1st Afghan War Picture Shah Sujah’s Horse Artillery

 

I was sent this print by the artist David Rowlands last year after I’d reviewed the book on whose cover it features. Only now have I had the chance to get it framed, in Bangalore. It will take pride of place on the living room wall of our apartment here. An excellent job and great value for money at about £30 which is fraction of what I’d have paid back in UK; it is quite a big picture. 

Here’s the book it features on. My review is here https://www.carryingsonupthedale.com/2021/11/dust-of-glory-review.html?m=1

Some more holiday reading; an eclectic selection continues……

The downside of spending chunks of time away from home is less opportunities for wargaming (that is pretty much none apart from a bit of painting and Zoom chats) but the flip side of that is that there is plenty of time away from distractions allowing me to catch up on my reading, and I have a lot of catching up to do.

This is the remarkable tale of one William Roworth of HM 44th Foot between 1786 and 1797. ‘Not So Easy, Lads.Wearing the Red Coat 1786-1797’ is the account of the service seen by this single English infantry regiment through the eyes of one of its other ranks in his letters home. Roworth rose to the rank of Serjeant Major by the time he left the army, after serving in the disastrous Flanders campaign before embarking for the West Indies, facing the horrors of a transatlantic crossing and the disease-ridden islands so vital for Britain’s economy. 

The author has used these personal letters together with a wide range of other original sources including official correspondence, private letters, army records and news archives to weave together a fascinating story of ordinary men on campaign. Roworth was a volunteer, as were many of his contemporaries, and served his regiment proudly despite the constant hardships and danger both on and especially off the battlefield. What lifts this book up above others covering the same campaigns is that we read here the perspective of ordinary soldiers, such as their fears, for themselves and their families, duty, ambition, and the sheer distance they were away from home. The author traces our subject’s service from his enlistment, home service, Flanders and the retreat through Germany, the horrors of the Atlantic crossing and the campaigns in the West Indies, ending with a look forward to the lives of those who survived. 

The book contains a great many black and white illustrations together with eight pages of colour plates, most of which are photographs of the islands where the battalion served as they are today, together with uniform plates and contemporary or near contemporary paintings. 

One of the most sobering things I took away from the book, despite knowing full well the effects of service in the West Indies, was that a muster return for troops on St. Lucia in November 1796 shows that well over half of the officers and men were sick in barracks or in hospital. Another return shows that between April and October 1796 almost 3,000 officers and men died of disease while as many as 4,000 to 5,000 were sick and unfit for duty at any one time. Sickness was no respecter of rank, and officers suffered the same as the men, as the data shows. Both Sir John Moore and Sir Ralph Abercrombie were struck down by fever but survived to take their places in history at a later date.

This is tremendous, candid and at times troubling account (from a 20th century perspective at least) and is a story of service and resilience that has been thoroughly researched and told well and should be read by anyone with an interest in the period, militarily as well as from a social point of view.  A really enjoyable experience; the book, not service in the West Indies in the late 18th century!

From Reason to Revolution 1721-1815.

ISBN: 978-1-915113-86-3 soft covers 285 pages

 

Some quite appropriate holiday reading…….

Quintin Barry’s Suffren versus Hughes: The War in the Indian Ocean 1781-1783 covers a little known campaign which took place as an extension of the American Revolution. Britain and France fought for control the Indian Ocean, their respective squadrons fighting five major actions during the course of a two year period.

I cannot say, before reading the book, that I had much knowledge of this campaign so I was keen to add to my knowledge. Waging a naval war many thousands of miles away from home was a major achievement for both the British and the French commanders. This aside they faced different problems in their attempts to achieve the elusive decisive blow but were still able to maintain an effective presence in the waters of Indian Ocean, to the frustration of their opponents.

The author examines the background and characters of Suffren and Hughes, and offers a description of India in 1780, in particular the role of the Honourable East India Company in extending its sphere of influence over the Indian subcontinent. He also examines the far from perfect relationship between the French and Hyder Ali of Mysore and the latter’s campaign against the British. The strategic importance of the HEICs operations in India are always to the forefront, and the shadow of their influence over Hughes is never far away.

The naval actions involving these fleets are described in detail, and I was able to obtain a good understanding of how each battle developed and how final victory remained so elusive for either side. Orders of battle and some useful tactical maps, together with an abundance of contemporary references and quotations help with understanding the issues facing both commanders at each encounter. For me the most remarkable thing is that they were able sustain and maintain their respective fleets over the course of the campaign.

