Napoleonic Era

Show the Colours: A Napoleonic Wars RPG

Thu, 18 Feb 2016 17:55:20 GMT

Posted by: sharpiefan

Welcome to the Napoleonic Wars.

It is 1809. Armies are on the move to fight battles that will decide the fate of nations.

In a world at war, events are a backdrop for the individuals who make up those armies. Although far from home, they still live their lives as best they can. From battles at sea to skirmishes on land, there is danger at every turn. There is friendship and camaraderie, too. But the clouds are gathering.

Where do your loyalties lie?

Join Show the Colours and change history

Show the Colours is looking for new players. We're looking for:

Good writers who can write active characters and contribute to the wider story
Other Ranks characters (both in the Navy and the Army)
People willing to rise to the challenge
People who can make their own plots

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Photos of Veterans of the Grande Armee

Tue, 28 Oct 2014 13:17:49 GMT

Posted by: sharpiefan

Yes; you read that correctly. These are photos taken in 1858 of surviving soldiers of Napolelon's Grande Armee, in their original uniforms, and wearing their medals.

Click here to see them

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In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars

Fri, 03 Oct 2014 13:46:06 GMT

Posted by: sharpiefan

Jenny Uglow
29 January 2015, 8.00pm

Hosted by the Army & Navy Club - NEW LOCATION
36-39 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5JN

Join prize-winning author Jenny Uglow as she explores the many ways in which the Napoleonic Wars touched the lives of ordinary people.

Discover the moving story of everyday people, struggling through hard times and opening new horizons that would change their country for a century ahead.

click for more information

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British Cabinet of Peninsular War Period

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 10:09:46 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

This a sort of a table listing the Cabinet positions during the period of the Peninsular War and the names of men who held them. It is by no means a definitive list, as I am sure there were Cabinet positions that I have missed. If you know any others, please do comment, so I can edit and update the file. There are a couple of normally non-cabinet positions I included, judging them to be of interest/importance.

Page 1

Page 2

x-posted to aninfamousarmy

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New-ish books

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:05:25 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

Wellington's Voice: The Candid Letters of Lieutenant Colonel John Fremantle, Coldstream Guards, 1808-1821

If memory serves John Fremantle was Wellington's ADC.

Castlereagh: From Enlightment to Tyranny

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Despatches, the AoS newsletter, is now on DW

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:13:56 GMT

Posted by: sharpiefan

I would like to take this opportunity (if the mods here do not object) to remind everyone that DW has its very own edition of the ever-popular despatches. Check out the back issues, or subscribe, at despatches.

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Random query

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 09:26:42 GMT

Posted by: sharpiefan

Does anyone know where I could find an example of a letter written in the Napoleonic/Regency era by a man to his father? I don't care about the subject, and I am more interested in the content (especially the mode of address) than the handwriting, so a typescript version would be more than fine.

(Cross-posted.)

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A little on duelling

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:40:50 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

From “The Romance of Duelling” by Andrew Steinmetz as quoted in “British Sword Fighting” by D.A. Kinsley

“Waterloo Duels. - When the British Army occupied the south of France [in 1815], especially at Bordeaux, French officers came over the Garonne, for the sole purpose of insulting and fighting the English, who were, in many instances, absurd enough to meet their wishes. As the challenge usually came from the English, the French had the choice of weapons, and invariably selected their favourite smallsword. Strange to say, the result was usually in favour of our countrymen, who, being utterly helpless at carte and tierce and all the niceties of the science, rushed on, in defiance of guards and passes, and spitted their enemy at once. In vain the Frenchmen protested that this was 'brutal', 'unchivalrous', and a crying outrage against 'the rules of fencing'. Stalwart Englishmen stood by their friend, and producing loaded pistols, threatened to shoot any who attempted to interfere. This system gradually produced a more wholesome state of feeling.”

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Useful websites

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 18:00:54 GMT

Posted by: sharpiefan

I've posted an entry on my journal with a list of various useful websites, including links to the 1811 Army Regulations and the 1807 Drill Manual and various other sites of interest.

