This paper is a brief history of the Duchy of Arenberg and the three family members who fought or... more This paper is a brief history of the Duchy of Arenberg and the three family members who fought or held officer rank rank during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1789-1792. It was published on the Napoleon Series website between December 2017 and February 2018.
This paper combines a very short history of the Anhalt Principalities and 29 biographies of the D... more This paper combines a very short history of the Anhalt Principalities and 29 biographies of the Dukes, Princes and other officers from the territories who fought in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1789-1815.
The attack on Canada in 1866 by 19th Century Irish republican revolutionaries, formed part of the... more The attack on Canada in 1866 by 19th Century Irish republican revolutionaries, formed part of their strategy to liberate Ireland from the yoke of British rule. What was unique about the venture was that it was the first attempt made outside of Ireland to accomplish this aim. This was because previous attempts within Ireland, both by political and violent means, had ended in failure. Here we will explore what the fenian movement was in Ireland and the United States, giving a brief history of the group's formation and the aims of it's leaders. A narrative of the invasion of Canada follows, with a concluding section examining why the invasion failed, and the consequences on the movement in later years. WHO WERE THE FENIANS The fenian movement was born out of the failed attempts by Irish parliamentarian Daniel O'Connell to have the Act of Union repealed, thus creating an independent Ireland by political methods. O'Connell had been elected to parliament in 1828 and had early success, when, in 1829, the Roman Catholic Relief Act was passed, which repealed the Penal Laws introduced in the 17th century. He worked tirelessly to fulfil his ambitions but was defeated at every turn. 1 Unfortunately for O'Connell, the tragedy of the Great Famine struck in 1845. During the course of this humanitarian disaster about 2.5 million Irish people were killed by starvation or emigrated abroad to escape. The perceived indifference of the British government to their suffering created a rebellious fervour within the country. Because of this, many of O'Connell's supporters became militant and turned away from his political philosophy. One such man was William S. O'Brien who formed the Young Ireland movement. To pre-empt any form of dissidence among the populace, Habeas Corpus was suspended in June 1848 by the British authorities. This gave O'Brien his chance, and he took it. In July he staged a "revolution", known as the Young Ireland Revolt of 1848, which ended in total disaster. 2 One result of this failure was that many of the leading participants of the revolt had to flee the country. Two of these were James Stephens and John O'Mahony, who made their way to Paris, France. In the city they lodged together and formed a close friendship which lasted until the death of O'Mahony in 1877. While in the city they formed their ideas for Ireland's future with other revolutionaries from Germany, Hungary and Italy, where similar attempted revolutions had taken place that year. After Louis Napoleon took the thrown of France in December 1851, they had to leave the country because of his repression of the republican opposition. Stephens returned to Ireland in 1855 to test the revolutionary sentiment there, while O'Mahony went to New York in 1854 to find support among Irish emigrants. Through their letters they agreed, in 1858, to form two partner organisations to further their aims of an emancipated Ireland. Stephens created the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) in Dublin and O'Mahony the Fenian Brotherhood (FB) in New York. 3 From the beginning both organisations had a large amount of support. In America, O'Mahony had no problem finding willing Irishmen, because, 'England had filled the western continent with an Irish population burning for vengeance upon the power that had hunted them from their own land.' However, not all Irish-Americans viewed the Fenian Brotherhood so favourably. The group was vilified in the New York press, and even a Roman Catholic Irish Bishop in the city was reported to have said that hell was not hot enough to punish them sufficiently. More generally during the second half of the 19th Century and the early 20th Century, historians described both organisations as being "Catholic Terrorists". However, later and modern historians see the groups as being "Catholic Republicans", who only used violence sporadically to further their aims. Then, in 1861, the American Civil War began, and the Irish-American population went to war. This had the effect of delaying the long-planned and hoped for invasion of Ireland, but, on the other hand, it did create a well trained army for the purpose. Indeed, at the 1863 Fenian convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, a speech was drafted directed at the people of Ireland which centred on this point: 'Here we have soldiers armed and trained (thousands of them trained in the tented field, and amid the smoke and thunders of battle), with able and experienced generals to lead them. Let the cities and towns and parishes of Ireland have their brigades, regiments, battalions, and companies of partially disciplined soldiers of liberty silently enrolled.' 4 A PLAN TO INVADE CANADA Canada only became the target for invasion during the autumn of 1865. Up until this point only a direct invasion of Ireland in support of a Stephens-led rebellion had been considered. However, this changed just after the Civil War ended, because Stephens launched his rebellion -'The Movement of 1865' -and it ended like all those preceding it: in failure. To support Stephens, O'Mahony had sent a small ship called the 'Erin's Hope'
In the March 1996 issue of History Today, John Talbott wrote: "The evidence bearing on combat tra... more In the March 1996 issue of History Today, John Talbott wrote: "The evidence bearing on combat trauma in the Civil War is anecdotal, ambiguous, and fragmentary." Talbott goes on to say that the only evidence available to trace Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the American Civil War was from personal letters and diaries. He suggests that there is no 'official' documentation -from government or hospital recordsto show clinical proof that PTSD affected Union and Confederate veterans. This view is no longer valid. Since Talbott's article was published nearly twenty years ago, a handful of historians have dug deep to uncover more about this little investigated subject. They have revealed, in fact, that there is a large amount of evidence to show that PTSD did indeed exist in the mid-nineteenth century. Here we will examine what kinds of trauma caused soldiers to have mental breakdowns; whether or not the medical profession of the period recognised and treated the condition; and what life was like for the affected veterans after the close of the Civil War. 1 "Every man has his breaking point" In the aftermath of the Second World War, medical psychiatry had learned that "every man has his breaking point". Even with screening procedures in place, the United States military had discovered that environmental stress, such as the exposure to the horrors of battle, could cause even the most physically fit recruit to suffer mental implosions. This led the military to introduce certain measures which recognised that relief periods from the front lines was essential for the mental wellbeing of American soldiers. We still use this system today. Currently British troops serve six-month tours of duty in Afghanistan, within which they only spend a limited amount of time in front-line out-posts, before returning to larger and more secure bases such as Camp Bastion. 2 The first situation which could cause trauma was the daily hardships that new recruits experienced. Most of the men who volunteered to fight in the Civil War had lived and worked on rural farms, and had therefore had a degree of independence while still enjoying close ties to their families. The military establishment quickly took these away, with strict discipline and only intermittent contact with family through letters. R. Gregory Lande writes in his article 'Felo De Se: Soldier Suicides in America's Civil War' in the journal Military Medicine, that: "The…rigors and boredom of camp life intermingled with the horrors of war [and] in time, the nostalgia for home slowly took hold", and led to depression and suicide. Even the act of marching could cause trauma, because military surgeons did not recognise the need for soldiers to keep themselves hydrated. This led to thousands of cases of heat-stroke, where soldiers would collapse from the marching ranks from exhaustion. In the most serious cases they would go into an epileptic-like fit and die.
