A Nation at War

It is easy enough to forget that the Great Britain of the Regency era was a nation at war. Jane Austen's books rarely mention the war though two of her brothers were actively involved in naval service. Many Regency romances do not speak of war--most of mine do not. War was something soldiers made, something that happened to other families and, except when invasion threatened, it was something that happened 'over there'.

Yet the newspapers, throughout the Regency period, were full of war news. The British were fighting on many fronts. The Derby Mercury of May 2, 1805 reports on conflict in India:

"We drove the whole of the enemy under the Fort of Deeg, when the people in the fort opened a very heavy fire on us. The number of guns is not yet ascertained, nor that of the killed and wounded, but our loss has been severe."

In that same year, the British fought their greatest sea battle, after several years of war at sea. The Times of November 7, 1805 carried a report of the fighting:

"The commander-in-chief immediately made a signal to the fleet to bear up in two columns. The enemy's line consisted of 33 ships, of which 18 were French and 15 Spanish, commanded in chief by Admiral Villeneuve. As the mode of attack was unusual, so the structure of the enemy's line was new."

As the same time, the British were fighting in North America--the War of 1812-14. That war was fought on the sea as this report from August 1812 shows:

"The privateer schooner, Active, of 2 guns and 22 men, from Salem, has been taken and burnt by the British frigate Spartan."

On land, from April to December 1814, the British sent a cavalry regiment, 33 infantry battalions and 10 artillery companies. Newspapers in the United States reported:

"General Wilkinson has left Grenadier-Island with his army, and gone down the St. Lawrence in boats. They...were attacked by the enemy from the shore. On returning the fire, the enemy dispersed, and the army advanced without molestation."

Hostilities on the continent culminated in Belgium in June 1815. Newspapers around the country reported--

Hampshire Telegraph, June 26, 1815

"Fleurus, June 16--The battle of yesterday lasted till ten o'clock in the evening. We are still in pursuit of the enemy, who has experienced a terrible overthrow. We have hitherto 3000 prisoners, 20 pieces of cannon and several standards, many officers of rank, among others Count Lutzow."

Liverpool Mercury, June 30, 1815

"The armies were so intermingled, that the Duke of Wellington encountered Marshal Grouchy. The enemy, who would not believe that it was possible to be defeated under Napoleon's command, long fought with the greatest ardour."

London Gazette Extraordinary, Thursday, June 22, 1815
A despatch from Lord Wellington reporting on the Battle at Waterloo ended:

"I have not yet got the returns of killed and wounded, but I inclose a list of Officers killed and wounded on the two days, as far as the same can be made out without the returns...
Colonel De Lancey is not dead, and strong hopes of his recovery are entertained...
Major General Sir William Ponsonby is killed, and, ...I have to add the expression of my grief for the fate of an officer, who had already rendered very brilliant and important services, and was an ornament to his profession."

Our newspapers are still full of war information--Afghanistan, terrorists, and until recently Iraq. Threats abound, countries still tear themselves and others apart. Soldiers, sailors, and airmen and women die. As I write this blog, Remembrance Day services are taking place here in Canada. Britain also is commemorating November 11 with ceremony, and in the United States Veterans Day honours military service. 

As we remember those who gave their lives--across the centuries--for their country's greater good, surely it is also time to contemplate peace, and direct all our energies toward that greatest good of all.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Heroes Never Grow Old

Heroes don't generally live to a ripe old age, but the lst Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, did. He lived in fact until 1852; riding daily until a week before his death at the age of 83. The 195th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo brought him to mind. We've all heard, of course, of the great Wellington, the Iron Duke, soldier, statesman and British historical icon; his name is synonymous with the Regency period. He even makes cameo appearances in Regency romances, and Regency-set films.

He is best known for his army career. I came across the following interesting declaration re-published in the Edinburgh Annual Register of 1813. To me it says something about the man, about the kind of soldier he was and the sort of campaigns he conducted. That he did not always succeed in reaching his ideals as set out in this declaration is a fact, and an unfortunate one, but at least he had the desire to do the right thing.

Proclmation from Field Marshal the Marquis of Wellington to the French people.
December 1st, 1813

Upon entering your country, learn that I have given the most positive orders (a translation of which is subjoined to this) to prevent those evils which are the ordinary consequences of invasion, which you know is the result of that which your government made into Spain, and of the triumphs of the allied army under my command.

You may be certain that I will carry these orders into execution, and I request of you to cause to be arrested, and conveyed to my head-quarters, all those who, contrary to these dispositions, do you any injury.

But it is requisite you should remain in your houses, and take no part whatever in the operations of the war of which your country is going to become the theatre.

(Signed) Wellington

This declaration emphasizes his heroic nature in my mind; strong-minded, incisive and with a fierce sense of justice.  His mind never faltered during his long life. At his death he was Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Constable of the Tower, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and the Chancellor of the University of Oxford. He had been Prime Minister, Leader of the Conservative Party, Governor of Plymouth (UK), and British Ambassador to France among other things. He held titles in Portugese, Spanish and Dutch nobility as well as the honours Britain heaped upon him.

At left is a daguerrotype of the Duke in 1844. Few of the figures of the Regency lived into the age of photography which only began in the late 1830's. Photography removes the mystique of the period, in my mind, but it is interesting to have such a photograph. 

I find the Duke's choice of apparel charming: "His ordinary dress in summer was a blue frock-coat, white waistcoat and white trousers, and white cravat fastened by a silver buckle behind. In winter the waistcoat was blue, sometimes red, and blue trousers. He never wore a great-coat, but in severe weather a short cape made of blue cloth lined with white."

I have a little book that gives a very personal picture of the Iron Duke. It is titled My Dear Mrs. Jones; The Letters of the Duke of Wellington to Margaret Charlotte Jones 1851-1852. Wellington had met Mr. and Mrs. Jones and their three children sometime in the five years or so before the letters were written. He became fond of the family, and Mrs. Jones' letters helped him stay in touch with society at a time when deafness was plaguing him.

The letters reveal an active old man with a steel-trap mind and, surprisingly, a great love of children. Though his own two sons were never shown that love, his four grandchildren were, and his concern for Mrs. Jones' three children is apparent in his letters.

"I cannot tell you how much I enjoy and prize the affection which children have for me. When they become familiar with me I believe that they consider me one of themselves, and make of me a sort of plaything! They climb upon me and make toys of my Hair and my fingers! They grow up into friends."

(right) Arms of the Dukes of Wellington

Two weeks before his death he wrote:

"I have been so much occupied by the Reception here of the Grand Duchess Catherine of Mecklenburg Strelitz...I had all the Notables here whom you know to meet her at dinner."

A busy man to the last, a hero indeed, and a good friend.

Until next time,

Lesley-Anne

"My Dear Mrs. Jones: The Letter of the Duke of Wellington to Margaret Charlotte Jones 1851-1852"
Miniature Books, The Rodale Press, 1954