Link to my journal entry

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Draw Swords

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:15:52 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

Draw Swords: On Guard

Novelist and swordsman Duncan Noble examines British Infantry sword fighting techniques before Waterloo, and efforts to improve training.

(Part 1)

( Read more... )

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The final rest...

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:19:06 GMT

Posted by: sharpiefan

There's an article here about casualties of the 1812 Moscow campaign finally being laid to rest.

From the article: The remains of 18 soldiers from Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armee were reburied in Lithuania on Monday, almost 200 years after the siege of Moscow failed and the men were forced to flee westwards in the freezing cold.

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Thu, 07 Oct 2010 21:03:08 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

There is a new book out: "To War with Wellington: From the Peninsula to Waterloo" by Peter Snow. I haven't had the chance to look at it, so if anyone knows if it's any good, let us know. :)

( Amazon description )

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A little more on Wellington

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 11:02:39 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

From the "An Irish Beaty of Regency", a diary by Mrs. Frances Pery Calvert.¹

“As for Lady Mornington, she is a common-place character, with soft, gentlewoman-like manners, and has that sort of conversation which makes her please more perhaps than would a more learned woman, or one of more distinguished intellect.”

December, 1809.

I had a letter yesterday from Edmond Knox, who tells me a ludicrous anecdote relating to Lord Wellesley's entry into Seville. The mob took the horses from his carriage and drew him along. A woman among them, quite six feet high, was not content with that, but took his little Lordship in her arms out of the carriage, and carried him, kissing and hugging him all the time, to where the junta was assembled, and put him down among them, saying she had brought them the saviour of their country.²

July, 1814, Carlton House,

The Duke of Wellington was there - just the same good-humoured, unaffected creature he was. He met me very kindly, enquiring after Felix ³. 'He left us early,' said he, 'I was very angry with him for going away. I would not have let him go if I could have helped it, not but he had cause to be displeased, Graham did not use him well, he ought to have sent him.' Sir Thomas Picton enquired for him too adding, 'I hope he is in a way to get his promotion which he fully deserves, having entered with so much spirit into his profession.'"

Brussels, at the Duke of Richmond's, 1817

The Duke of Wellington was there with Colonel and Mrs. Hervey in his train. She is not long married and was a Miss Caton, sister to Mrs. Patterson, a genteel looking young woman. It is the fashion to make a fuss about her because the Duke of Wellington is in love with Mrs. Patterson⁴, whose sister in law is married to Jerome Bonaparte.

1 Reputedly a close friend of Kitty Pakenham, Wellington's wife

2 This anecdote is also quoted in Elizabeth Longford's “Wellington: the Years of the Sword”

3 Felix Calvert, eldest son of the diarist, born 1790. Served as the Major of 32^nd (Cornwall) Light Infantry. At Waterloo had three horses shot under him; promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 15^th July, 1815. On the regiment's march from Waterloo to Paris, after encampment at Neuilly, took command of the regiment until 16^th October 1815.

4 Mariane Patterson, married to Richard Wellesley, Wellington's eldest brother, on 29^th October 1825

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Fri, 10 Sep 2010 21:55:47 GMT

Posted by: wayward_shadows

I bring for your interest, three brief passages about period medicine, taken from British Military and Naval Medicine, 1600-1830.

( On Medical Experimentation )

( On Women in Imperial Medicine )

( On Tropical Therapeutics )

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Book Recommendation

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:19:01 GMT

Posted by: sharpiefan

If you have any interest at all in the British Army of the period, I recommend British Napoleonic Uniforms by C.E. Franklin, ISBN 978-1-86227-484-6, RRP £40.

It show the details of every British regiment, horse and foot, including their lace, facing and, where known, their crossbelt plates and buttons. It also includes details of the leatherwork and how it fits together, with details of how things like the cartridge boxes changed over time.

The uniforms changed between 1793 and 1815 and it gives details of how the uniforms, and where applicable, the lace, changed during the period covered.

It is extremely detailed and will become THE reference book for British infantry and cavalry uniforms. My one gripe is that it does not show the Marines or foreign regiments/units in British service. Even without those, it is worth every penny of the £40, and deserves a place on the shelf of anyone with an interest in the era.