Self-published by the Author via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Feb 2013
a child he attended the local schools in the surrounding area, where it was found that he had a t... more a child he attended the local schools in the surrounding area, where it was found that he had a talent for writing, and an adventurous spirit and personality. In 1855, at the age of eighteen, he decided to leave England and stepped aboard a transatlantic steamer bound for the United States of America. 1 When he arrived in America Cussons made his way westward, spending the next four years living a life of adventure and incident. For part of this period he would live among the Sioux Native American Indians of the Great Plains; where he no doubt found his future love of hunting wild game. There is also some very tenuous and circumstantial evidence to suggest that Cussons may have lived in California for a time, mining for gold. In 1859 Cussons slowly drifted south-eastwards and settled in the town of Selma, Alabama, on the north bank of the Alabama River. It was here that his writing abilities found him employment; first as a writer and editor, and then, at the young age of twentytwo, as the co-owner of the Selma Reporter, more journal than a weekly newspaper. 2 At the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861, Cussons decided to throw in his lot with the breakaway Confederacy, even though he was no supporter of secession. He was twenty-three years of age and physically very handsome, but imposing, being over six feet tall with a lean and muscular body. Cussons' hair was long and curly, brushed behind his ears and reached to his shoulders, and was light brown in colour. He had a large bushy moustache and a chin beard which reached to the top of his chest. A short time after his adopted state seceded Cussons enlisted in an infantry company known as the Governor's Guard, which had originally been raised in late 1860. When the company was on the cars bound for Virginia it was halted in Dalton, Georgia, where it was officially mustered into Confederate service as Company A of the Fourth Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment on May 2. 3 Upon its arrival in Virginia the Fourth Alabama was sent north to Harper's Ferry which had been the location of a military arsenal. Here it became part of Brigadier General Barnard E. Bee's brigade, along with the Second and Eleventh Mississippi, First Tennessee, and Sixth North Carolina. The brigade would form the Third Brigade of General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of the Valley. It was during the last weeks of June and early July that Bee first recognised that Cussons had panache for performing scout duties. Cussons did not get that many chances to show his skills however, because Johnston moved his army by rail to Manassas Junction to reinforce General Pierre G. T. Beauregard's Army of the Potomac. Bee's brigade arrived on the afternoon of July 19. On July 21 Cussons took part in the Battle of First Manassas. The Fourth Alabama first helped to delay the Union advance along the Manassas-Sudley Springs Road, where Bee reinforced Colonel Nathan G. Evans' brigade near Matthews Hill during the early morning. After some hard fighting in the shallow valley northeast of Buck Hill, Bee and Evans were forced to withdraw under fire to Henry House Hill, where Colonel Thomas Jackson's Virginia brigade was drawn up in line of battle. Trying desperately to rally his men Beewho Cussons would have seen and heard in the confusionpointed his sword at Jackson's men and shouted: "Look at Jackson's brigade! It stands there like a stone wall." Bee, however, was almost immediately struck down, mortally wounded, and carried to the rear; while his brigade and Cussons dissolved, scurrying to seek shelter in the trees behind the men of Jackson. Having lost all of their field officers, the men of the Fourth Alabama huddled together in the trees until both Johnston and Beauregard rode up to take charge of the crisis. Putting Colonel States Rights Gist, a staff officer of Bee's, at the head of the Alabamians, the two generals rode out from the trees to the right of Jackson's brigade "with the colors of the 4 th Alabama by our [their[ side," and formed the regiment into line. For the rest of the day the men of the Fourth Alabama helped to repulse every Federal attempt to break the Confederate line, until the Federals themselves were broken and chased from the field in the late afternoon. 