"Earl of Durham" to Crimea 1855

[BMcAleer]

My ancestor George Cole was a passenger on the "Earl of Durham" 15 September-19 November 1855 to Sebastopol, Crimea, a private with the 10th Company Royal Engineers. He was promoted to 2nd Corporal Feb 1856; had pay deducted in March for spending 3 days in the hospital, transferred to 9th Coy R.E. 1 May 1856 at Corfu.
Are there any recommendations for finding more information on my ancestor during this time period at Crimea, and the period prior to this time?

[Geoffers]

Starting with the obvious - have you found his service record which should now be available on the pay-per-view site 'findmypast'?

What sort of information are you seeking?

[BMcAleer]

No, I don't have his service record, and I thought it probably does not exist. I hired a professional genealogist to research the muster rolls of the Royal Engineers from 1855-1862. We confirmed that we found the correct George Cole from the name of his captain on his daughter's military birth record, and from an article in the London Times.

In November 1862 he was "transferred to depot" and the Depot records are missing. By 1864 he was enlisting in the U.S. Civil War.

I would especially like to know where George Cole enlisted and where he came from, when he was born, and when he was married.

I also wonder what he was up to in Sebastopol since he came when the war was almost over.