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Mint:
London
Artist:
Wyon, William
Artist:
Wyon, Benjamin
Ruler:
Victoria (1837-1901)
Ruler:
Victoria regina
(With the title of)
Rivalry between Britain and Russia over India, and between Russia and France over the protection of Christians under Ottoman rule, led in the 1850s to a focus of diplomatic attention on the ailing Ottoman Empire. British diplomatic successes led to a Russian attempt to annexe the Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia from the Ottomans, as well as the Russian destruction of the Ottoman Black Sea fleet when Turkey went to war in retaliation. Britain and France moved in support of the Ottomans and although the Danubian provinces were returned the allies' conditions for peace far exceeded this. The Russian refusal to meet these conditions led to full-scale international war in late 1854.
The war was mainly composed of allied attempts to reduce Russian fortresses on the Black Sea (and also on the Baltic), of which only the lengthy siege of Sevastopol was successful, but Russian attrition there and elsewhere was so heavy and the Russian ability to force withdrawal on the allies so inadequate that Tsar Nicholas I made peace in 1856.
An early allied success was the defeat at Alma in 1854 of a larger Russian army that had been sent to oppose the initial allied landings. Other less successful engagements between the same armies arose at Inkermann in November 1854, and shortly before at the Battle of Balaklava, in which a Russian attempt to lift the siege of Sevastopol failed but inflicted heavy British casualties, including most famously upon the Light Brigade in their legendary suicide charge.
This medal bears bars for participation in all these battles, and also for action during the long siege of Sevastopol. It was awarded to Private H. McMonagh, of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Rifle Brigade. Lester Watson acquired it at some point before 1928.
History note: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, acquired before 1928
Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009
Diameter: 36.1 mm
Weight: 48.26 g
Method of acquisition: Given (2009) by Watson, Lester
1855 - 1856
Inscription present: Bust of Victoria facing left
Inscription present: Roman warrior being wreathed by flying Victory
Accession number: CM.1184-2009
Primary reference Number: 141278
Watson Catalogue: 71
Ordering: M-0067
Previous object number: LW.0067
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Coins and Medals
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Crimean War Medal" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/141278 Accessed: 2024-11-05 08:35:45
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/141278
|title=Crimean War Medal
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-05 08:35:45|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-141278
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0067_281_29.jpg"
alt="Crimean War Medal"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Crimean War Medal</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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