The Crimea Revisited: Balaklava

The Crimea Revisited: Balaklava, 1869. View '...of the port and village of Balaklava, which formed the base of supplies for the British army during the whole siege..."To me," says our Artist, "Balaklava had been for more than twelve months a sort of home. The great events of the war in the Crimea were going on during my sojourn there. History was then and there being made; scenes of death and life were then and there enacted around me which could not fail to impress the time and the place most deeply on my remembrance. It was, therefore, with every recollection yet undimmed, and with a strange confusion of feelings, that I again entered the picturesque old harbour...One might dwell here in tolerable seclusion. There is every variety of country around for excursions and for easy walks...This place is, indeed, a perfect little paradise for anyone with a taste for a retired life. So I used to fancy. And here, before me, was now realised the condition of Balaklava in quiet times, which I had so often tried to imagine. As it was before the war of fifteen years ago, so it had again become. In this its original and ordinary aspect, who would have supposed that such a peaceful spot could have been the scene of such enormous operations?".' From "Illustrated London News", 1869. Creator: Unknown. (Photo by The Print Collector/Heritage Images via Getty Images)