Romaine's Crimean War

The Crimean War (1854-56) between the United Kingdom, France and the Ottoman Empire on the one hand, and Russia on the other, has become notorious for the poor administration and bad generalship suffered by the British forces. Four-fifths of their deaths were due, not to enemy action, but to sickness and disease. Contemporary accounts have often glossed over the culpability of the generals. The discovery, therefore, of a journal and letters written by a key member of the staff of Lord Raglan and his successors, throws new light on events. William Govett Romaine was Deputy Judge-Advocate to the Army of the East, the senior civilian at Headquarters. He was called 'the eye of the army' by Raglan and regarded by the editor of "The Times" as a better source than the official despatches. Romaine took a keen interest in all aspects of the campaign, touring the field of operations and recording significant events. His letters include his frank judgements - sometimes savage - on the conduct of the campaign and the quality of individual officers. His papers are of the utmost importance to any study of the Crimean War.