The Crimean war and the telegraph

The Crimean war fought in the lands by the black sea from 1853 to 1856 was important for many historical and political reasons. However it was also the first war that had news reported back to Britain the next day. This was a huge technological breakthrough that transformed the way in which news was reported. The Crimean war was fought between the allied countries of; France, Britain, Turkey, the Ottoman Empire and later Sardinia against Russia. The Russians occupied land previously controlled by Turkey, after withdrawal negotiations broke down Turkey declared war on Russia. Turkey was quickly swept aside by Russia before Britain and France arrived securing vital victories such as that at the Alma River. The British army suffered great loses not only in battle, but to diseases such as Malaria loosing over 8,000 men when first entering Turkey.
The idea of telegraphing information first came about in the early 1800’s. Samuel Morse was credited with making the first working model in 1835, hence the term; ‘Morse code’. In late 1854 the Government in London created a military telegraph detachment for the Army commanded by an officer of the Royal engineers. The telegraph worked over long distances using wires placed on horse-drawn carriages in areas of the Crimea. Lieutenants were given twenty-four miles of copper wire as well as; two telegraph wagons, a cable cart and a plough. With this equipment Morse code was used to report information over great distances, something that was not possible before. British engineers designed cables that would stretch across the floor of the black sea; information would be sent through these cables to Bulgaria and from there to landlines to London. This meant up to the minute reporting, whereas before it would take days for such information to be sent across Europe.
One of the most influential and important reporters of the time was William Howard Russell an Irish reporter with The Times, who was considered to have been one of the first modern warfare correspondents. He reported his twenty-two month coverage of the Crimean war back the British people. What he wrote caused uproar amongst the British public as, for the first time; regular civilians were shocked by the realities of warfare. William Howard Russell would often talk of the gory details surrounding battles, and make it clear that there was a lack of ambulance care for wounded soldiers. Williams work received a varied response from readers; Queen Victoria talked of how the reporting of the horrific war events reflected badly on the British army. The reports that were read in The Times lead to an attack on the way in which the Army was being run and lead to an inquiry into the condition of the Army. As messages where able to reach London and within minutes, people were made aware of a Florence Nightingale a heroic nurse who often criticised the medical treatment that British soldiers received.
The telegraph led the way for modern-day war reports; almost instant messages could be sent to newspapers and this was to revolutionise the way in which news was reported.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/battles/crimea/
http://www2.armynet.mod.uk/museums/royalsignals/displays/crimean_war.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Russell
http://distantwriting.co.uk/telegraphwar.aspx
http://home.clara.net/rod.beavon/samuel.htm