4 Following the victory at First Manassas the Fourth Alabama and the rest of Bee's brigade followed the retreating Federals to the vicinity of Alexandria and Washington D. C. In November Brigadier General William H. C. Whiting, a favourite officer of Johnston's and who had been his chief engineer, was appointed permanent commander of the brigade. Cussons would spend the winter encamped around the town of Dumfries in Prince William County. Over the winter period Cussons and a handful of other men from the Governor's Guard, seriously considered becoming the owners of a ship to run the Union blockade. On March 6, 1862, from "Camp Alabama", they wrote to Secretary of the Confederate Navy Stephen R. Mallory, briefly outlining their plans. Through a middle man in either Charleston, South Carolina, New Orleans, Louisiana, or Liverpool in Britain; they said they would purchase a ship which was: "a fast sailing hermaphrodite [a small brig or brigantine], or full rig brig, carrying auxiliary crew, and some five or six hundred tons burthen; armament to consist of one 64 rifled, mounted on pivot 'midships, and four brass 24-punders, rifled; crew, say 60 men and 20 marines." To procure the ship they had managed to scrape together between $90,000 and $100,000. The group was unsure however as to whether the British government would allow an armed vessel to be built in England, and wanted to know if a letter of marque could be granted by the government in Richmond. On March 17 William M. Browne, one of Mallory's civil servants, wrote back answering their questions. He said that he did not know if the sum quoted was enough; that a letter of marque would not be granted until a ship had been brought; and the British government would not allow an armed shipat that timeto sail from their ports as a privateer. This answer ended their hopes of conquering the high seas. 5 In March and April the army was ordered to withdraw from its positions near Alexandria back toward Richmond, in order to reinforce the small 'army' of Major General John B. Magruder. Cussons and the rest of the brigade actually ended up being posted to the town of Norfolk, the main naval base and shipyard of the Confederacy, on the Elizabeth River and close to Hampton Roads. When the first week of May came Johnston decided to abandon the positions his army had been occupying around the town of Yorktown and along the Warwick River. Colonel Evander M. Lawwho had temporary command of the brigade because Whiting was now in divisional command, forming part of Major General Gustavus W. Smith's reserve corpswas ordered to concentrate at the small town of Barhamsville on the Peninsula east of Richmond, along with the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia. At midday on May 6, Whiting received information from Smith which stated that a Federal flotilla was landing troops at Eltham's Landing, opposite West Point on the Pamunkey River. Whiting's orders were to observe their movements without engaging them. Whiting later reported that he believed the transports, protected by gunboats, "contain[ed] from twelve to sixteen regiments [of infantry]"; he was correct in his assertion because the force was in fact a whole division. Soon after landing the Federals threw out skirmishers into the woods lining the river and formed a defensive cordon, which was strengthened throughout the remainder of the day. 6 During the early evening Whiting seems to have wanted to gather more information about the Federal detachment, and asked Cussons to scout their dispositions. Cussons and another man, First Sergeant William Hartley of Company Iwho had been a surveyor before the war and was originally from Connecticutwere well known and liked within the Fourth Alabama, and were "well fitted, by some experience of Frontier life" to the profession of scouting. Venturing out from Whiting's lines on the cloudless night of May 6, they managed to evade the Federal sentries and skirmish line in the woods to reach a good vantage point on the elevated south bank of the river. From this position, and within a few hundred yards of the enemy camp, Cussons and Hartley surveyed the strengths and weaknesses of the Federal positions, while estimating the strength of their infantry, artillery, and naval forces. 7 Having observed the camp for half an hour, Cussons and Hartley decided to try and get within earshot of the Federal soldiers. To do this they had to double back through the woods. Quietly creeping through the undergrowth they heard a sharp "click" just ahead of them, and the faint outline of four men appeared. Weighing up their uncomfortable predicament after being asked to identify themselves, Cussons demanded that the four Federals should surrender. The Federals instantly raised their muskets and fired. A short second or two later Cussons and Hartley fired their weapons. Hartley was hit and mortally wounded during this exchange and soon breathed his last breath, along with two of the Unionists. The pickets from the next post along came running having heard the musket fire and Cussons shot down the lead soldier, after which the other three fled. The two men remaining from the first picket were hiding behind a large thick tree, so Cussons took the opportunity to withdraw a short distance. Lying on his stomach in the darkness, Cussons heard Federal officers organising patrols to search the area for him. It was so dark among the tall trees however that these patrols walked straight past his prone form. Managing to get clear of the Federal pickets, Cussons quickly made his way south-west back to his own picket line, and gave his information to Whiting during the pre-dawn hours of May 7. 8 Shortly after having received...
