Fighting for Wellington
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Wellington's Army 1809-1814
Wellington's Army 1809-1814 by C.W.C. OMAN M.A. OXON, HON, LL.D EDIN PROFESOR OF MODERN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD with illustrations second impression London Edward Arnold 1913 Digitized for Microsoft Corporation by the Internet Archive in 2007, from a University of Toronto copy. PREFACE MUCH has been written concerning Wellington and his famous Peninsular Army in the way of formal history : this volume, however, will I think contain somewhat that is new to most stu- dents concerning its organization, its day by day life, and its psychology. To understand the ex- ploits of Wellington's men, it does not suffice to read a mere chronicle of their marches and battles. I have endeavoured to collect in these pages notices of those aspects of their life with which no strategical or tactical work can deal, though tactics and even strategy will not be found unnoticed. My special thanks are due to my friend Mr. C. T. Atkinson, Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, for allowing me to use the admirable list of the bri- gade and divisional organization of the Peninsu- lar Army which forms Appendix II. It is largely expanded from the article on the same topic which he printed eight years ago in the Historical Review, and enables the reader to find out the precise composition of every one of Wellington's units at any moment between April, 1808 and April, 1814. I have also to express my gratitude to the Hon. John Fortescue, the author of the great History of the British Army, for answering a good many queries which I should have found hard to solve without his aid. -
Waterloo in Myth and Memory: the Battles of Waterloo 1815-1915 Timothy Fitzpatrick
Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2013 Waterloo in Myth and Memory: The Battles of Waterloo 1815-1915 Timothy Fitzpatrick Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES WATERLOO IN MYTH AND MEMORY: THE BATTLES OF WATERLOO 1815-1915 By TIMOTHY FITZPATRICK A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2013 Timothy Fitzpatrick defended this dissertation on November 6, 2013. The members of the supervisory committee were: Rafe Blaufarb Professor Directing Dissertation Amiée Boutin University Representative James P. Jones Committee Member Michael Creswell Committee Member Jonathan Grant Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii For my Family iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Drs. Rafe Blaufarb, Aimée Boutin, Michael Creswell, Jonathan Grant and James P. Jones for being on my committee. They have been wonderful mentors during my time at Florida State University. I would also like to thank Dr. Donald Howard for bringing me to FSU. Without Dr. Blaufarb’s and Dr. Horward’s help this project would not have been possible. Dr. Ben Wieder supported my research through various scholarships and grants. I would like to thank The Institute on Napoleon and French Revolution professors, students and alumni for our discussions, interaction and support of this project. -
America's Napoleonic
The War of 1812 Magazine Issue 19, December 2012 America’s Napoleonic War By James R. Arnold On June 26, 1812, a hard-spurring dispatch rider from the War Department found sixty-year-old Brigadier-General William Hull leading his 1,500-man army through the wilderness of northwest Ohio. Secretary of War William Eustis’s letter, written on the morning of June 18 while Congress was deliberating on a declaration of war against Great Britain, informed Hull that conflict was imminent. Accordingly, Eustis urged Hull to “pursue your march to Detroit with all possible expedition.”1 Hull dutifully accelerated his march so his army could fulfill its mission as the first of a projected three-prong invasion of Canada. Two days earlier, and half a world away, the forty-four-year-old Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, had stood on a hill overlooking the Niemen River. Within his gaze were tens of thousands of soldiers, part of a 430,000-man force Napoleon had assembled to defeat Russia. The Emperor watched as three columns filed across the river to begin the invasion. Napoleon explained his strategy in a letter to a subordinate: “The aim of all my moves will be to concentrate 400,000 men at a single point.”2 The American invasion of Canada and the French invasion of Russia began nearly simultaneously during a period of military history known as the Napoleonic Era. Differences in scale of military preparations for war and topography distinguished America’s Napoleonic war from the conflict raging in Europe. Because of these factors, and even though the American war eventually involved some British veterans who had fought in Europe against the French, the War of 1812, in terms of the level of combat, proved more like a limited war of the early eighteenth century, than the total war of the Napoleonic period. -
