle of Inkerman. Mentioned in despatches. (Vide London Gazette. 2nd December, 1854, page 3952.)
At Inkerman, Dalzell has his horse shot from under him...
"The battle of Inkerman admits of no description; it was a series of hand to hand fights. Colonel Swyny charged at the head of his regiment, but one barrel of his revolver only had been discharged before he fell in this murderous mêlée. At the Barrier, Colonel, now General, Sir F. Haines and Sergeant-Major Vousden, of the 21st Fusiliers, joined us; the latter and Sergeant Prouse, of the 63rd Regiment, were severely wounded on the road above the Barrier, also a number of men were killed and wounded there. Subsequently Lieutenant Curtois joined us, and Major the Honourable Dalzell, who had succeeded to the command, rode up, when his horse, being shot, galloped a considerable distance down the road towards Sebastopol before he fell dead with Major Dalzell under him. We followed after him with a few men of the regiment, who charged the Russians down the road and extricated him from his perilous position. Some few men of a French line regiment fought with us in driving the enemy down the ravine; they appeared to be stragglers from their regiments. Our ammunition was expended, and we were supplying ourselves from the pouches of dead men, when the Zouaves came bounding down the ravine like deer and joined in the fray."
Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 76 (1998), 73-87
'NOT A VERY NICE REGIMENT': HER MAJESTY'S 63rd (THE WEST SUFFOLK) REGIMENT OF FOOT BY MICHAEL HARGREAVE MAWSON - a damning report of Dalzell's command of the 63rd after Inkerman including his own long and very candid, explanatory letter...
History of the 63rd - for a more sympathetic view of Dalzell's command...
Dalzell in later life does not always come across sympathetically regarding his personality or finances from the pages of his mother in law's diary...
Arboretum web page
Nottingham Civic Society
Alan Robson for tram pic
The 1853 pic came from Glenys Partridge "Taken from the decaying scrap album made in 1888 by my Great Grandmother for her 4yr old son , Percy Adamson, my grandad"
Nottingham Corporation Tramways was formed when Nottingham Corporation took over the Nottingham and District Tramways Company Limited, which had operated a horse and steam tram service from 1877.
A Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Tramways Company tram, known as 'Ripley Rattlers', waiting to leave Nottingham’s Upper Parliament Street terminus, for Ripley, in 1916. The Nottingham to Ripley tram route opened on 15 August 1913.
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| Brian Yeoman's colourised picture in the as "near-as-careful-research-allows" correct green livery..."the only evidence out there seems to be that they were painted In Balfour Beatty's usual bright green and cream livery." |
Creepy JM Barrie and the Arboretum, Nottingham and DH Lawrence's disparaging view of him
A young JM Barrie, creator of Peter Pan, lived near the Arboretum in Birkland Avenue when working at the Nottingham Journal in Pelham Street in 1884-1885.
It's been suggested the park and pond was used as inspiration for some elements of Peter Pan. His writings for the Notts newspaper showed an early predilection for the odd, boyish and disturbing nature of stories...
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| JM Barrie from the Left Lion article on the writer's links to the Arboretum |
DHL got to know Barrie later in life after Barrie's marriage to and messy break up with DHL's friend Mary Ansell.
DHL wove Barrie's character into the oddball Loerke in Women In Love, the book's Gerald Crick storyline echoing the life of Barrie and his close friendship to polar explorer Capt. Robert Scott. DHL's famous quote about Barrie is... "J. M. Barrie has a fatal touch for those he loves. They die." Also a reference to the real life suicide of one of the Peter Pan boys Barrie had become close and influential to.
The Pond
Interesting video of the pond being emptied and what lies beneath from 2026 (rather fine Victorian brick work actually!)...
by Ant Daykin of Our History Underfoot
Roger Fenton
Notes
1 - How many cannons were distributed to UK towns?
The Russian Gun in an English local park was not an isolated memorial to the men who died fighting for their country in the Crimean War in the mid 19th century. There were a large number of similar cannon distributed throughout the British Isles and world wide. At Sebastopol a substantial ordnance depot was captured that held a large quantity of obsolete and damaged guns. These supplemented those actually captured in active service. The whole totalled some 4000 items of ordnance. Russian artillery fell into 4 general categories at the time, ship, fortress or garrison (krepostnaya), siege and field. The Sebastopol cannon were mainly siege guns.
