Battle of Eupatoria

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Eupatoria
partof=the Crimean War


caption=
date=February 17 1855
place=Eupatoria
result=Allied victory
combatant1= flagicon|TurkeyOttoman Empire
flagicon|FranceFrench Empire
flagicon|United KingdomUnited Kingdom
combatant2=flagicon|RussiaRussian Empire
commander1=Omar Pasha, Iskender Pasha
commander2=Stepan Khrulev
strength1= 30,000-strong Turkish garrison (4 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry regiment and around 100 pieces of artillery) At sea: 4 British steamers of the line, 1 Ottoman and 1 French steam frigates.
strength2= Between 20,000 and 30,000 (36 infantry battallions in 4 divisions, 6 cavalry regiments and 108 pieces of artillery)
casualties1=
casualties2=The Storm of Eupatoria was the most important military engagement of the Crimean War on the Crimean theatre in 1855 outside Sevastopol.

Battle

Turkish forces were being transferred from the Danube front to the Crimean port of Eupatoria and the town was being fortified. Upon direct orders from the Czar who feared a wide-scale Turkish offensive on the Russian flank, a Russian expeditionary force was formed under General Stepan Khrulev aiming to storm the base with a force variously estimated between 20,000 to 30,000.

Khrulev hoped to take the Turkish garrison by surprise on February 17 1855. His intention failed to materialise, as both the Turkish garrison and the Allied fleet anticipated the storm.

The Russian artillery and infantry attacks were countered with heavy fire. Having lost 750 men the Russians retreated. The garrison pursued with infantry and cavalry, turning the retreat into a rout. Khrulev ordered a retreat.

This reverse led to the dismissal of the Russian Commander-in-Chief Aleksandr Sergeyevich Menshikov and probably hastened the death of Nicholas I of Russia, who died several weeks after the battle.

As for the battle's strategic importance, it confirmed that allied total command of the sea would ensure that the threat to the Russian flank would remain for the duration of hostilities. For the allies, possession of Eupatoria meant that the total investment of Sevastopol remained a viable option. For the Russians, they could not afford to commit unlimited resources from their vast army to the Crimea, for fear of a lightning allied thrust from Eupatoria closing the neck of the peninsula at Perekop.

For the Turks, their Army had regained its self-esteem and to some extent its reputation; most French and British realised this, although others including the high command would stubbornly refuse to make further use of their fighting abilities in the Crimean theatre.

Photos monument "Battle of Evpatoria". The inscription on the monument: "Brave defenders of the faith, and motherland king, who fell here 5 February 1855 year".

[http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3923304 Photo#1] [http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3923322 Photo#2] (Earlier, the monument stood between guns)

References

*BLAKE, R.L.V.ffrench, "The Crimean War" (Sphere Books; London:1973)
*BARHAM, John, "Bono, Johnny Turk!" (Article in Suite101)