War! What is it good for? (*sings the Edwin Star song*)
Jane Austen wrote during the time of the Peninsular Wars yet
they are not directly mentioned in her books. She does, however, refer to the
officers and militia. I think she was trying to distract with pleasing tales of
amusement with her ready wit.
However, they do get mentioned in mine, as a character dies
over in one of the campaigns. Bonaparte and Wellington get mentioned. But I
didn’t want to make too big a thing on it. Regency Love is not akin to War and Peace.
There’s no getting away from the fact that war was
happening. Major events leading up to and including the Regency period:
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1745- Jacobite Rising
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1756-1763 – Seven Years’ War
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1775 – 1783 – American War of Independence
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1792 – 1802 – French Revolutionary Wars
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1803 – 1815 – Napoleonic Wars
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1854 – Crimean War
These all had an impact on the world. For instance, the French
Revolution brought 40,000 refugees to England. Many escaped with nothing but
their lives. Most lady’s maids during the Regency era were French, and it must
be supposed some of these were formerly aristocracy. My Lady Anne’s own Clément
was high born.
If we look at France we see the turmoil:
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1789 – Revolution broke out
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1792 – Revolutionary Wars began – this saw the
execution of Louis XVI and the Reign of Terror by Jacobins
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1795 – Rise of Napoleon (who actually brought in
some pretty sound policies tbh)
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1799 – Napoleon was defeated
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1804 – Napoleon became emperor
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1813 – Napoleon lost the Battle of Nations
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1815 – Battle of Waterloo – The Restoration of
Bourbon kings, Louis XVIII & Charles X
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1830 – Revolution – Louis Phillipe becomes king
v
1848 – Revolution – Louis Napoleon as president
Phew!
 |
| Poor Boney! So undervalued in history! |
Napoleon Bonaparte
was exiled to the Island of Elba when he abdicated. But in February 1815 he
escaped and regained control of France (enter the 100 Days War).
However, in June 1815 the Battle of Waterloo saw an end to
that, and Napoleon was exiled to St Helena.
 |
| This is, of course, another British hero, Stephen Fry playing Wellington in the hilarious Blackadder TV show |
In the British corner, we had Arthur Wellesley (*enters like a champion boxer*), better known as the Duke of
Wellington. He’s a fun character to inspect. He wasn’t exactly impoverished.
His father was the 1st Earl of Mornington over in Ireland. He was
actually born in Dublin but attended Eton. However, he was the third surviving
of five sons. So, he was one of those unfortunates who had to make his own way
in the world as he had no entitlement and his family didn’t have much money.
Thus he entered a career in the army. He rose quickly
through the ranks in successive battles across the globe, becoming field
marshal in 1813 following the Battle of Vittoria. By the end of his military
career he had actively taken part in 60 battles. Crikey!
He was awarded many titles and honours, including:
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1805 – Knight of The Order of Bath
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1807 – Privy Councilor
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1809 – Baron Duoro
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1812 – Earl & Marquess of Wellington
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1814 – Marquess Duoro & Duke of Wellington
When he died in 1852 his body was laid to rest next to
Nelson in St Paul’s Cathedral.
Moving further away from my homeland, trouble was still
brewing ‘across the pond’.
The War of1812 in Canada saw the British trying to fight of the Yanks who were trying
to take over Canada. I shan’t go into too many details. There’s lots of info
around should you wish to explore.
Incidentally, travelling over to Canada was a trifle rough.
The steam ships were just about to come in, but hadn’t quite yet. So, travel
was largely via sailing packets. Most ships left Liverpool and took around 35 days to reach their
destination. Eurgh!
OK, enough violence. I don’t like it! I’ll leave you to find
more information if you need to. I may have to go and watch Sean Bean playing
Sharpe to console myself!
Always in love and
light,
TLFar pleasanter things than war are to be found in the pages of Regency Love
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