Battle of Eupatoria

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Crimean War
Sinop – Petropavlovsk – Alma – Balaclava – Inkerman – Sebastopol – Eupatoria – Taganrog – Chernaya River – Kars – Malakhov

The Storm of Eupatoria was the most important military engagement of the Crimean War during the winter of 1855. The Russian general Stepan Khrulev, wishing to preclude a wide-scale Turkish offensive, determined to storm their base in Eupatoria with 19,000 soldiers.

Although the Turkish garrison of Eupatoria numbered more than 35,000, Khrulev hoped to take them by surprise on February 17 1855. His intention failed to materialise, as both the Turkish garrison and the Allied fleet anticipated the storm, meeting the Russian attack with heavy fire. Having lost 750 men, Khrulev ordered the Russians to retreat. This reverse led to the dismissal of the Russian commander 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 fired 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 Crimea at Perekop.

And 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 local operations.

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