Self published by the Author via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Oct 2012
Secret Service. This group of about 60 scouts was responsible for gathering intelligence and disr... more Secret Service. This group of about 60 scouts was responsible for gathering intelligence and disrupting the activities of Confederate guerrillas in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. To command this group of men Sheridan chose a young Major named Henry H. Young. Young was just 22 years of age when he became Sheridan's Chief of Scouts. This is his story of service for the Union cause, for which he would make the ultimate sacrifice. Henry Harrison Young was born and raised in the state capital of Rhode Island, the city of Providence. At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 Young was a "pale", "office-stamped", bookish schoolboy of about nineteen, who had a part-time job as a book keeper at Lippitt & Martin's. He had short black hair, a square jaw framed with thin wispy sideburns which met under his chin, a serious face, but a mischievous sense of humour. Physically he was also no soldier, being just five feet five inches in height and slender in his build. This meant, that when he did lead his men into battle, "it seemed that a child had come to lead them." 1 However, Young was very patriotic and "full of fire and energy". So with President Abraham Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers, he began to ride through the Blackstone Valley urging Rhode Islanders' to volunteer. He travelled through the Blackstone in a small chaise, driven by his young sister. She was a "solemn-eyed little girl of ten, [who] breathlessly watching brother Henry as he talks, watching him to the forgetting of the horse she holds, and the place her finger marks for him in the book of Military Tactics." It was after one of these days of riding and public speaking in the villages of the Blackstone Valley, that Young, along with the 63 men he had persuaded to volunteer, went to volunteer himself. 2 He chose to enlist in the 2 nd Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry Regiment. But Rhode Island's quota for volunteers had already been filled, so Young and all his volunteers were turned away. However, this act of patriotism made such an impression on the 2 nd Rhode Island's commander, Colonel John S. Slocum, that when a Second Lieutenants commission became available, Slocum immediately sent for Young. Upon seeing Young for the first time, Captain John Wright of Company B, Young's commanding officer, remarked that, "He will be flat on his back after the first march! What does that young man expect to do in the army?" It would be Wright though, who would be proven wrong not once, but twice, in quick succession. 3 The 2 nd Rhode Island was mustered into Union service in the first week of June, 1861. The regiment was then assigned the Dexter Grounds, now the Dexter Training Ground Park in Providence, as its encampment and drilling ground. Unfortunately for some men of the regiment, there were not enough Sibley tents to go around, which meant they had to find alternative quarters. One of the companies affected by this was Company B: giving Young his first opportunity to prove himself during the war, and prove Captain Wright wrong. 4 Wandering into a deserted, cold building with no beds and only a hard floor to sleep on, the men of Company B became disgruntled, and even mutinous, at the prospect of an uncomfortable night's sleep. Young, perceptively reading the situation "at a glance", chose to forego the comfort of the officers' rooms, and decided to sleep side-by-side with his men. Turing to these men, he said "It's about time to turn in, boys", spreading his thin blanket on the floor and wrapping himself in his jacket. Once lying on the floor he cheerfully called again, "Lie right down", whereupon the men "abashed, yet pleased and touched withal, lay down good-humo[u]rdly about him." 5 Completing some very basic and rudimentary training in the art of war, Young and the rest of the regiment were sent to Washington D. C., where they arrived in the third week of June. In Washington they continued to perfect their skills and were brigaded with the 1 st Rhode Island, 2 nd New Hampshire and the 71 st New York, in a brigade commanded by Colonel Ambrose Burnside. Only four weeks later Young would fight in his first battle, the Battle of First Bull Run July 21, 1861. Here, he and his regiment would lead the Army of Northeastern Virginia's turning movement against the Rebel positions along Bull Run Creek. One person who would not fight that day was Captain John Wright, who was "flat on his back" having fallen ill in Washington, along with the First Lieutenant of the company. At Bull Run then, it would be the short and slender nineteen year old Young who would lead Company B into its first trial by fire. 6
GLORY IS FLEETING: New Scholarship on the Napoleonic Wars (Ed. Dr Andrew Bamford)
Napoleon is su... more GLORY IS FLEETING: New Scholarship on the Napoleonic Wars (Ed. Dr Andrew Bamford)
Napoleon is supposed to have said, ‘glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever’, but this collection of essays both revisits some of the most glorious episodes of the Napoleonic Wars and rescues from obscurity some fascinating but overlooked episodes For over 20 years the Napoleon Series website and forum have functioned as a major hub for the international community of Napoleonic scholars. This book was commissioned with the support of Napoleon Series editor, and distinguished Napoleonic scholar, Robert Burnham and the writing team are all contributors to the website. The chapters cover topics ranging across the European conflict from 1805 to 1814. There is material here on the armies of France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria as well as some of the smaller German states and the single British unit to play a part in the Battle of Leipzig.
1: 'We Endured a Lot, Suffered a Lot': The Anhalt Duchies during the Napoleonic Wars 1804–1814 - Daniel Clarke
2: That Other Battle in 1805: Second Caldiero - David Hollins
3: The Prussian Light Infantry in 1806 - Hans-Karl Weiss
4: The Pursuit After Jena - Kevin Kiley
5: A Poor Place to Fight a War: Franco-Italian Operations in the Tyrol 1809 - John H. Gill
6: Maucune's Division at Salamanca - Garry David Wills
7: Rockets at Leipzig – The British Contribution to the 'Battle of Nations' October 1813 - Guy Dempsey
This paper is a brief history of the Duchy of Arenberg and the three family members who fought or... more This paper is a brief history of the Duchy of Arenberg and the three family members who fought or held officer rank rank during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1789-1792. It was published on the Napoleon Series website between December 2017 and February 2018.
This paper combines a very short history of the Anhalt Principalities and 29 biographies of the D... more This paper combines a very short history of the Anhalt Principalities and 29 biographies of the Dukes, Princes and other officers from the territories who fought in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1789-1815.
