Which war did Leo Tolstoy describe in his 1855 Sevastopol Sketches?

Leo Tolstoy described the Crimean War in his 1855 work Sevastopol Sketches.

The three linked pieces portray the Siege of Sevastopol, a major campaign of the Crimean War. Tolstoy drew on his own experience as a Russian army officer stationed in and around Sevastopol, giving the sketches an unusually immediate view of combat, fear, exhaustion, and military routine.

The Crimean War lasted from 1853 to 1856. Russia fought an alliance led by the Ottoman Empire that included Britain, France, and Sardinia. The conflict exposed serious weaknesses in Russian administration, logistics, and military organization.

Sevastopol Sketches is important because it rejects a purely heroic battlefield style. Tolstoy’s observational detail and attention to ordinary soldiers anticipated techniques he later used in his major novels. The work also helped establish his reputation as a serious young writer.