“Incorrigible Rogues”: the Brutalisation of British Soldiers in the Peninsular War, 1808-1814
BRUTALISATION OF BRITISH SOLDIERS IN THE PENINSULAR WAR “Incorrigible Rogues”: The Brutalisation of British Soldiers in the Peninsular War, 1808-1814 ALICE PARKER University of Liverpool Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT This article looks at the behaviour of the British soldiers in the Peninsular War between 1808 and 1814. Despite being allies to Spain and Portugal, the British soldiers committed violent acts towards civilians on a regular basis. Traditionally it has been argued that the redcoat’s misbehaviour was a product of their criminal backgrounds. This article will challenge this assumption and place the soldiers’ behaviour in the context of their wartime experience. It will discuss the effects of war upon soldiers’ mentality, and reflect upon the importance of psychological support in any theatre of war. In 2013 the UK Ministry of Justice removed 309 penal laws from the statute book, one of these being the Vagrancy Act of 1824.1 This Act was introduced for the punishment of ‘incorrigible rogues’ and was directed at soldiers who returned from the Napoleonic Wars and had become ‘idle and disorderly…rogues and vagabonds’.2 Many veterans found it difficult to reintegrate into British society after experiencing the horrors of war at time when the effects of combat stress were not recognised.3 The need for the Act perhaps underlines the degrading effects of warfare upon the individual. The behaviour of British soldiers during the Peninsular War was far from noble and stands in stark contrast to the heroic image propagated in contemporary -
1 the Most Honourable Order of the Bath Gcb / Kcb / Cb X
THE MOST HONOURABLE ORDER OF THE BATH GCB / KCB / CB X - CB - 2020 PAGES: 59 UPDATED: 01 September 2020 Prepared by: Surgeon Captain John Blatherwick, CM, CStJ, OBC, CD, BSc, MD, FRCP(C), LLD (Hon) ===================================================================================================================== ===================================================================================================================== 1 THE MOST HONOURABLE ORDER OF THE BATH (GCB / KCB / CB) When the Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick, National Order for Ireland was phased out with the death of the Duke of Gloucester in 1974, the Order of the Bath became the third highest Order of Chivalry. Merit and Service were to be the conditions for admission to this Order as opposed to most admissions to the Garter and Thistle being because of birth and nobility. The Order was founded in 1399 and probably took its name from the preparations for the knighthood ceremony where new knights would purify their inner souls by fasting, vigils and prayer, and then cleansing their body by immersing themselves in a bath. The Order was revived in 1725 as a military order with one class of Knights (K.B.). In 1815, the Order was enlarged to three classes: Knights Grand Cross (GCB) Knights Commander (KCB) Companions (CB) There was a civil division of the Knights Grand Cross while all others were to be military officers. In 1847, a civil division for all three classes was established with numbers set as follows: GCB 95 total 68 military 27 civil KCB 285 total 173 military 112 civil CB 1,498 total 943 military 555 civil The motto of the order is " Tria Juncta in Uno " (Three joined in one) which either refers to the three golden crowns within a golden circle worn on the badge, or the three crowns as symbolic of the Union of England, France and Scotland, or the Union of England, Scotland and Ireland or the Holy Trinity. -
The Activity and Influence of the Established Church in England, C. 1800-1837
The Activity and Influence of the Established Church in England, c. 1800-1837 Nicholas Andrew Dixon Pembroke College, Cambridge This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. November 2018 Declaration This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It does not exceed the prescribed word limit for the relevant Degree Committee. Nicholas Dixon November 2018 ii Thesis Summary The Activity and Influence of the Established Church in England, c. 1800-1837 Nicholas Andrew Dixon Pembroke College, Cambridge This thesis examines the various ways in which the Church of England engaged with English politics and society from c. 1800 to 1837. Assessments of the early nineteenth-century Church of England remain coloured by a critique originating in radical anti-clerical polemics of the period and reinforced by the writings of the Tractarians and Élie Halévy. It is often assumed that, in consequence of social and political change, the influence of a complacent and reactionary church was irreparably eroded by 1830. -
The Junior British Army Officer: Experience and Identity, 1793-1815
