Editing FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (section)

==Crimean War==
[[File:Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan by William Salter.jpg|thumb|left|upright|FitzRoy Somerset by [[William Salter (artist)|William Salter]], 1838–1840]]

Raglan became commander of the British troops sent to the [[Crimea]] with the temporary rank of full [[general]] on 21 February 1854<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21524|page=515|date=21 February 1854}}</ref> and was promoted to the substantive rank of full general on 20 June 1854.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21564|page=1931|date=22 June 1854}}</ref> While Raglan's primary objective was to defend [[Istanbul|Constantinople]] he was ordered by the [[Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle|Duke of Newcastle]], who was at the time [[Secretary of State for War]], to [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55)|besiege]] the [[Russia]]n port of [[Sevastopol]] "unless it could not be undertaken with a reasonable prospect of success".<ref>Hibbert, p. 56</ref> An Anglo-French force under the joint command of Somerset and General [[Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud|Jacques St. Arnaud]] defeated General [[Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov|Alexander Menshikov]]'s Russian army at the [[Battle of the Alma]] in September 1854.<ref name=heath268/>

During the campaign Raglan had the abstracted habit of referring to the Russian enemies as "the French". While this eccentricity is often cited as evidence of his unsuitability for high command, he did in fact speak fluent French and relations between the two allies in the field were good.<ref>{{cite book|first=Robert and Isabelle|last=Tombs|page=358|title=That Sweet Enemy. The French and the British From the Sun King to the Present|year=2006|publisher=Random House |isbn=0-434-00867-2}}</ref>

At the [[Battle of Balaclava]] in October 1854, Raglan issued an order to the [[George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan|Earl of Lucan]], his cavalry commander, who in turn ordered the [[James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan|Earl of Cardigan]], a subordinate commander who happened to be Lucan's brother-in-law and who detested him, to lead the fateful [[Charge of the Light Brigade]] leading to some 278 British casualties.<ref>Calthorpe, p. 132</ref> Despite an indecisive result at Balaclava the British and French allied army gained a victory at the [[Battle of Inkerman]] in November 1854 and Raglan was promoted to the rank of [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|field marshal]] on 5 November 1854.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21630|page=3593|date=21 November 1854}}</ref> He was also awarded the Ottoman Empire [[Order of the Medjidie]], 1st Class on 15 May 1855.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21714|page=1915|date=18 May 1855}}</ref>

Raglan was blamed by the press and the government for the sufferings of the British soldiers in the terrible Crimean winter during the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55)|Siege of Sevastopol]] owing to shortages of food and clothing<ref>Martin, p. 181</ref> although this, in part, was the fault of the home authorities who failed to provide adequate logistical support.<ref name=odnb/> A piecemeal allied assault on Sevastopol on 18 June 1855 was a complete failure.<ref name=odnb/> The anxieties of the siege began to seriously undermine Raglan's health and he died unexpectedly on 28 June 1855, while suffering with [[dysentery]] and [[Major depressive disorder|depression]].<ref name=odnb/> His body was embalmed, his heart buried in the garden of his headquarters in Sevastopol,<ref name="LN 1869">{{cite news|last1=Jackson|first1=Mason|title=The Crimea revisited |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/HN3100078846/ILN?u=wes_ttda&sid=bookmark-ILN&xid=59d976ee |access-date=8 August 2024 |issue=1539, Volume: 54 |publisher=The Illustrated London News |date=1869-05-22 |pages=3-8 |quote="There is a stone in the garden with an inscription, which reads as follows:- To the Memory of Field Marshal Lord Raglan, G.C.B., Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the Crimea, died June 28, 1855. This inscription does not state the real purpose for which the stone was erected. It is known that Lord Raglan's body was embalmed before it was sent to England, and this marks the spot where his heart was buried."}}</ref> and his body brought home and interred at [[St Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton]].<ref name=heath268/>

[[File:Blue plaque FitzRoy Somerset, Baron Raglan.jpg|right|thumb|Blue plaque at Stanhope Gate, London]]

Raglan had also served as honorary colonel of the [[53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot|53rd Regiment of Foot]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=18747|page=2420|date=19 November 1830}}</ref> and then as honorary colonel of the [[Royal Horse Guards|Royal Regiment of Horse Guards (The Blues)]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=21551|page=1442|date=9 May 1854}}</ref> [[Cefntilla Court]], [[Llandenny]] was built as a lasting memorial to Somerset in 1858: an inscription over the porch there reads:<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5b3fa2e2-6194-11e3-916e-00144feabdc0.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5b3fa2e2-6194-11e3-916e-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=How a family feud threatened the legacy of a Crimean War leader|newspaper=Financial Times|date=27 December 2013|access-date=9 February 2014}}</ref>

{{blockquote|This house with 238 acres of land was purchased by 1623 of the friends, admirers and comrades in arms of the late Field Marshal Lord Raglan GCB and presented by them to his son and his heirs for ever in a lasting memorial of affectionate regard and respect.}}

A [[blue plaque]] was erected outside Raglan's house at Stanhope Gate in London in 1911.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://openplaques.org/plaques/162|title=Lord Fitzroy Somerset Raglan, 1st Baron lived here|access-date=9 February 2014}}</ref>