Siege during the Crimean War which lasted from September 1854 until September 1855
The siege was the decisive engagement of the Crimean War, ending with the fall of Russia's principal Black Sea naval base to allied forces.
Key Facts
- Duration
- October 1854 – September 1855 (approx. 11 months)
- Allied landing force
- 50,000 men landed at Eupatoria
- Naval bombardments
- Six allied naval bombardments of the city
- Major associated battles
- Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, Tchernaya, Redan, Malakoff
- Allied nations
- France, Sardinia, Ottoman Empire, Britain
- Strategic objective
- Capture of Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Russia's Black Sea Fleet, based at Sevastopol, posed a threat to the Mediterranean and allied naval interests. Allied forces — French, British, Sardinian, and Ottoman — landed at Eupatoria in September 1854 intending to march on and capture the port city. The Russian field army withdrew before encirclement could be completed, leaving the fortified city as the focal point of conflict.
Allied forces besieged Sevastopol from October 1854 to September 1855, conducting six naval bombardments and fighting major engagements at Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, Tchernaya, Redan, and Malakoff. The siege combined sustained artillery bombardment with costly infantry assaults. It concluded when French forces stormed the Malakoff bastion in September 1855, forcing the Russians to abandon and scuttle the port.
The fall of Sevastopol effectively ended the Crimean War. Russia lost its dominant position in the Black Sea, and the conflict was resolved by treaty. The siege entered cultural memory through Leo Tolstoy's Sebastopol Sketches, Tennyson's 'Charge of the Light Brigade,' and the first Russian feature film. Paris's Boulevard de Sébastopol was named in commemoration of the allied victory.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
4 belligerents
Side B
1 belligerent