I really enjoyed this book, and learnt from it considerably. It is like all of Mr Barry’s books, well written, meticulously researched and I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

From Reason to Revolution 1721-1815 No.125

ISBN 978-1-804513-39-2 soft back 221 pages

Ignore my cat - Mirrored Backdrop.

 

I think it was at a Partizan show a couple of years ago when I saw a game with a mirror at one end. I thought it was quite effective. Armed with a piece of wood and some mirrored sticky back plastic (but no used washing up liquid bottle) I have made my own, which now sits at the kitchen end of my table. I hope you can see it in these photos. 

I think it is quite effective if somewhat unnerving if you catch movement on the mirror out of the corner of your eye.  I can of course put other temporary backdrops against the mirrored board as and when needed. Tabitha is unimpressed of course.

The French Republic's Fighting Men 1880–1914

 

Something a little different this time, and not a Helion book. Wendell Schollander is not an author I have come across before, but when I was asked to review his latest book, The French Republic’s Fighting Men 1880–1914, the subject matter alone was enough for me.

When one thinks of the period covered by the book the terms La Belle Époque and Fin de Siècle and all that those terms encompass leap front and centre into one’s mind, mine at least, in particular epitomises how the ideals and optimism of the era leading up to the outbreak of the First World War were rapidly shattered on the battlefields of Northern and Eastern France.

The author has researched the army of the French Third Republic exhaustively, and has been able to use much previously unavailable or difficult to access information and data. He presents us with a comprehensive and engaging account of the officers and men of the army to a level hitherto not examined; for example the ethnicity and prior backgrounds of the men making up the metropolitan and colonial armies. It is easy to regurgitate what is written on the back cover of the book, but there are essentially three sections covering the officers, the soldiers and the Foreign Legion.

Of the officers, Wendell examines their social backgrounds, their role, the emergence of the political left and the role Jewish officers played in the army. Interestingly with the exception of the repercussions felt by the Dreyfus affair, during the whole period covered by this study, antisemitism was not a significant issue nor was being Jewish a barrier to promotion. Equally interesting and so very French (and also undoubtedly typical of military bureaucracies the world over) the army had regulations requiring that brides of officers had a dowry, implying overtly that officers’ pay was insufficient to support a wife, and if he wanted to marry he had to find a woman with money!

The author’s analysis of the French rank and file covers areas such as regional and racial ethnicity, language, recruitment and conscription. A large section of the book is devoted to the French Foreign Legion, and again the background and nationalities of the non-commissioned officers and men, discipline, drinking and desertion are examined, as are statistics around deaths in action during different campaigns.

All of this provides for a colourful account of the army. The book includes references to many personal and official documents together with some amusing anecdotes relating to the Legion Mystique.

For me the most striking part of the book are the numerous and evocative contemporary, proudly posed, photographs of soldiers from the whole range of units in the army; for example cuirassiers, chasseurs, spahis, turcos, zouaves. Together these images capture the life and soul of the French army and of La Belle Époque. I spared a moment to think of what became of them.

If you have an interest in the pre-First World War French army then this book is for you, and for further reading and research the author has provided an extensive bibliography.


ISBN 978-8-9884235-6-0. 118 pages, soft covers.

French Invasion of Sweden (as it might have happened): Battle for Skane #2

Part two of last week’s venture into Southern Sweden saw the French and their allies launch another attack on the Anglo-Swedish forces blocking the road to Malmo.  The latter had withdrawn to a new position a few miles behind the first battlefield and were reinforced by another brigade of Swedish infantry, a cavalry regiment and another English battalion. The French did not pursue actively due to the bloody nose they had received, but waited for reinforcements in the shape of the Danish infantry and cavalry brigades. On their arrival the army advanced towards the Anglo-Swedish position in some force. 

For this game John, Nigel and Richard were the ‘French’ while Paul, Jim and I were the Swedes and British. I decided to give Valour and Fortitude another run out as they were quick and would enable us to get through a pretty large game with well over 30 units a side in seven or eight brigades each.

