The Battle of Alma: belated 157th anniversary appreciation
by chuckofish
Scots Fusilier Guards attacking the Great Redoubt
Our great great grandfather, Daniel Cameron, was a Corporal in the Scots Fusilier Guards during the Crimean War. The Battle of Alma was the first battle of the war and a tough one for his unit, which was attacking uphill against a heavily defended position. Much of the fighting was at close quarters; the regiment almost lost its colors and the four men who managed to hold on to them were awarded the Victoria Cross. Daniel Cameron was shot or bayoneted “in the belly” — a bad place to be wounded. I believe the wound never healed properly and finally killed him when he was serving in South Africa in 1861. For a dreadful and impressive full list of the SFG wounded at Alma go here .
dual personalities 
How did anyone survive being wounded back then?! Daniel must have been a hardy soul.
Well, most of them didn’t survive. I have just been reading about Florence Nightingale, who brought the death rate down to 2% from a whopping %60! But she wasn’t in the Crimea for Alma. It must have been horrible. Cholera, typhus and typhoid were the big killers. Conditions were unimaginably awful (you should read the descriptions of the hospital at Scutari). Daniel must have been hardy, indeed, especially since he was also at Inkerman, which took place November 4th, barely a month and a half after Alma. We’ll have to give him a toast tonight!
[…] was not killed at Alma, but survived and died later in South Africa. You can read about his life here, here, and here and of Hazel’s father, Daniel, here. I’ve posted about the Camerons […]