After the fall of Sebastopol an inventory of the captured stores was made over 10 days in the latter part of September 1855. The extent of the spoil captured by the allies was almost incredible, notwithstanding all that the Russians had expended or destroyed. The cannon of various sizes numbered 3,839, 128 of which were of brass, the rest iron; a great number had been thrown into the harbour to avoid their being taken. Round shot, 407,314; shell, 101,755; canister cases, 24,080; gunpowder, 525,000 lb.; ball cartridges, 670,000 rounds; and other articles too numerous to mention. The spoil was divided between the allies according to value and manpower in the Crimea. The cannon however were divided equally between the French and the English. According to Sydney historians, Britain received 1165 guns however Dun Laoghaire historians give a figure of 964. At the time cannon were valued for distribution as follows: brass - eleven pence per pound and iron - halfpence per pound. Sources: The History of the War with Russia, (c.1856) Tyrell H. Vol. II, Chap. XIV. P.305; Pictorial History of the Crimea War (1856) G.D. p.492/3.
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| Although the British Guards fighting around the much-disputed Sandbag Battery managed to drive off their Russian opponent, they still suffered nearly 50 percent casualties in the process. |
Above: The Fall of Sebastopol 9th September 1855. Result: A Decisive Allied Victory
Probably used as ships ballast for returning troop and supply ships, cannon were then donated to towns far and wide. This was intended as a public relations exercise demonstrating the success of the war against such stupendous odds. Many of the Russian guns were distributed to countries that had contributed to the war effort at the time. Twenty were sent to Canada and are to be found in major cities there. Others have gone to the furthermost reaches of the British Empire. The Cannon were actually of little value as ordnance because of the developments in rifled barrels and cylindrical loads. Many were melted down for further appropriate use such as the alleged minting of the Victoria Cross award. Actually Chinese guns were apparently used for this; a fact realized some time after the award was being bestowed. Many Crimean Cannon have survived the intervening years including the world wars and this database gives details of those that we have been able to trace.
Key:
# = original gun in situ, ~ = replacement in situ, $ = scrapped or lost.
Armagh #
Aberdeen $$
Abingdon $$?
Ashburton, Devon (not Crimean Cannon)
Ashton-under-Lyne $$
Bamburgh
Banff Scotland #
Bath $$
Belfast $$
Berkswell Warwicks #
Berwick #
Birkenhead $$#
Birr #
Blackburn $$
Boston Lincs.$$
Braddan I.O.M.#
Bradford $$
Bridgenorth $
Bridgwater ~
Brighton $$
Bristol $$
Burnley $$
Caernarfon #
Carlisle ????
Cambridge $
Canterbury ?
Cardiff $
Cardigan #
Carlow, Ireland #
Carmarthen, Wales $
Chelmsford #
Cheltenham $
Chester $$
Chobham ~
Cobh Ireland #
Congleton $
Cork City $#
Coventry $$
Cricklade $$
Darlington #
Dartmouth #
Darwen ?
Derby $$
Devizes $
Dublin ######
Dudley ##
Dumbarton $?
Dumfries #
Dunfermline $
Dun Laoghaire Ireland #
Durham $
Edinburgh $
Elgin, Scotland $
Ely #
Ennis Ireland #
Eton #
Evesham #
Flint Castle $
Galway $$
Glasgow $#
Grantham $
Great Yarmouth $$
Guernsey, St Peter Port ##
Halifax $$
Harrogate$
Hartlepool #
Hastings $
Hereford ~
Huntingdon ~
Knaresborough $
Lancaster ??
Leamington Spa $
Leicester ##
Leominster $
Lewes #
Lichfield $
Limerick Ireland ##
Linlithgow $
Lisburn #
London #
Londonderry #
Longton Staffs $
Lowestoft #
Ludlow #
Lymington $
Maidstone #
Malmesbury $$$
Malton Yorks $
Margate $
Middlesbrough #
Monmouth #
Naas, Curragh, Porthlaoise, Ireland #
Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs.#
Newry #
Nottingham ##
Oldham $$
Perth $$$$?
Plymouth ###
Pontefract $$
Portsmouth #####$
Preston ~~
Reading $
Retford # and Beckingham ~
Richmond $
Ripon $
Rochester #
Rothesay, Isle of Bute $
Salford, Manchester $$
Salisbury $
Sandhurst ###
Scarborough ~
Seaham $
Shaftesbury $
Sheffield $$
Southampton $$$
Southport $
Southsea $$
South Shields ~~
Southwold X
Stockport ~~
Stockton $
Stoke on Trent ?
Sunderland ~~
Swansea ?