The attack on Canada in 1866 by 19th Century Irish republican revolutionaries, formed part of the... more The attack on Canada in 1866 by 19th Century Irish republican revolutionaries, formed part of their strategy to liberate Ireland from the yoke of British rule. What was unique about the venture was that it was the first attempt made outside of Ireland to accomplish this aim. This was because previous attempts within Ireland, both by political and violent means, had ended in failure. Here we will explore what the fenian movement was in Ireland and the United States, giving a brief history of the group's formation and the aims of it's leaders. A narrative of the invasion of Canada follows, with a concluding section examining why the invasion failed, and the consequences on the movement in later years. WHO WERE THE FENIANS The fenian movement was born out of the failed attempts by Irish parliamentarian Daniel O'Connell to have the Act of Union repealed, thus creating an independent Ireland by political methods. O'Connell had been elected to parliament in 1828 and had early success, when, in 1829, the Roman Catholic Relief Act was passed, which repealed the Penal Laws introduced in the 17th century. He worked tirelessly to fulfil his ambitions but was defeated at every turn. 1 Unfortunately for O'Connell, the tragedy of the Great Famine struck in 1845. During the course of this humanitarian disaster about 2.5 million Irish people were killed by starvation or emigrated abroad to escape. The perceived indifference of the British government to their suffering created a rebellious fervour within the country. Because of this, many of O'Connell's supporters became militant and turned away from his political philosophy. One such man was William S. O'Brien who formed the Young Ireland movement. To pre-empt any form of dissidence among the populace, Habeas Corpus was suspended in June 1848 by the British authorities. This gave O'Brien his chance, and he took it. In July he staged a "revolution", known as the Young Ireland Revolt of 1848, which ended in total disaster. 2 One result of this failure was that many of the leading participants of the revolt had to flee the country. Two of these were James Stephens and John O'Mahony, who made their way to Paris, France. In the city they lodged together and formed a close friendship which lasted until the death of O'Mahony in 1877. While in the city they formed their ideas for Ireland's future with other revolutionaries from Germany, Hungary and Italy, where similar attempted revolutions had taken place that year. After Louis Napoleon took the thrown of France in December 1851, they had to leave the country because of his repression of the republican opposition. Stephens returned to Ireland in 1855 to test the revolutionary sentiment there, while O'Mahony went to New York in 1854 to find support among Irish emigrants. Through their letters they agreed, in 1858, to form two partner organisations to further their aims of an emancipated Ireland. Stephens created the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) in Dublin and O'Mahony the Fenian Brotherhood (FB) in New York. 3 From the beginning both organisations had a large amount of support. In America, O'Mahony had no problem finding willing Irishmen, because, 'England had filled the western continent with an Irish population burning for vengeance upon the power that had hunted them from their own land.' However, not all Irish-Americans viewed the Fenian Brotherhood so favourably. The group was vilified in the New York press, and even a Roman Catholic Irish Bishop in the city was reported to have said that hell was not hot enough to punish them sufficiently. More generally during the second half of the 19th Century and the early 20th Century, historians described both organisations as being "Catholic Terrorists". However, later and modern historians see the groups as being "Catholic Republicans", who only used violence sporadically to further their aims. Then, in 1861, the American Civil War began, and the Irish-American population went to war. This had the effect of delaying the long-planned and hoped for invasion of Ireland, but, on the other hand, it did create a well trained army for the purpose. Indeed, at the 1863 Fenian convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, a speech was drafted directed at the people of Ireland which centred on this point: 'Here we have soldiers armed and trained (thousands of them trained in the tented field, and amid the smoke and thunders of battle), with able and experienced generals to lead them. Let the cities and towns and parishes of Ireland have their brigades, regiments, battalions, and companies of partially disciplined soldiers of liberty silently enrolled.' 4 A PLAN TO INVADE CANADA Canada only became the target for invasion during the autumn of 1865. Up until this point only a direct invasion of Ireland in support of a Stephens-led rebellion had been considered. However, this changed just after the Civil War ended, because Stephens launched his rebellion -'The Movement of 1865' -and it ended like all those preceding it: in failure. To support Stephens, O'Mahony had sent a small ship called the 'Erin's Hope'
In the March 1996 issue of History Today, John Talbott wrote: "The evidence bearing on combat tra... more In the March 1996 issue of History Today, John Talbott wrote: "The evidence bearing on combat trauma in the Civil War is anecdotal, ambiguous, and fragmentary." Talbott goes on to say that the only evidence available to trace Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the American Civil War was from personal letters and diaries. He suggests that there is no 'official' documentation -from government or hospital recordsto show clinical proof that PTSD affected Union and Confederate veterans. This view is no longer valid. Since Talbott's article was published nearly twenty years ago, a handful of historians have dug deep to uncover more about this little investigated subject. They have revealed, in fact, that there is a large amount of evidence to show that PTSD did indeed exist in the mid-nineteenth century. Here we will examine what kinds of trauma caused soldiers to have mental breakdowns; whether or not the medical profession of the period recognised and treated the condition; and what life was like for the affected veterans after the close of the Civil War. 1 "Every man has his breaking point" In the aftermath of the Second World War, medical psychiatry had learned that "every man has his breaking point". Even with screening procedures in place, the United States military had discovered that environmental stress, such as the exposure to the horrors of battle, could cause even the most physically fit recruit to suffer mental implosions. This led the military to introduce certain measures which recognised that relief periods from the front lines was essential for the mental wellbeing of American soldiers. We still use this system today. Currently British troops serve six-month tours of duty in Afghanistan, within which they only spend a limited amount of time in front-line out-posts, before returning to larger and more secure bases such as Camp Bastion. 2 The first situation which could cause trauma was the daily hardships that new recruits experienced. Most of the men who volunteered to fight in the Civil War had lived and worked on rural farms, and had therefore had a degree of independence while still enjoying close ties to their families. The military establishment quickly took these away, with strict discipline and only intermittent contact with family through letters. R. Gregory Lande writes in his article 'Felo De Se: Soldier Suicides in America's Civil War' in the journal Military Medicine, that: "The…rigors and boredom of camp life intermingled with the horrors of war [and] in time, the nostalgia for home slowly took hold", and led to depression and suicide. Even the act of marching could cause trauma, because military surgeons did not recognise the need for soldiers to keep themselves hydrated. This led to thousands of cases of heat-stroke, where soldiers would collapse from the marching ranks from exhaustion. In the most serious cases they would go into an epileptic-like fit and die.
