Sir William Fenwick Williams (1800-1883)

As a result of Crimean War (1853-1856) Britain, feeling once again threatened by the altered status of the Straits and Russian designs on the Mediterranean, concluded a defensive treaty with the Ottoman Empire which included the right to occupy and administer Cyprus. Taking on the role of "honest broker", Bismarck convened the Congress of Berlin in 1878 to peacefully revise the Treaty of San Stefano with a view to restoring the balance of power. Russia returned few territorial gains to the Ottoman empire, but some were divided between Russia and Austria-Hungary. Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro remained independent with additional territory. Greater Bulgaria was cut off from the Aegean and reduced to an Ottoman principality. Russia restored parts of Armenia, but retained Kars and other cities. The treaty also reconfirmed the demilitarisation of the Bosporus Straits.
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Sir William Fenwick Williams (1800-1883)

Born in Annapolis Royal as the putative son of the Commissary-General of Halifax,Nova Scotia Sir William Fenwick Williams was a British military leader of the Victorian era. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He studied Woolwich and joined the Royal Artillery in 1825 and had risen to the rank of colonel by the time of the Crimean War, and in 1854, became the British Commander of the Turkish army as a Brig-Gen for the Kars garrison [no British forces]and was Lionized in London for his gallant defense of Kars. On June 16,1855 Russians attacked on Kars. Turkish expedition to relieve Kars landed at Suchum Kale, south of the Caucasus Mountains on October 3rd. He held Kars against the Russians until November 25 of that year, when he was forced to surrender with honour and Turks withdrew from the River Skeniscal. His reward for his sterling service was a baronetcy.

He became Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in Canada from 1859 to 1865, and was belligerent towards the United States in the Trent affair of 1861. As the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, he was pressed to bring the province into Confederation but retired to New Brunswick that same year. He was knighted as well as created a Baronet before dying in London in 1883.

The Illustrated London News Feb 2nd, 1856 cover page has a portrait of General William, "The Hero of Kars" and an engraving of Balaclava Heights