Taunton $
Tiverton $
Tralee, Ireland ##
Trim #
Walsall $$
Warrington $$
Waterford Ireland ##
Welling #
Wells $
Westbury $
Whitby $
Winchester $
Wolverhampton $
Woolwich $
Wootton Bassett $
Wrexham $$
York $$
# = original gun in situ, ~ = replacement in situ, $ = scrapped or lost.
Armagh #Aberdeen $$Abingdon $$?Ashburton, Devon (not Crimean Cannon)Ashton-under-Lyne $$BamburghBanff Scotland #Bath $$Belfast $$Berkswell Warwicks #Berwick #Birkenhead $$#Birr #Blackburn $$Boston Lincs.$$Braddan I.O.M.#Bradford $$Bridgenorth $Bridgwater ~Brighton $$Bristol $$Burnley $$Caernarfon #Carlisle ????Cambridge $Canterbury ?Cardiff $Cardigan #Carlow, Ireland #Carmarthen, Wales $Chelmsford #Cheltenham $Chester $$Chobham ~Cobh Ireland #Congleton $Cork City $#Coventry $$Cricklade $$Darlington #Dartmouth #Darwen ?Derby $$Devizes $Dublin ######Dudley ##Dumbarton $?Dumfries #Dunfermline $Dun Laoghaire Ireland #Durham $Edinburgh $Elgin, Scotland $Ely #Ennis Ireland #Eton #Evesham #Flint Castle $Galway $$Glasgow $#Grantham $Great Yarmouth $$Guernsey, St Peter Port ##Halifax $$Harrogate$Hartlepool #Hastings $Hereford ~Huntingdon ~Knaresborough $Lancaster ??Leamington Spa $Leicester ##Leominster $Lewes #Lichfield $Limerick Ireland ##Linlithgow $Lisburn #London #Londonderry #Longton Staffs $Lowestoft #Ludlow #Lymington $Maidstone #Malmesbury $$$Malton Yorks $Margate $Middlesbrough #Monmouth #Naas, Curragh, Porthlaoise, Ireland #Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs.#Newry #Nottingham ##Oldham $$Perth $$$$?Plymouth ###Pontefract $$Portsmouth #####$Preston ~~Reading $Retford # and Beckingham ~Richmond $Ripon $Rochester #Rothesay, Isle of Bute $Salford, Manchester $$Salisbury $Sandhurst ###Scarborough ~Seaham $Shaftesbury $Sheffield $$Southampton $$$Southport $Southsea $$South Shields ~~Southwold XStockport ~~Stockton $Stoke on Trent ?Sunderland ~~Swansea ?Taunton $Tiverton $Tralee, Ireland ##Trim #Walsall $$Warrington $$Waterford Ireland ##Welling #Wells $Westbury $Whitby $Winchester $Wolverhampton $Woolwich $Wootton Bassett $Wrexham $$York $$2 - The 63rd at Inkerman
The 63rd with Captain Dalzell spent several years in Ireland before embarking for the Crimea on 21 July 1854. Landing in the Crimea on 14 September 1854, the 63rd as part of the 4th Division saw little action at the battle of Alma, having arrived on the field as the Russian were in retreat. Taking part in the siege of Sebastopol from early October 1854. The 63rd were very heavily engaged at the battle of Inkerman, 5 November 1854. From the Regimental history:
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| Defending "The Barrier", a low stone wall built as a defence |
"The battle of Inkerman lasted without a moment's pause, from daylight on Sunday, the 5th of November, till about half-past two in the afternoon eight and a half hours' fighting, such as was seldom witnessed on any battlefield. The generals of the fourth division being all killed or wounded, Brigadier-General Pennefather, of the second division, rode up, called for Colonel Swyny, and said, " Let me see what metal the 63rd is made of; the enemy will be soon upon you, be ready to give him a volley and charge." Colonel Swyny had formed his regiment in line and ordered the men to lie down, as they were exposed to a terrific fire from the enemy's artillery. The morning was foggy, and the enemy, rushing up the ravine in columns, were close upon us before they could be seen. The colonel gave the order to fire a volley and charge. A volley was fired, when the regiment, with its usual cheer, charged with the bayonet and drove the Russians down to the Barrier; they however disputed every inch of the ground with incredible fury and determination. The conflicts were of the most deadly character. The battle of Inkerman admits of no description; it was a series of hand to hand fights.
Colonel Swyny charged at the head of his regiment, but one barrel of his revolver only had been discharged before he fell. At the Barrier, Colonel, now General, Sir F. Haines and Sergeant-Major Vousden, of the 21st Fusiliers, joined us; the latter and Sergeant Prouse, of the 63rd Regiment, were severely wounded on the road above the Barrier, also a number of men were killed and wounded there. Subsequently Lieutenant Ourtois joined us, and Major the Honourable Dalzell, who had succeeded to the command, rode up, when his horse, being shot, galloped a considerable distance down the road towards Sebastopol before he fell dead with Major Dalzell under him. We followed after him with a few men of the regiment, who charged the Russians down the road and extricated him from his perilous position. Some few men of a French line regiment fought with us in driving the enemy down the ravine; they appeared to be stragglers from their regiments.
Our ammunition was expended, and we were supplying ourselves from the pouches of dead men, when the Zouaves came bounding down the ravine like deer and joined in the fray.."
Its also notes:
"The bands had been deprived of their instruments, and supplied with stretchers instead; in fact, they were occupied as an ambulance corps, and they most gallantly performed that duty in the battle-field."