Self-published by the Author via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Feb 2013
a child he attended the local schools in the surrounding area, where it was found that he had a t... more a child he attended the local schools in the surrounding area, where it was found that he had a talent for writing, and an adventurous spirit and personality. In 1855, at the age of eighteen, he decided to leave England and stepped aboard a transatlantic steamer bound for the United States of America. 1 When he arrived in America Cussons made his way westward, spending the next four years living a life of adventure and incident. For part of this period he would live among the Sioux Native American Indians of the Great Plains; where he no doubt found his future love of hunting wild game. There is also some very tenuous and circumstantial evidence to suggest that Cussons may have lived in California for a time, mining for gold. In 1859 Cussons slowly drifted south-eastwards and settled in the town of Selma, Alabama, on the north bank of the Alabama River. It was here that his writing abilities found him employment; first as a writer and editor, and then, at the young age of twentytwo, as the co-owner of the Selma Reporter, more journal than a weekly newspaper. 2 At the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861, Cussons decided to throw in his lot with the breakaway Confederacy, even though he was no supporter of secession. He was twenty-three years of age and physically very handsome, but imposing, being over six feet tall with a lean and muscular body. Cussons' hair was long and curly, brushed behind his ears and reached to his shoulders, and was light brown in colour. He had a large bushy moustache and a chin beard which reached to the top of his chest. A short time after his adopted state seceded Cussons enlisted in an infantry company known as the Governor's Guard, which had originally been raised in late 1860. When the company was on the cars bound for Virginia it was halted in Dalton, Georgia, where it was officially mustered into Confederate service as Company A of the Fourth Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment on May 2. 3 Upon its arrival in Virginia the Fourth Alabama was sent north to Harper's Ferry which had been the location of a military arsenal. Here it became part of Brigadier General Barnard E. Bee's brigade, along with the Second and Eleventh Mississippi, First Tennessee, and Sixth North Carolina. The brigade would form the Third Brigade of General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of the Valley. It was during the last weeks of June and early July that Bee first recognised that Cussons had panache for performing scout duties. Cussons did not get that many chances to show his skills however, because Johnston moved his army by rail to Manassas Junction to reinforce General Pierre G. T. Beauregard's Army of the Potomac. Bee's brigade arrived on the afternoon of July 19. On July 21 Cussons took part in the Battle of First Manassas. The Fourth Alabama first helped to delay the Union advance along the Manassas-Sudley Springs Road, where Bee reinforced Colonel Nathan G. Evans' brigade near Matthews Hill during the early morning. After some hard fighting in the shallow valley northeast of Buck Hill, Bee and Evans were forced to withdraw under fire to Henry House Hill, where Colonel Thomas Jackson's Virginia brigade was drawn up in line of battle. Trying desperately to rally his men Beewho Cussons would have seen and heard in the confusionpointed his sword at Jackson's men and shouted: "Look at Jackson's brigade! It stands there like a stone wall." Bee, however, was almost immediately struck down, mortally wounded, and carried to the rear; while his brigade and Cussons dissolved, scurrying to seek shelter in the trees behind the men of Jackson. Having lost all of their field officers, the men of the Fourth Alabama huddled together in the trees until both Johnston and Beauregard rode up to take charge of the crisis. Putting Colonel States Rights Gist, a staff officer of Bee's, at the head of the Alabamians, the two generals rode out from the trees to the right of Jackson's brigade "with the colors of the 4 th Alabama by our [their[ side," and formed the regiment into line. For the rest of the day the men of the Fourth Alabama helped to repulse every Federal attempt to break the Confederate line, until the Federals themselves were broken and chased from the field in the late afternoon. 4 Following the victory at First Manassas the Fourth Alabama and the rest of Bee's brigade followed the retreating Federals to the vicinity of Alexandria and Washington D. C. In November Brigadier General William H. C. Whiting, a favourite officer of Johnston's and who had been his chief engineer, was appointed permanent commander of the brigade. Cussons would spend the winter encamped around the town of Dumfries in Prince William County. Over the winter period Cussons and a handful of other men from the Governor's Guard, seriously considered becoming the owners of a ship to run the Union blockade. On March 6, 1862, from "Camp Alabama", they wrote to Secretary of the Confederate Navy Stephen R. Mallory, briefly outlining their plans. Through a middle man in either Charleston, South Carolina, New Orleans, Louisiana, or Liverpool in Britain; they said they would purchase a ship which was: "a fast sailing hermaphrodite [a small brig or brigantine], or full rig brig, carrying auxiliary crew, and some five or six hundred tons burthen; armament to consist of one 64 rifled, mounted on pivot 'midships, and four brass 24-punders, rifled; crew, say 60 men and 20 marines." To procure the ship they had managed to scrape together between $90,000 and $100,000. The group was unsure however as to whether the British government would allow an armed vessel to be built in England, and wanted to know if a letter of marque could be granted by the government in Richmond. On March 17 William M. Browne, one of Mallory's civil servants, wrote back answering their questions. He said that he did not know if the sum quoted was enough; that a letter of marque would not be granted until a ship had been brought; and the British government would not allow an armed shipat that timeto sail from their ports as a privateer. This answer ended their hopes of conquering the high seas. 5 In March and April