The Junior British Army Officer: Experience and Identity, 1793-1815 by David Lachlan Huf, B.A. (Hons) School of Humanities (History) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Arts University of Tasmania, June 2017 ii Declaration of Originality This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for a degree or diploma by the University or any other institution, except by way of background information and duly acknowledged in the thesis, and to the best of my knowledge and belief, no material previously published or written by another person except where due acknowledgement is made in the test of the thesis, nor does this thesis contain any material that infringes copyright. Signed ………………… Date 07/06/2017 Declaration of Authority to Access This thesis is not to be made available for loan or copying for two years following the date this statement was signed. Following that time, the thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying and communication in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. Signed ………………… Date 07/06/2017 iii Acknowledgements This thesis is the culmination of an eight-year association with the University of Tasmania, where I started studying as an undergraduate in 2009. The number of people and institutions who I owe the deepest gratitude to during my time with the university and especially during the completion of my thesis is vast. In Gavin Daly and Anthony Page, I am privileged to have two supervisors who are so accomplished in eighteenth-century British history, and the history of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic era. -
'No Troops but the British': British National Identity and the Battle For
‘No Troops but the British’: British National Identity and the Battle for Waterloo Kyle van Beurden BA/BBus (Accy) (QUT), BA Honours (UQ) A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2015 School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry British National Identity and the Battle for Waterloo Kyle van Beurden Abstract In the ‘long eighteenth-century’ British national identity was superimposed over pre-existing identities in Britain in order to bring together the somewhat disparate, often warring, states. This identity centred on war with France; the French were conceptualised as the ‘other’, being seen by the British as both different and inferior. For many historians this identity, built in reaction and opposition to France, dissipated following the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, as Britain gradually introduced changes that allowed broader sections of the population to engage in the political process. A new militaristic identity did not reappear in Britain until the 1850s, following the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny. This identity did not fixate on France, but rather saw all foreign nations as different and, consequently, inferior. An additional change was the increasing public interest in the army and war, more generally. War became viewed as a ‘pleasurable endeavour’ in which Britons had an innate skill and the army became seen as representative of that fact, rather than an outlet to dispose of undesirable elements of the population, as it had been in the past. British identity became increasingly militaristic in the lead up to the First World War. However, these two identities have been seen as separate phenomena, rather than the later identity being a progression of the earlier construct. -
All for the King's Shilling
ALL FOR THE KING’S SHILLING AN ANALYSIS OF THE CAMPAIGN AND COMBAT EXPERIENCES OF THE BRITISH SOLDIER IN THE PENINSULAR WAR, 1808-1814 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Edward James Coss, M.A. The Ohio State University 2005 Dissertation Committee: Approved by: Professor John Guilmartin, Adviser _______________________________ Professor Mark Grimsley Adviser Professor John Lynn Graduate Program in History Copyright by Edward J. Coss 2005 ABSTRACT The British soldier of the Peninsular War, 1808-1814, has in the last two centuries acquired a reputation as being a thief, scoundrel, criminal, and undesirable social outcast. Labeled “the scum of the earth” by their commander, the Duke of Wellington, these men were supposedly swept from the streets and jails into the army. Their unmatched success on the battlefield has been attributed to their savage and criminal natures and Wellington’s tactical ability. A detailed investigation, combining heretofore unmined demographic data, primary source accounts, and nutritional analysis, reveals a picture of the British soldier that presents his campaign and combat behaviors in a different light. Most likely an unemployed laborer or textile worker, the soldier enlisted because of economic need. A growing population, the impact of the war, and the transition from hand-made goods to machined products displaced large numbers of workers. Men joined the army in hopes of receiving regular wages and meals. In this they would be sorely disappointed. Enlisted for life, the soldier’s new primary social group became his surrogate family. -
Engineering the American Military Nation, 1814-1821 Dissertation