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Russian Uniforms of Napoleonic Wars

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:37:39 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

Here are some pictures of the uniforms of the Russian Army during the period of the Napoleonic Wars from the book 'Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars' by Digby Smith.

DW link

LJ link

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Post Borodino Council of War Painting, Who is Who

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:18:05 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

From left to right:

Standing behind the chair - General Kaisarov, adjutant.
Sitting on the chair - Kutuzov, Commander-in-Chief of all Russian armies.

On the bench by the window:

Konovnitsin, commander of the 3rd infantry corps
Raevsky, commander of the 7th infantry corps
Osterman-Tolstoy, commander of 4th infantry corps

Under the icon - Barclay de Tolly, commander of the 1st Army
Uvarov, commander of the 1st cavalry corps
Dokhturov, commander of the 6th infantry corps
Standing - Yermolov, prior to Borodino, Chief of Staff of the 1st Werstern Army; after Borodino - Chief of Staff of both 1st and 2nd Armies.

On the bench, facing away:

On the right - Toll, Chief Quatermaster of all active armies.
On the left - Bennigsen, briefly Chief of Staff of all active armies in 1812, then occupied various posts. until the death of Kutuzov in 1813, when he was chosen as his replacement.

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Congress of Vienna Painting Who is Who?

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:15:18 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

Left to right:

Group of four on the very left: Wellington (Great Britain), Lobo (Portugal), Saldanha (Portugal), Lowenhielm (Sweden). Seated in front of them: (with the cloak on the back of the chair) Hardenberg (Prussia).

Group of six next to them and before the table. Four standing: Noailles (France), Metternich (Austria), Latour Dupin (France), Nesselrode (Russia); Two seated: Palmella (Portugal), Castlereagh (Great Britain).

The group of twelve around the table. Dalberg (France), Wessenberg (Austria). Two standing: Razumovsky (Russia), Stewart (Great Britain). Labrador (Spain), Clancarty (leaning)(?). Group of four standing: Wacken (Austria), Gentz (Austria), Humboldt (Prussia), Cathcart (Great Britain). Two seated in front of them: Talleyrand (France), Stackelberg (Russia).

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Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:11:51 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

From the "Diaries of a Lady of Quality" by Frances Williams Wynn :

I was about sixteen or seventeen when, at Dropmore - where I was with Lord and Lady Grenville only - Mr Pitt arrived for a visit of two days. First, I was disappointed in that turned up nose, and in that countenance, in which it was so impossible to find any indication of the mind, and in that person which was so deficient in dignity he had hardly the air of a gentleman... From what I then heard and saw, I should say that mouth was made for eating; - as to speaking, there was very little, and that little was totally uninteresting to me, and I believe it had been so to everybody... On the second day arrived Lord Wellesley whom I thought very agreeable; partly, I fancy from his high-bred manners, and still more from his occasionally saying a few words to me, and thus making me feel treated as a reasonable creature. After we had retired for the night, I heard from the library, which was under my room, the most extraordinary noises - barking, mewing, hissing, howling, interspersed with violent shouts of laughter. I assumed it was the servants that had come into the room, and had got drunk and riotous; and I turned to sleep when the noise had ceased.Never can I forget my dismay (it was more than astonishment) when the next day at breakfast I heard that my wise uncle and his two wise guests, whom they had left talking, as I supposed on the fate of Europe, had spied in the room a little bird; they did not wish it to be shut out there all night: therefore, after having opened every window, these great wise men tried every variety of noise they could make to frighten out the poor bird.

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Spanish General

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:05:48 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

Joaquin Blake was an Irishman who fought for the Spanish against Napoleon – and delivered a rare victory against the French.

Article by Andrew Bamford from “Military Illustrated”.

Son of the Wild Geese.

Throughout the 18^th and early 19^th centuries, expatriate Irish soldiers fought with distinction in the Catholic armies of Europe. After the collapse of the final Jacobite rising of 1745, the trickle of rank-and-file volunteers largely dried up, but many Irish gentry families had by now established themselves in exile, giving good service as officers and assimilating themselves into the societies of their new homes. Whilst the Irish heritage of these sons of the Wild Geese led to some ludicrous names and dubiously-assumed pretensions to nobility (such as Austria’s Johans-Sigismund Maguire von Inniskillin), they rewarded the states that had adopted them with loyal and honest service.

