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| Welsford-Parker Monument | |
|---|---|
| Canada | |
 Sebastopol Monument | |
| For British victory in the Crimean War and the Siege of Sevastopol | |
| Unveiled | 1860 |
| Location | Old Burial Ground, near |
| Designed by | George Lang (sculptor, builder) |
The Sebastopol Monument (also known as the Crimean War monument and the Welsford-Parker Monument) is a triumphal arch that is located in the Old Burial Ground, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The arch commemorates the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855), which is one of the last classic sieges of all time.[1] This arch is the 4th oldest war monument in Canada (1860).[2] It is the only monument to the Crimean War in North America. The arch and lion were built in 1860 by stone sculptor George Lang to commemorate British victory in the Crimean war and the Nova Scotians who had fought in the war.
Britain and France invaded Crimea and decided to destroy the Russian naval base at the capital Sevastopol. They landed at Eupatoria on 14 September 1854, intending to make a 35-mile triumphal march to Sevastopol the capital of Crimea, with 50,000 men. To traverse the 35 miles, the British forces fought for a year against the Russians. Inscribed on the monument are names of the battles the British army fought to reach the capital: "Alma" (September 1854), "Balaklava" (October 1854), "Inkerman" (November 1854), "Tchernaya" (August 1855), "Redan" (September 1855), and, finally, "Sebastopol" (September 1855). (During the siege, the British navy made six bombardments of the capital: October 17, 1854; April 9, June 6, June 17, August 17, and September 5, 1855.) The culminating struggle for the strategic Russian port in 1854-5 was the final bloody episode in the costly Crimean War.
During the Victorian Era, these battles were repeatedly memorialized. The Siege of Sevastopol was the subject of Crimean soldier Leo Tolstoy's Sebastopol Sketches and the subject of the first Russian feature film, Defence of Sevastopol. The Battle of Balaklava was made famous by Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and Robert Gibb's painting, Thin Red Line. (Among those treating the wounded from these battles was Florence Nightingale.)
The Nova Scotia memorial also commemorates two Haligonians, Major Augustus Frederick Welsford of the 97th Regiment and Captain William Buck Carthew Augustus Parker of the 77 Regiment, who both died in the Battle of the Great Redan in 1855 during the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855), in present-day Crimea which was annexed by Russia in 2014. The monument was unveiled on 17 July 1860. It cost 500 pounds.[3]
During March and April 1855, Nova Scotian Joseph Howe worked tiredlessly to recruit troops for the war effort.[4] Another Nova Scotian, Sir William Williams, 1st Baronet, of Kars also became famous during the Crimean War as Commander during the Siege of Kars. He later became Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.
- ^ H.C. Elphinstone. Siege OF SEBASTOPOL 1854-55: Journal of the Operations Conducted by the Corps of Royal Engineers. 2003
- ^ The Welsford-Parker monument is predated in Canada by Nelson's Column, Montreal (1809), Wolfe-Montcalm Monument in Québec City (1827), and Isaac Brock's Monument at Queenston Heights, Ontario, erected, 1824-40 and rebuilt 1853-59).
- ^ Nova Scotia and Nova Scotians [microform] : A lecture delivered before the Literary and Debating Society of Windsor, N.S. And afterward at the Temperance Hall, Halifax, in behalf of the Athenæum. 1858. ISBN 9780665227394.
- ^ During March and April 1855 he engaged in a "recruiting" mission to the United States; according to him, he simply made known the conditions of acceptance to those who voluntarily offered their services and he did not break the American neutrality laws. But he himself admitted that, if ordered to violate the policy of any foreign state in order to assist "the gallant fellows in the Crimea . . . , I would have obeyed without a moment's hesitation," and there is evidence to suggest that he did commit such violations even without express instructions from his superiors.