The British Army In The 19th Century

Author : Nick Mansfield
Publisher : Liverpool University Press
ISBN 13 : 1781383847
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.41/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Soldiers as Workers written by Nick Mansfield and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2016-03-10 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers the first encounter between labour history and military history, with an analysis of the working lives of nineteenth British rank and file soldiers in the context of a developing working class industrial culture and in its interaction with British society.

Author : Charles River Charles River Editors
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781717512383
Total Pages : 86 pages
Book Rating : 4.80/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The British Army in the 19th Century written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-04-28 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won." - The Duke of Wellington at Waterloo Today, the British Army is one of the most powerful fighting forces in the world. Its highly trained professional soldiers are equipped with the most advanced military technology ever made. Its international interventions, while controversial both at home and abroad, are carried out with incredible professionalism and little loss of life among British servicemen and servicewomen. Naturally, the history and traditions behind this army are also impressive. Britain has not been successfully invaded in centuries. Its soldiers once created and defended a global empire, and during the Second World War, it was one of the leading nations standing against the brutal Axis forces, leading the way in the greatest seaborne invasion in military history. But it was not always like this. For most of its history, Britain was a patchwork of competing nations. England, the largest of its constituent countries, was often relatively weak as a land power compared with its European neighbors. Moreover, Britain's armies, like those of the other European powers, were neither professional nor standing armies for hundreds of years. The 18th century was a tumultuous period for the British army, one often overlooked in popular accounts of British history. It began with the formal unification of Britain-a period of great success for the nation's armies-led by one of Britain's greatest generals, the Duke of Marlborough. This was followed by a period of global activity and military reform as the British Empire expanded. Though naval power played a greater part in this success, it led to new obligations and challenges for the army. Even as the empire soared to new heights, the 18th century was one that was initially marked by triumph but ended in failure and decline. The late 1770s and early 1780s brought about a disastrous war for control of the American colonies, during which the British Army was ultimately defeated by colonial militiamen allied with French forces. In the aftermath came a period of decline and complacency, leaving the nation ill-prepared for war with Napoleon and France. Wellington famously referred to his men as the scum of the earth, even as he took pride in their skill and successes. This was an army that took rough material and shaped it into something refined and effective. The demoralized army emerging after the American Revolution became something new and powerful, respected around the world, giving Britain its era of greatest glory. Ironically, the army was a victim of its own success. After having proven its strength against Napoleon and emerging as one of the most respected military and political players in Europe, the British Army took a backseat to what its leaders considered more pressing needs, even as the soldiers were relied on to be garrisoned in colonies across the world. As the Industrial Revolution took hold, its factories and mines drove a staggering period of economic and technological growth. A global empire, supported by the might of the Royal Navy, provided the raw materials and markets the economy needed, as well as military bases and political influence in every corner of the globe. Success was a self-fulfilling prophecy, and Britain's economic and military might let the nation expand its power, absorbing more territory and resources. This ensured the need for a substantial army, as well as the need for the resources to maintain it, but it was not all smooth sailing. There were challenges to be met and periods of complacency to overcome. This book examines the history of the British Army during some of history's most pivotal eras. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about the British army like never before.

Author : Edward J Coss
Publisher : University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN 13 : 0806185457
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.53/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book All for the King's Shilling written by Edward J Coss and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2012-10-11 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The British troops who fought so successfully under the Duke of Wellington during his Peninsular Campaign against Napoleon have long been branded by the duke’s own words—“scum of the earth”—and assumed to have been society’s ne’er-do-wells or criminals who enlisted to escape justice. Now Edward J. Coss shows to the contrary that most of these redcoats were respectable laborers and tradesmen and that it was mainly their working-class status that prompted the duke’s derision. Driven into the army by unemployment in the wake of Britain’s industrial revolution, they confronted wartime hardship with ethical values and became formidable soldiers in the bargain These men depended on the king’s shilling for survival, yet pay was erratic and provisions were scant. Fed worse even than sixteenth-century Spanish galley slaves, they often marched for days without adequate food; and if during the campaign they did steal from Portuguese and Spanish civilians, the theft was attributable not to any criminal leanings but to hunger and the paltry rations provided by the army. Coss draws on a comprehensive database on British soldiers as well as first-person accounts of Peninsular War participants to offer a better understanding of their backgrounds and daily lives. He describes how these neglected and abused soldiers came to rely increasingly on the emotional and physical support of comrades and developed their own moral and behavioral code. Their cohesiveness, Coss argues, was a major factor in their legendary triumphs over Napoleon’s battle-hardened troops. The first work to closely examine the social composition of Wellington’s rank and file through the lens of military psychology, All for the King’s Shilling transcends the Napoleonic battlefield to help explain the motivation and behavior of all soldiers under the stress of combat.

