40 AWARDED FOR VALOUR
the Crimean War alongside her soldiers. Even when news of the suicidal
insanity at Balaklava reached Britain, she did not see incompetent commu-
nications or command stupidity but rather ‘trembled with emotion, as well
as pride, in reading the recital of the heroism of these devoted men.’^76
Queen Victoria experienced a vicarious romantic adventure through the
war. To Victoria the Cross represented an opportunity to indulge her
romanticism while strengthening the bond between herself and the military
and, too, a way to recapture some of the influence she felt she had lost
with the subordination of the position of the Commander-in-Chief to a
civilian minister.
In November 1855 with a clear triumph on the books in the taking
of Sevastopol in mid-September, the call for official recognition of British
heroism resumed:
In the Moniteur of 1st November we find eight columns devoted to
the confirmations by the Imperial Government of the nominations to
the Legion of Honour conferred by Marshal PELISSIER on the 11th of
SeptemberMerit is of no rank, and it is discriminated and rewarded in
allNow let us turn from the Army of our Allies to our ownIn that
memorable despatch in which general SIMPSON with his own hand so
effectively demolished his own reputation as a commander, he stated that
it was his intention to bring to the notice of the COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
those who had distinguished themselves in the assault on the Redan. From
that day to this, as far as we have been able to learn, that promise has
never been redeemed^77
The time appeared right to create the Victoria Cross, but to realize Albert’s
plan the royal couple needed the cooperation of the ministry, or at least that
of a minister. The Crown had long ago lost the ability simply to decree the
creation of a new order. In late November they began correspondence with
Lord Panmure on the subject, hammering out the parameters of the award.
On 28 December 1855 Albert and Victoria sent off the proposed draft of
the royal warrant that would create the Cross to Lord Panmure at the War
Office and anxiously awaited the outcome.^78
In a sense their fears were misplaced, for the creation of the Victoria Cross
gave Panmure an opportunity to mend fences with the royal family.^79 The
Cross represented cheap balm to soothe the wounded pride of the Queen,
and Panmure was happy to cooperate fully with the Crown’s desires on a
matter so apparently inconsequential. By mid-January 1856 the Crown and
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