Modern Marines in Combat Dress

The soldiers and Marines we see on the television today in Iraq and Afghanistan are the best equipped in history.  They carry all the paraphernalia necessary to fight a modern war.  Even in WWII, Marines landing on Pacific islands from Navy ships were pretty well equipped for their mission, and that was over sixty years ago.

WWII Navy Corpsman and wounded Marine.

Did you ever wonder what a soldier might have carried on landing from a ship in 1854, during the Crimean War?  Why I’ll bet that’s been a burning mystery for you for many years, or perhaps not.  Well, we folks obsessed with such military history minutia, we inquiring minds, want to know.  I know there’s at least one of you out there.

The British soldiers about to land in the Crimea and face “the Russian Hordes” were not in the best of shape.  Cholera and other illness had taken a toll.  Lord Raglan wanted his men to land with as light a load as possible.  A noble thought, to look out for his troops, but not a well thought out one.

He ordered that the men and officers were to carry specific items in their landing kit.  The rest was to be left behind and would catch up to them later.  Few of these professional soldiers believed that chestnut.  They were even to leave behind their knapsacks, the one place they could secret away personal items to enhance their standard of living on campaign.

They had the uniform on their backs, a spare pair of boots, a pair of socks, a cotton shirt, and a forage cap.  These things were to be rolled into a single blanket, and along with their greatcoats, they were kitted up for the fight.  This blanket roll was to be carried in their knapsack straps.  Any personal items went in their pockets, in their small haversack (which also carried rations), in the blanket roll itself, or fastened creatively to one of the above or their canteen strap.  That included their cup, mess tin and eating utensils.

Off they went.  Landing from wooden ships in long boats and barges, only to be confronted by rain and foul weather.  They had no tents, and were to sleep under the stars, which weren’t there because of the severe rain.

These gross miscalculations were only the beginning of a long, cruel, series of mistakes in judgement and conspicuous incompetence surrounding arguably the most mismanaged war in history.

Private soldier in the Crimea. Apparently a replacement later in the war, since he's wearing his knapsack

Crimean War soldiers as winter set in, heading for a cold night in the trenches before Sevastopol.