Qualla: Battle of the Alma https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-alma en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:08 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/x/z/z/battle-of-the-alma-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of the Alma https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-alma Battle of the Alma: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-alma/ Photo credit Hippolyte Bellangé (1800-1866), Public domain. Spectators came out from Sevastopol to watch. They brought parasols and field glasses and packed picnics, and they settled on the high ground above the Alma River as if attending a race, confident the Russian army below them would send the invaders reeling back into the sea. It was 20 September 1854, and this was to be the first true battle of the Crimean War. Prince Menshikov had chosen his ground well: steep heights south of the river, more than a hundred guns commanding the slopes, the last natural barrier between the allied army and the great naval port beyond. By evening the picnickers were gone, the parasols abandoned in the grass, and the war they had come to enjoy had shown them its real face.

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Image: Hippolyte Bellangé (1800-1866) | Public domain

]]> Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/x/z/z/battle-of-the-alma-wp/sxzz-battle-of-the-alma-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of the Alma: A Landing in Disarray https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-alma/ Photo credit Dmitry A. Mottl, CC BY-SA 3.0. The allies had arrived in Crimea in a state that hardly promised victory. Their fleet had put an army ashore at Kalamita Bay on 14 September, and the disembarkation was a misery, especially for the British. Cholera moved through the ranks, and sick men had to be lifted from the b...

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Image: Dmitry A. Mottl | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/x/z/z/battle-of-the-alma-wp/sxzz-battle-of-the-alma-a-landing-in-disarray.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of the Alma: Up the Unclimbable Cliffs https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-alma/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. The Russians had made one fateful assumption. The cliffs above the river mouth were so sheer, they reasoned, that no one could scale them, so they left that flank almost undefended by guns. The French Zouaves proved them wrong. Leaving their packs on the bank, they swam the river...

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/x/z/z/battle-of-the-alma-wp/sxzz-battle-of-the-alma-up-the-unclimbable-cliffs.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of the Alma: The Rifles Decide It https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-alma/ Photo credit R. Caton Woodville, Public domain. The British assault was a shambles of jumbled regiments and broken formations, and their first rush into the greater redoubt was thrown back at bayonet point. What saved them was technology. Their Minié rifles could kill at ranges the Russian smoothbore muskets could not answer, ...

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Image: R. Caton Woodville | Public domain

]]> Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/x/z/z/battle-of-the-alma-wp/sxzz-battle-of-the-alma-the-rifles-decide-it.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of the Alma: The Cost, and the Names https://qualla.com/battle-of-the-alma/ Photo credit ILN Staff, after special artist correspondent, Public domain. The reckoning was grim on both sides. The Russians lost around five thousand men, the British some two thousand, the French roughly sixteen hundred, the Ottomans five hundred. The victors were poorly prepared for their own success. With almost no medical supplies, the British too...

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Image: ILN Staff, after special artist correspondent | Public domain

]]> Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/x/z/z/battle-of-the-alma-wp/sxzz-battle-of-the-alma-the-cost-and-the-names.mp3 0:06 5 full