Sunday, 25 August 2019

Regency England Research - post 15 - WAR; Peninsular Wars and Canadian


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:

v  1745- Jacobite Rising
v  1756-1763 – Seven Years’ War
v  1775 – 1783 – American War of Independence
v  1792 – 1802 – French Revolutionary Wars
v  1803 – 1815 – Napoleonic Wars
v  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:
v  1789 – Revolution broke out
v  1792 – Revolutionary Wars began – this saw the execution of Louis XVI and the Reign of Terror by Jacobins
v  1795 – Rise of Napoleon (who actually brought in some pretty sound policies tbh)
v  1799 – Napoleon was defeated
v  1804 – Napoleon became emperor
v  1813 – Napoleon lost the Battle of Nations
v  1815 – Battle of Waterloo – The Restoration of Bourbon kings, Louis XVIII & Charles X
v  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:
v  1805 – Knight of The Order of Bath
v  1807 – Privy Councilor
v  1809 – Baron Duoro
v  1812 – Earl & Marquess of Wellington
v  1814 – Marquess Duoro & Duke of Wellington
v  Wellington boots got named after him...!
He became prime minister in 1828 until 1830.

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,
TL
Far pleasanter things than war are to be found in the pages of Regency Love






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