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| French Zouaves coming to the relief of the British Guards at the Battle of Inkerman on 5th November 1854 in the Crimean War |
https://www.britishbattles.com/crimean-war/battle-of-inkerman/
The 63rd landed in August 1854 from Ireland, the year the Crimean War began. The regiment was part of the 4th Division, which was to play a prominent role in the war. It took four days to complete the landing, a length that would prove indicative of much of the logistics and organisation of the war.
The regiment took part in a number of engagements during the Battle of Inkerman. The 63rd, along with the 21st poured heavy fire into a Russian force attacking position known as 'Home Ridge'. The two regiments fire was horrendous upon the Russians, indeed it completely halted their attack toward the British position. Seemingly under their own authority, the two regiments then advanced, in a professional formation, upon the Russian forces, pushing the enemy back. The engagement became one of movement, with a large dose of hand-to-hand fighting also being involved. The stubbornness of both sides not to withdraw and to concede defeat was evident, with the two British regiments, as well as the Russians suffering rather heavy casualties.
Many of the men had been drafted in while the 63rd had been stationed in Ireland, due to shortage of men, which they drastically needed with the outbreak of war. They had no experience of fighting, especially in such incredibly poor conditions as what faced the soldiers that fought in the Crimean War. Despite this fact, many individual soldiers, including many drafted in Ireland, showed immense heroism and performed great deeds of honour during the action. At one point the standard bearers, an Ensign James Hulton Clutterbuck, was killed carrying the Queen's Colour, and Ensign Heneage Twysden was mortally wounded carrying the Regimental Colour. A Colour Sergeant and Sergeant retrieved the fallen Colours despite being wounded themselves and both advanced carrying them under great danger to themselves. Another Sergeant later retrieved the body of the dead Ensign Clutterbuck, in which he succeeded in doing so under great personal danger. Further fierce fighting took place, the two regiments carried on, and soon after, pushed the enemy back a considerable distance. The shot-up Colours are still in the possession of the present-day regiment, The King's and remain a vivid symbol of The King's bloody past.
The 63rd also took part in the bitterly long Siege of Sevastopol. The war had been cruel upon the 63rd, and due to limited manpower in early 1855, the regiment was withdrawn from the line. They returned later that year after drafts of soldiers arrived to bring the regiment up to a greater strength. The regiment was part of a force designed to assault a part of the great fortress of Sevastopol on 8 September 1855, during the last day of the long siege, known as the Great Redan. In the early hours of the 9th the Russian forces withdrew, with immense explosions destroying the fortress of Sevastopol, as well as the town itself.
3- The 95th, later the Sherwood Foresters
Correctly colourised portrait of Sergeant John Geary, Thomas Onslow and Lance Corporal Patrick Carthay, 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot, wearing their packs and equipment c. 1856. After Inkerman, during the Crimean Campaign, the regiment was reduced to less than a hundred officers and men but continued to serve in the trenches, which led to their nickname that: “….there may be few of the 95th left but those are as Hard as Nails.” The 95th Regiment won eight Victoria Cross awards in the Crimea.
4 - Dalzell's letter to his CO - Balaklava Jan 24th 1855
5 - Dalzell's family
The Honourable Robert Alexander George Dalzell was born on 19 August 1816, the fourteenth and youngest child of Lieutenant-General Robert Alexander Dalzell, ninth earl of Carnwath and the thirteenth child of his second wife Andalusia.
The young Dalzell joined the Army as an ensign in the 81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) on 21 March 1834, and obtained promotion to lieutenant (11 September 1835), captain (30 July 1844) and major (7 March 1851) within that regiment.
Whilst serving with the 81st Regiment in the town of London in Canada, Dalzell met and, on 27 August 1846, married, Sarah Bushby Harris, the daughter of John Harris, Treasurer of the London District, Canada West; she was six years his junior. They had two sons, both of whom subsequently became British Army officers, and three daughters.
In the summer of 1853, immediately prior to the departure of the 81st Foot for service in India, Dalzell exchanged to the 63rd (The West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot as a major, and was promoted lieutenant-colonel in the latter regiment with effect from 6 November 1854 as a result of his gallantry at the Battle of Inkerman, and of the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Swyny.¹
Reading Mercury - Saturday 26 October 1878, p 2:
The death of Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. Robert Alexander G. Dalzell, C.B., formerly of the 63d Foot, took place on Saturday at Kilmaurs, Torquay, after a lingering illness. [probably TB]
The family ancestral home was Dalzell House just outside Glasgow in the Clyde Valley but a prior generation had sold it off.
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| Dalzell House on Rightmove, offers over £265,000 please! |
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| The Vaults of Dalzell House |
Dalzell peerage in old books...
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