Importing Napoleon: Engineering the American Military Nation, 1814-1821 Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jonathan M. Romaneski, M.A. Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2017 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Mark Grimsley, Advisor Dr. John Brooke Dr. Jennifer Siegel Copyright by Jonathan Romaneski 2017 Abstract As the War of 1812 drew to a close, the American nation was economically exhausted and politically upended. The great crisis of the war loomed over the American shorelines from mid-1814 onward, when British reinforcements under a new and more aggressive British commander threatened offensive thrusts into U.S. territory at multiple points. Americans were completely unprepared to meet the British invasion attempts; the United States parried all British thrusts in 1814 almost in spite of itself. Thus, by the end of 1814, the Madison administration (with strong input from James Monroe) began to seek to reform the American military establishment to ensure a more disciplined and uniform militia system, a better-educated and “professional” officer corps, and a stout system of seacoast fortifications. The reformers looked no further than the Napoleonic military system for all their answers. In order to convince the American people and their congressional representatives that greater investment in a Napoleonic-style army was necessary, the reformers relied on a narrative of the War of 1812 that emphasized the frailty of the militia and the heroism of the regulars. Complicating the reformers’ narrative was, first, the strong antimilitary ideological traditions that Americans had held so closely since the Revolutionary era, and second, a counternarrative of the war that arose from Andrew Jackson’s victory at New Orleans. -
An Ordinary Soldier in the Army Besieging Bayonne by Steven Carter, BA, BD, MBA
An Ordinary Soldier in the Army Besieging Bayonne By Steven Carter, BA, BD, MBA. Although history books and official records might record the deeds of the higher ranks, most ordinary soldiers besieging Bayonne remain anonymous and their individual experience ill-defined. My ancestor, Thomas Carter (1789-1861), is an exception because some surviving documents provide enough information to reconstruct his experience in some detail, together with insights into his life. Thomas Carter was a 24 year old private in the First Battalion of the Third Regiment of Foot Guards. On 14 April 1814 he was on picket duty opposite the Uniform of a Private in the Citadel of Bayonne. Here the experiences and background of one Third Foot Guards in 1815. ordinary soldiers besieging Bayonne comes into the spotlight. In the early hours of 14 April 1814, Private Thomas Carter was at his post on picket duty outside the Citadel, west of the Avenue du 14 Avril and the Jewish Cemetery. He was part of the army besieging Bayonne. This day is recorded as the last in the Peninsular War, which in its final months became an invasion of southern France. Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley (Wellington) had pressed on in pursuit of his rival Marshal Nicolas Soult to Toulouse (coming to battle on 10 April), while resistance from Bayonne’s garrison (14,000 men) pinned down Lieutenant General Hope and the Left Wing of the Army (almost 20,000). Thomas had heard news of Napoleon’s abdication, so his thoughts were likely turning to how soon he would be returning home. -
HE Earliest British Medal Which Can Be Termed a War Medal Was That
MEDALS AND CAMPAIGNS OF THE 43RD FOOT, NOW ]ST BATTALION OF THE OXFORDSHIRE AND BUCKINGHAMSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY. BY MAJOR WILLIAM J. FREER, D.L., V.D., F.S.A. HE earliest British medal which can be termed a war medal was that issued in the reign of Elizabeth as a naval reward in connection with the repulse of the Spanish Armada. During- the civil wars of the reign of Charles I. both the o o contending parties awarded military medals to their distinguished supporters, and the " Blake " medal was issued in 1653. For the Peninsular War, medals in gold were issued to officers only, in 1808-9, and a gold cross was also awarded. In former times medals were given with a very sparing hand—in contrast to the lavish distributions of the present day. Thus, whilst medals for the Battle of Waterloo were granted in 1816, it was not until 1848 that the surviving veterans of the Peninsular War received any medallic recognition of their services in the great campaign. It is only, therefore, since the commencement of the nineteenth century that the medals of a regiment may be said to mark its history, but since that date, it naturally follows that a collection of the medals awarded to officers and men of a particular regiment will disclose at a glance its military history. It is therefore my object to offer to the readers of this Journal a short account of the origin and actions of the 43rd Foot, with illustrations of such of the medals awarded to it as have come within my range.