NAM.1980-11-54-1

Letter of Lieutenant Alderson, Royal Artillery, Camp before Sevastopol 29 Dec 1854. For much of the Crimean War hostilities were played out against a backdrop of peace talks conducted in Vienna. Some officers wished for peace to spare them their ordeal before Sevastopol. Most, however, were unwilling to countenance peace before the fortress had fallen. Alderson (d 1909) hoped for both: ‘If the last Shave be true we shall walk into Sebastopol without further bore, as peace is to be proclaimed and Sebastopol given over as a material guarantee.’ One of six manuscript letters written to his mother by Lt Henry James Alderson, 10th Bn Royal Artillery, August 1854 to March 1855, Crimean War (1854-1856). He describes several engagements, including the Battle of Inkerman, and also sketches a dug out that he had constructed.

Inkerman, Battle of, 1854 (Crimean War 1854-1856)