the army was ordered to withdraw from its positions near Alexandria back toward Richmond, in order to reinforce the small 'army' of Major General John B. Magruder. Cussons and the rest of the brigade actually ended up being posted to the town of Norfolk, the main naval base and shipyard of the Confederacy, on the Elizabeth River and close to Hampton Roads. When the first week of May came Johnston decided to abandon the positions his army had been occupying around the town of Yorktown and along the Warwick River. Colonel Evander M. Lawwho had temporary command of the brigade because Whiting was now in divisional command, forming part of Major General Gustavus W. Smith's reserve corpswas ordered to concentrate at the small town of Barhamsville on the Peninsula east of Richmond, along with the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia. At midday on May 6, Whiting received information from Smith which stated that a Federal flotilla was landing troops at Eltham's Landing, opposite West Point on the Pamunkey River. Whiting's orders were to observe their movements without engaging them. Whiting later reported that he believed the transports, protected by gunboats, "contain[ed] from twelve to sixteen regiments [of infantry]"; he was correct in his assertion because the force was in fact a whole division. Soon after landing the Federals threw out skirmishers into the woods lining the river and formed a defensive cordon, which was strengthened throughout the remainder of the day. 6 During the early evening Whiting seems to have wanted to gather more information about the Federal detachment, and asked Cussons to scout their dispositions. Cussons and another man, First Sergeant William Hartley of Company Iwho had been a surveyor before the war and was originally from Connecticutwere well known and liked within the Fourth Alabama, and were "well fitted, by some experience of Frontier life" to the profession of scouting. Venturing out from Whiting's lines on the cloudless night of May 6, they managed to evade the Federal sentries and skirmish line in the woods to reach a good vantage point on the elevated south bank of the river. From this position, and within a few hundred yards of the enemy camp, Cussons and Hartley surveyed the strengths and weaknesses of the Federal positions, while estimating the strength of their infantry, artillery, and naval forces. 7 Having observed the camp for half an hour, Cussons and Hartley decided to try and get within earshot of the Federal soldiers. To do this they had to double back through the woods. Quietly creeping through the undergrowth they heard a sharp "click" just ahead of them, and the faint outline of four men appeared. Weighing up their uncomfortable predicament after being asked to identify themselves, Cussons demanded that the four Federals should surrender. The Federals instantly raised their muskets and fired. A short second or two later Cussons and Hartley fired their weapons. Hartley was hit and mortally wounded during this exchange and soon breathed his last breath, along with two of the Unionists. The pickets from the next post along came running having heard the musket fire and Cussons shot down the lead soldier, after which the other three fled. The two men remaining from the first picket were hiding behind a large thick tree, so Cussons took the opportunity to withdraw a short distance. Lying on his stomach in the darkness, Cussons heard Federal officers organising patrols to search the area for him. It was so dark among the tall trees however that these patrols walked straight past his prone form. Managing to get clear of the Federal pickets, Cussons quickly made his way south-west back to his own picket line, and gave his information to Whiting during the pre-dawn hours of May 7. 8 Shortly after having received...
Self published by the Author via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Oct 2012
Secret Service. This group of about 60 scouts was responsible for gathering intelligence and disr... more Secret Service. This group of about 60 scouts was responsible for gathering intelligence and disrupting the activities of Confederate guerrillas in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. To command this group of men Sheridan chose a young Major named Henry H. Young. Young was just 22 years of age when he became Sheridan's Chief of Scouts. This is his story of service for the Union cause, for which he would make the ultimate sacrifice. Henry Harrison Young was born and raised in the state capital of Rhode Island, the city of Providence. At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 Young was a "pale", "office-stamped", bookish schoolboy of about nineteen, who had a part-time job as a book keeper at Lippitt & Martin's. He had short black hair, a square jaw framed with thin wispy sideburns which met under his chin, a serious face, but a mischievous sense of humour. Physically he was also no soldier, being just five feet five inches in height and slender in his build. This meant, that when he did lead his men into battle, "it seemed that a child had come to lead them." 1 However, Young was very patriotic and "full of fire and energy". So with President Abraham Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers, he began to ride through the Blackstone Valley urging Rhode Islanders' to volunteer. He travelled through the Blackstone in a small chaise, driven by his young sister. She was a "solemn-eyed little girl of ten, [who] breathlessly watching brother Henry as he talks, watching him to the forgetting of the horse she holds, and the place her finger marks for him in the book of Military Tactics." It was after one of these days of riding and public speaking in the villages of the Blackstone Valley, that Young, along with the 63 men he had persuaded to volunteer, went to volunteer himself. 2 He chose to enlist in the 2 nd Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry Regiment. But Rhode Island's quota for volunteers had already been filled, so Young and all his volunteers were turned away. However, this act of patriotism made such an impression on the 2 nd Rhode Island's commander, Colonel John S. Slocum, that when a Second Lieutenants commission became available, Slocum immediately sent for Young. Upon seeing Young for the first time, Captain John Wright of Company B, Young's commanding officer, remarked that, "He will be flat on his back after the first march! What does that young man expect to do in the army?" It would be Wright though, who would be proven wrong not once, but twice, in quick succession. 