Author : Edward Spiers
Publisher : Manchester University Press
ISBN 13 : 1847795463
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.65/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Victorian soldier in Africa written by Edward Spiers and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2013-07-19 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. The Victorian soldier in Africa re-examines the campaign experience of British soldiers in Africa during the period, 1874–1902 – the zenith of the Victorian imperial expansion – and does so from the perspective of the regimental soldier. The book utilises an unprecedented number of letters and diaries, written by regimental officers and other ranks, to allow soldiers to speak for themselves about their experience of colonial warfare. The sources demonstrate the adaptability of the British army in fighting in different climates, over demanding terrain and against a diverse array of enemies. They also uncover soldiers’ responses to army reforms of the era as well as the response to the introduction of new technologies of war. Moreover, the book provides commentary on soldiers’ views of commanding officers and politicians alongside assessment of war correspondents, colonial auxiliaries and African natives in their roles as bearers, allies and enemies. This book reveals new insights on imperial and racial attitudes within the army, on relations between soldiers and the media and the production of information and knowledge from frontline to homefront. It will make fascinating reading for students, academics and enthusiasts in imperial history, Victorian studies, military history and colonial warfare.

Author : Daniel R. LeClair
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 1476638594
Total Pages : 287 pages
Book Rating : 4.91/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The British Military Revolution of the 19th Century written by Daniel R. LeClair and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2019-10-31 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:  From the Crimean War through the Second Boer War, the British Empire sought to solve the "Great Gun Question"--to harness improvements to ordnance, small arms, explosives and mechanization made possible by the Industrial Revolution. The British public played a surprising but overlooked role, offering myriad suggestions for improvements to the civilian-led War Office. Meanwhile, politicians and army leaders argued over control of the country's ground forces in a decades-long struggle that did not end until reforms of 1904 put the military under the Secretary of State for War. Following the debate in the press, voters put pressure on both Parliament and the War Office to modernize ordnance and military administration. The "Great Gun Question" was as much about weaponry as about who ultimately controlled military power. Drawing on ordnance committee records and contemporary news reports, this book fills a gap in the history of British military technology and army modernization prior to World War I.

Author : Sir Richard Harrison
Publisher : London : Smith, Elder & Company
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 438 pages
Book Rating : 4.72/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Recollections of a Life in the British Army During the Latter Half of the 19th Century written by Sir Richard Harrison and published by London : Smith, Elder & Company. This book was released on 1908 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Charles River Charles River Editors
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781717317711
Total Pages : 52 pages
Book Rating : 4.15/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Queen Victoria's Army written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-04-23 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading World domination is a vision most kings, queens, and emperors can only dream of, and is a path less visited for good reason. It is one that requires above all, patience, as well as skill, tenacity, and an impenetrable plan of action. The only one to ever come close to this impossible level of prestige is the legendary British Empire. It was under the reign of King Henry VII of England that this ambitious idea of global expansion was first planted. In March of 1496, the king granted an exploratory charter to John Cabot, who would pilot a successful voyage that resulted in the occupation of an uninhabited island in Newfoundland. Though Cabot's second voyage ended in disaster, the courage and will he displayed during these endeavors inspired English explorers to organize more ventures and take to the seas themselves, as they hoped to see just how far they could push the envelope. Today, the British Army is one of the most powerful fighting forces in the world. Its highly trained professional soldiers are equipped with the most advanced military technology ever made. Its international interventions, while controversial both at home and abroad, are carried out with incredible professionalism and little loss of life among British servicemen and servicewomen. Naturally, the history and traditions behind this army are also impressive. Britain has not been successfully invaded in centuries. Its soldiers once created and defended a global empire, and during the Second World War, it was one of the leading nations standing against the brutal Axis forces, leading the way in the greatest seaborne invasion in military history. During the 19th century, Britain was at the height of its power, having proven its strength against Napoleon and emerging as one of the most respected military and political players in Europe. As the Industrial Revolution took hold, its factories and mines drove a staggering period of economic and technological growth. A global empire, supported by the might of the Royal Navy, provided the raw materials and markets the economy needed, as well as military bases and political influence in every corner of the globe. Success was a self-fulfilling prophecy, and Britain's economic and military might let the nation expand its power, absorbing more territory and resources. This ensured the need for a substantial army, as well as the need for the resources to maintain it, but it was not all smooth sailing. There were challenges to be met and periods of complacency to overcome. Queen Victoria's Army: The History of the British Army during the Victorian Era examines the history of the British Army in the late 19th century. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the British Army during the Victorian Era like never before.

