Canrobert's Hill

[Swordswoman]

Apologies for a stupid question - but when (and why) did 'Canrobert's Hill' get its name?

I'm working on the Battle of Balaclava at the moment, and see most of the sources refer to the site of Number 1 Redoubt as 'Canrobert's Hill' - but are they doing this with the knowledge of hindsight? I thought I'd read the name was given after a later incident, but now can't find the reference.

The trouble with fiction is that I can't give my characters knowledge they wouldn't have had at the time, so I have to be even more accurate about such things than real historians!

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Louise

[Daniel]

Its the French name, in honour of the commander-in-chief of general Kanrober (mamelon Canrobert), was given for this hill before Battle of Balaclava
This hill just one of the Semykin hills have a name, but before Crimean war it have no name

[Swordswoman]

Thanks, Daniel - I really appreciate your reply.

Are you sure it was before Balaclava? Canrobert hadn't long succeeded St-Arnauld by then, and it seems strange for a hill firmly in British rather than French territory to have been named for a general they didn't yet know - apart from the fact they'd already nicknamed him 'Bob-Can't'....

I'm sure there's a really good reason for it, but I wish I knew what it was!

Louise

[Daniel]

The decision of this problem would be to find the order according which the redoubt №1 was erected. How in the order this hill is called? It will be the answer

[Daniel]

I must correct myself, that hill before war called Semykin hill (Семякина высота). Like all hills of the line. But when it has received the name Canrobert hill?

[Swordswoman]

I'm updating this thread to answer my own question, just in case anyone else should wonder about it in the future!

According to John Elijah Blunt, civilian interpreter to the British forces in the Crimea, Canrobert's Hill was 'so-called by the French, as General Canrobert, after crossing the Tchernaya River, cantered up to the top of the hill to reconnoitre the plain of Balaklava'. This would have been when the French first arrived there, ie about 26th September 1854.

The information can be found in a CWRS Special Publication, 'Blunt Speaking - The Crimean War Reminiscences of John Elijah Blunt, Civilian Interpreter' by Dr Douglas J Austin, which I can thoroughly recommend.

[jf42]

Swordswoman, thanks for the update. While aware of Marshall Canrobert I'd never reflected on why the hill had been named after him. I had just assumed it was a compliment paid to 'our allies'. (Shame Canrobert wasn't a doughty soldier of the 93rd...)

The next problem regarding your character will of course be (and your probably way ahead of me, here) at what point the French label "Mamelon Canrobert" became common parlance in British circles. As you rightly wonder, was it ever referred to as 'Canrobert's Hill' on October 25th, 1854?

I admire your rigour.

[Swordswoman]

jf42, I've followed many of your posts and seriously doubt I'm ahead of you on anything!

You're right, I'm afraid, and I still don't know for certain whether the term was common parlance among the British on that date. Reminiscences and memoirs are too dependent on hindsight to be of much value here, and the usually reliable letter writers (eg Paget, Dallas, Buchanan et al - and even the 93rd's own Colonel Sterling) are all horribly silent on the subject.

It does, however, seem very likely that it was, since Russell uses the name specifically in his original report for the Times on the Battle of Balaklava. I certainly HOPE that it was, as I've risked using the term for the sake of clarity, and that particular book has now gone to print. It'll come out in May - when I expect to receive 500 letters telling me I've got it wrong.

I guess it's a small price to pay for knowledge...

[jf42]

Oh, well, Russell! I reckon you are in pretty solid ground. No-one can say you didn't do your research.

Fiction is meant to be narrative rather than definitive. You're allowed to link up the dots. Historians can only point out the dots exist and their relationship with the other dots. That doesn't always sell.