( Read more... )

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A Naval Incident

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:58:37 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

From 'The Elements of Murder: A history of poison' , by Emsley.

"The Royal Navy 74-gun man-of-war HMS Triumph arrived at Cadiz in February 1810. A month later a Spanish vessel laden with mercury and destined for the mines of South American was driven ashore nearby in a gale. The Triumph sent its long boat to her assistance even though the wreck was in range of the guns of a fort held by the French, the at war with Britain. The ship was a write-off but its cargo was worth salvaging. The sailors from the Triumph were ables 130 tonnes of mercurty from the wreck by working secretly at night. The mercury was taken back to Cadiz and stowed in various parts of the Triumph and aboard a smaller ship, the sloop Phipps.

To begin with, the mercury was placed in the hold where the crew's spirit rations were kept, but there was so much of it that soon the bags were being stowed in sleeping quarters as well, such as those of the petty officers, pursers, and surgeons, all of whom became badly affected. They found their tongues swelling and their mouths were salivating to an alarming degree. The salvaged mercury had been held in leather bags in wooden box, but it was only the bags that were salvaged. Many of these now split and spilled their contents...

By 10 April 1810 around 200 men on board the Triumph were suffering from mercury poisoning which caused excess salivation in some, while others were semi-paralysed and many suffered 'bowel complaints'.

The sick were taken to other ships where they soon recovered, while the Triumph itself was sent to Gibraltar to be decontaminated. Not that this was effective because a new crew also started to suffer in the same way. The ship was despatched back to England on 13 June and then things did begin to improve somewhat, thanks to the movement of the vessel and the ventilating of the lower decks. Even so, 44 sailors and marines had to be transferred to other ships in the fleet and they had recovered by the time they reached Plymouth on 5 July. All the sheep, pigs, goats, and poultry on the Triumph died, as did the ships cat, a dog, the mice and rats - and a canary. Five men eventually died, two of gangrene of the cheeks and tongue. A woman passenger, who had a fractured leg and was confined to bed during the voyage, lost all her teeth and the sking on the inside of the mouth all peeled away. Doctor Burnett prescribed sulphur for those who were sick but reported that taking this did not relieve their symptoms. The only effective remedy was to be removed from the ship. He also carried 7940 pounds of ships biscuit: it was all condemned as unfit to eat, and some was even found to contain globules of metallic mercury."

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Wellington's Letters

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:49:49 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

To Sir Chichester Fortescue

Ysendoom, 20th December, 1794.

( Read more... )

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Impressions of Wellington

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:49:34 GMT

Posted by: le_russe_satan

Johann Peter Eckerman in 'Conversations of Goethe'.

[Thurs., Feb. 16.] I went, at seven this evening, to Goethe, whom I found alone in his room. I sat down by
him at the table, and told him that yesterday I had seen, at the inn, the Duke of Wellington, who was passing through on his way to St. Petersburg.

"Indeed ! " said Goethe, with animation, "What was he like ? tell me all about him. Does he look like his portrait?"
"Yes," said I, "but better, with more of marked character. If you ever look at his face, all the portraits are naught. One need only see him once never to forget him, such an impression does he make. His eyes are brown, and of the serenest brilliancy ; one feels the effect of his glance ; his mouth speaks, even when it is closed ; he looks a man who has had many thoughts, and has lived through the greatest deeds, who now can handle the world serenely and calmly, and whom nothing more can disturb. He seemed to me as hard and as tempered as a Damascus blade. By his appearance, he is far advanced in the fifties ; is upright, slim, and not very tall or stout. I saw him getting into his carriage to depart. There was something uncommonly cordial in his salutation as he passed through the crowd, and, with a very slight bow, touched his hat with his finger." Goethe listened to my description with visible interest."You have seen one hero more," said he, "and that is saying something."

George Robert Gleig:

( Read more... )

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