The game proved to be an exciting bloodbath. Richard’s Spanish made slow progress against the Swedish left, although their cavalry did ride down a battery of guns and force Jim’s infantry into square for much of the game. On the Swedish right, I led two cavalry brigades against the entire Danish division. My main focus was on defeating Nigel's cavalry brigade, but they proved to be a tough nut to crack; by the end of the game, despite losing their hussar regiment, they’d passed every Valour and Fortitude test thrown at them. My heavy cavalry did manage to catch a Danish infantry battalion in line and destroyed it. However the rules do not allow for any post-melee movement so I was picked off and shaken by Danish artillery and musketry and was forced to retire shaken. In the centre John pushed his veteran infantry forward, supported by artillery and cavalry. Again, despite loosing several units the assault punched a massive hol in our centre.  Meanwhile the English did a great job fighting to the last Swede as usual! Here are some photos which give some idea of how the game developed.

The battlefield.

Spanish cavalry.

The Spanish advanced to occupy the village.

A charge by the Spanish cavalry overran the Swedish artillery.

The Swedes, minus their artillery are now deployed into square.

The French advance in the centre. Splendid looking!

Paul and Jim reorganised the line to face the French columns.

The Swedish left.

The Unenthusiastic Spanish made heavy going of their attack.

One of many furious cavalry melees on our right wing.

Danish riflemen. They were annoying!

French light cavalry emerging from the woods where they had lain unseen yet in plain view for several turns.

Spaniards again.

Nigel’s Danish dragoons charged my battery. Amazingly and against the odds the cavalry were beaten off.

Swedish cavalry catch a Danish battalion in line and break it.

The French attack in the centre was building up.

Yet more cavalry action from our right.

The French edge closer.

Swedish jäger slow down the enemy advance. 

More of the French attack; a second brigade tries to drive a wedge between the Swedes and English. They destroyed a grenadier battalion and charged a Guards battalion in the flank, destroying it.

In one last throw of the dice Paul counterattacked, supported by a few Royal Marines landed from the fleet.

So there it ended. The French had their victory, which they managed almost all on their own. Richard’s Spanish made no headway on their right and Nigel’s Danes couldn’t move until the Swedish cavalry had been disposed of, which never happened.

It was a very enjoyable game, and the rules were fine, but while we got a result it wasn’t very satisfying. Several players commented that they preferred General d’Armee which suits me fine for next time, which will be in September. We may even try the same scenario but with GdA.

This week’s book of two sieges.

The moderately nice weather outside the Burrow recently meant more sitting in the garden reading than messing about on my computer/tablet with the latest iteration of Call of Duty, and the usual production line of painting has also continued at a fair pace (to be detailed in a post later this week). I’m still recovering the blitz visited on my games room just over a week ago, and it’s amazing how the process means that (a) I unearthed lots of stuff I’d forgotten I had or had misplaced, and, (b) I have since got no idea where various other stuff is that I was working on! Spooky.

I am picking up this review in Bangalore where it a pleasant mid to high 20s having arrived almost a week ago.

One of the latest new releases in Helion’s Retinue to Regiment series is The Sieges of Rhodes, 1480 and 1522 by Jonathan Davies has jumped my reviewing queue as the subject is something I have long held an interest in, and many a summer holiday was spent in Rhodes so I could explore the utterly impressive fortifications.

Jonathan gives us an epic tale of the two sieges, where the Knights Hospitaller of St John defied all the odds, successfully thwarting the Ottoman assault in 1480 and the heroic yet doomed defence during the siege of 1522 that so impressed the Sultan that the survivors were permitted to leave, ultimately finding a new home in Malta, but that as they say is another story.


Back to the book, the author sets the scene for the sieges within the broader Mediterranean and European context, and considers the difference between the Christian and Ottoman soldiers the tactics used, mining and counter-mining operations, artillery both old and new, weapons and armour, and the innovations in siege warfare such as fire weapons which were used with devastating effect by the Hospitallers. He also asks the question of how did vastly inferior forces do so well against overwhelming numbers of Ottomans, including the dreaded Janissaries? All in all a fascinating unpicking of the sieges.

The book contains a good selection of present day and contemporary images, both colour and black and white. The maps in the book include the earliest known example of a picture of Rhodes harbour, from around 1420. Many of the photos are of surviving weapons and armour, as well as several of the frankly awesome and extensive fortifications still standing. The colour plates are completed by a number of specially commissioned paintings of the banners used by the Hospitallers.

Enthusiasts of the Knights of St John and their exploits will love this book, as will amateur historians and wargamers, especially those with an eye on a challenging modelling project. I certainly found it an interesting and informative read.

ISBN : 978-1804514511 .246 pages soft covers.