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About this book
This volume contains a small selection of the Crimean War papers belonging to the 5th Duke of Newcastle. They form part of the archive of the Dukes of Newcastle, which is now held by Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham.
Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle under Lyne, was a career politician. He first entered Parliament in 1832 as MP for South Nottinghamshire and in 1834 was appointed as a Lord of the Treasury in Robert Peel’s government. This was the first in a long line of public offices held by the Duke. When the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854 necessitated the creation of a separate government department for administering military affairs, Newcastle took over this newly created office as Secretary of State for War.
Newcastle inherited a system of military administration that was hopelessly disorganised and confused. Although he worked hard to try to remedy this, failings in both the administration at home and errors made by the military leaders in the Crimea almost led to disaster for the British army. Newcastle took the majority of the blame for this and he resigned in disgrace in February 1855. Following his resignation Newcastle immediately set out for the Crimea, so the he could see the situation on the ground for himself.
The 5th Duke of Newcastle’s Crimean War papers contain many hundreds of official letters sent to him whilst he was Secretary of State for War. They include weekly despatches from the Commander of the British Troops in the Crimea, Lord Raglan, returns concerning the state of the army, and letter books containing copies of despatches to and from the Duke. Among his personal papers are the diaries recording his visit to the Crimea.
The Crimean War papers, and other documents relating to the 5th Duke of Newcastle, are available to view in the Manuscripts and Special Collections reading room on the University of Nottingham’s King’s Meadow Campus. Visit Nottingham.ac.uk/mss to find out more or to book your visit.