Battle of Malakoff - Background

Background

Until 1784 most of the fortifications around Sevastopol were dedicated to the protection of the harbour entrance, the city itself and its naval base and were positioned close to these features. The construction of fortifications in the surrounding hills had been planned as early as 1837, but at the time of the battle only basic facilities and roadways had been completed on the north side of the long bay. To the south the central anchor of the defence system was the Malakoff-Kurgan ridge. Situated about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) southeast of the city, it consisted of a two-story stone tower of limestone on which the Russians had placed five heavy 18-pounder cannons at the beginning of the siege.

There is some mystery surrounding this tower. Although it is known that the tower was built some time before the start of the war, the historical records do not show exactly when this occurred, and no mention of this is made in the contemporary descriptions of the siege itself. Additionally, there are different spellings and translations in to or from Russian, including Малахова башня. What is known is that the tower was originally built or expanded by Sevastopol merchants and then later taken over by the Russian Navy. The tower had a diameter of about 14–15 metres (46–49 ft) and a height of 8 metres (26 ft). In its centre the battery known as "Lunette Kamchatka" was placed. This was a smaller fortification that was designed to protect several artillery pieces.

At this time the Russian cartographers marked all landmarks in and around this ridge as "Fort Malakoff". This included several large grave mounds and the same ridge lying in front known as Mamelon ("vert Mamelon"). The name "Fortmortal Malakoff" (or French "Fort Malakoff") was retained after the war in Western literature covering the Crimean War.

The harbour of Sevastopol, formed by the estuary of the Chernaya, was protected against attack by sea not only by the Russian war-vessels, afloat and sunken, but also by heavy granite forts on the south side and by the defensive works. For the town itself and the Karabelnaya suburb the plans for the works had been laid down for years. The Malakoff Tower covered the suburb, flanked on either side by the Redan and the Little Redan. The town was covered by a line of works marked by a flagstaff and central bastions, and separated from the Redan by the inner harbour.

Lieutenant Colonel Eduard Totleben, the Russian chief engineer, had began work on these sites early in the war. Through daily efforts to rebuild, re-arm and improve the fortifications, he was able to finally connect them with a continuous defence system enceinte. Yet early in October 1854, Sevastopol was not the towering fortress it later became, and Totleben himself maintained that had the allies assaulted it immediately, they would have succeeded in taking the city. There were, however, many reasons against them doing so at the time, and it was not until 17 October that the first attack took place.