Author : Laurence Spring
Publisher : Helion
ISBN 13 : 9781804514498
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.97/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The First British Army 1624-1628 written by Laurence Spring and published by Helion. This book was released on 2024-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although the concept of 'Britain' dates back to the Roman period, it was James I that founded Britain in the modern sense. With his accession to the throne in 1603, for the first time Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland were united under one monarch - with James bestowing on himself the title of 'King of Great Britain'. Before James' accession, Scotsmen and Irishmen may have served in the English Army as mercenaries, but it was known as an English Army - but after 1693 a British flag flew over the castles and forts throughout the Countries. The army raised by Charles I in 1625 for the war against Spain, and subsequently with France, is most famous for its failure. However, it is one of the best-documented armies of the early seventeenth century. Using archival and archaeological evidence, the first half of the book covers the lives of the officers and men serving in this army - as well as the women who accompanied them. The author discusses the origins of officers and why they decided to serve in the army - and how the men from England, Scotland and Ireland were recruited, as well as how they were clothed and what they ate, their medical care, and the tactics used by the army. It also covers the hidden asset of the tailors, armorers and merchants who helped to put the army into the field. The second half of the book covers not only the expeditions to Cadiz, the Île de Rhé and to the siege of La Rochelle, but also their effect on an England who feared a Spanish, and later a French, invasion. Also covered are the campaigns of Count Ernest von Mansfeldt's and Sir Charles Morgan's armies, which fought at Breda, Dessau Bridge and against the forces of the Holy Roman Empire. The final chapter looks at what became of the soldiers and their widows once the army had been disbanded. Overall, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in this period of Early Modern History, including the English Civil War and the Thirty Years' War. The publication of this new fully revised edition has enabled the author to add some eight years of new research on the subject and the inclusion of specially commissioned artwork depicting drill postures from the period.

Author : Nick Mansfield
Publisher : Studies in Labour History Lup
ISBN 13 : 1789620864
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.63/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Soldiers as Citizens written by Nick Mansfield and published by Studies in Labour History Lup. This book was released on 2019 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first exploration of the British army to combine labour, political and military history. It analyses the political lives of nineteenth century rank and file soldiers in the context of a developing working-class culture. It focuses on the significant radical and socialist movements, alongside influential working-class conservatism.

Author : J. W. Fortescue
Publisher : Good Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 698 pages
Book Rating : 4.20/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book History of the British Army (Vol.1&2) written by J. W. Fortescue and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2023-12-18 with total page 698 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History of the British Army is an exhaustive military study which gives a comprehensive coverage of the English military situation from the beginning until the late 18th century and the formation of the New Model Army. Starting from the 11th century and the Battle of Hastings the author comprises six centuries of British history endeavoring to point out occurrences and incident that were essential to a coherent sketch of the growth of the British military system. One of the goals of the work was to correct the injustice of numerous political histories which have the Army, Navy, and the whole question of National Defense left out of account.