During the Crimean War (March 1854-February 1856), the movement to recognise the valour of the ordinary fighting man of the various branches of the British armed forces gained immense momentum. The Crimean War was the first conflict where newspaper reporters were with the troops (today we’d use the term ‘embedded’) and wrote back to their publications with the details of the heroism of the rank and file.
The writings of Times reporter William Howard Russell, often considered one of the first war correspondents, especially promoted the case for recognising the bravery of the common soldier. Russell spent 22 months covering the events of the Crimean War. His reports and others led to discussion of an award for valour open to men of any rank, and, in late January 1856 the Royal Warrant for the Victoria Cross was introduced. Recipients were to be recommended at a regimental level and their recommendations then passed up the hierarchy.
The first awards were gazetted in February 1857 and the first medals were presented to their recipients in June 1857 (backdated to the Crimean War). The Victoria Cross became (and remains) the highest honour for valour in British and Commonwealth armed forces. Prior to the inauguration of the Victoria Cross, only the bravery of officers could be officially recognised, and only by creating the officer a Knight of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath.
The French had had the Légion d’honneur since 1802 which recognised any person, of any rank (they had also abolished all knightly orders of chivalry during the French Revolution), however, Great Britain had not followed suit until the aftermath of the Crimean War. 746 British servicemen also received the Légion d’honneur during the Crimean War, among them 47 recipients of the Victoria Cross.
This episode was written by Murray Dahm,
Murray is an ancient and medieval military historian from New Zealand, living in Australia. He has written more than 100 articles on various aspects of ancient and medieval military history, as well as other historical topics from all periods (ranging from the history of opera to the runic alphabet and recipients of the Victoria Cross). He is the author of COMBAT 40: Macedonian Phalangite vs Persian Warrior: Alexander confronts the Achaemenids, 334-331 BC from Osprey publishing. He is a regular on the Ancient Warfare Podcast.
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