3 The 2 nd Rhode Island was mustered into Union service in the first week of June, 1861. The regiment was then assigned the Dexter Grounds, now the Dexter Training Ground Park in Providence, as its encampment and drilling ground. Unfortunately for some men of the regiment, there were not enough Sibley tents to go around, which meant they had to find alternative quarters. One of the companies affected by this was Company B: giving Young his first opportunity to prove himself during the war, and prove Captain Wright wrong. 4 Wandering into a deserted, cold building with no beds and only a hard floor to sleep on, the men of Company B became disgruntled, and even mutinous, at the prospect of an uncomfortable night's sleep. Young, perceptively reading the situation "at a glance", chose to forego the comfort of the officers' rooms, and decided to sleep side-by-side with his men. Turing to these men, he said "It's about time to turn in, boys", spreading his thin blanket on the floor and wrapping himself in his jacket. Once lying on the floor he cheerfully called again, "Lie right down", whereupon the men "abashed, yet pleased and touched withal, lay down good-humo[u]rdly about him." 5 Completing some very basic and rudimentary training in the art of war, Young and the rest of the regiment were sent to Washington D. C., where they arrived in the third week of June. In Washington they continued to perfect their skills and were brigaded with the 1 st Rhode Island, 2 nd New Hampshire and the 71 st New York, in a brigade commanded by Colonel Ambrose Burnside. Only four weeks later Young would fight in his first battle, the Battle of First Bull Run July 21, 1861. Here, he and his regiment would lead the Army of Northeastern Virginia's turning movement against the Rebel positions along Bull Run Creek. One person who would not fight that day was Captain John Wright, who was "flat on his back" having fallen ill in Washington, along with the First Lieutenant of the company. At Bull Run then, it would be the short and slender nineteen year old Young who would lead Company B into its first trial by fire. 6
GLORY IS FLEETING: New Scholarship on the Napoleonic Wars (Ed. Dr Andrew Bamford)
Napoleon is su... more GLORY IS FLEETING: New Scholarship on the Napoleonic Wars (Ed. Dr Andrew Bamford)
Napoleon is supposed to have said, ‘glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever’, but this collection of essays both revisits some of the most glorious episodes of the Napoleonic Wars and rescues from obscurity some fascinating but overlooked episodes For over 20 years the Napoleon Series website and forum have functioned as a major hub for the international community of Napoleonic scholars. This book was commissioned with the support of Napoleon Series editor, and distinguished Napoleonic scholar, Robert Burnham and the writing team are all contributors to the website. The chapters cover topics ranging across the European conflict from 1805 to 1814. There is material here on the armies of France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria as well as some of the smaller German states and the single British unit to play a part in the Battle of Leipzig.
1: 'We Endured a Lot, Suffered a Lot': The Anhalt Duchies during the Napoleonic Wars 1804–1814 - Daniel Clarke
2: That Other Battle in 1805: Second Caldiero - David Hollins
3: The Prussian Light Infantry in 1806 - Hans-Karl Weiss
4: The Pursuit After Jena - Kevin Kiley
5: A Poor Place to Fight a War: Franco-Italian Operations in the Tyrol 1809 - John H. Gill
6: Maucune's Division at Salamanca - Garry David Wills
7: Rockets at Leipzig – The British Contribution to the 'Battle of Nations' October 1813 - Guy Dempsey
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Books by Daniel Clarke
Napoleon is supposed to have said, ‘glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever’, but this collection of essays both revisits some of the most glorious episodes of the Napoleonic Wars and rescues from obscurity some fascinating but overlooked episodes For over 20 years the Napoleon Series website and forum have functioned as a major hub for the international community of Napoleonic scholars. This book was commissioned with the support of Napoleon Series editor, and distinguished Napoleonic scholar, Robert Burnham and the writing team are all contributors to the website. The chapters cover topics ranging across the European conflict from 1805 to 1814. There is material here on the armies of France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria as well as some of the smaller German states and the single British unit to play a part in the Battle of Leipzig.
1: 'We Endured a Lot, Suffered a Lot': The Anhalt Duchies during the Napoleonic Wars 1804–1814 - Daniel Clarke
2: That Other Battle in 1805: Second Caldiero - David Hollins
3: The Prussian Light Infantry in 1806 - Hans-Karl Weiss
4: The Pursuit After Jena - Kevin Kiley
5: A Poor Place to Fight a War: Franco-Italian Operations in the Tyrol 1809 - John H. Gill
6: Maucune's Division at Salamanca - Garry David Wills
7: Rockets at Leipzig – The British Contribution to the 'Battle of Nations' October 1813 - Guy Dempsey
Napoleon is supposed to have said, ‘glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever’, but this collection of essays both revisits some of the most glorious episodes of the Napoleonic Wars and rescues from obscurity some fascinating but overlooked episodes For over 20 years the Napoleon Series website and forum have functioned as a major hub for the international community of Napoleonic scholars. This book was commissioned with the support of Napoleon Series editor, and distinguished Napoleonic scholar, Robert Burnham and the writing team are all contributors to the website. The chapters cover topics ranging across the European conflict from 1805 to 1814. There is material here on the armies of France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria as well as some of the smaller German states and the single British unit to play a part in the Battle of Leipzig.
1: 'We Endured a Lot, Suffered a Lot': The Anhalt Duchies during the Napoleonic Wars 1804–1814 - Daniel Clarke
2: That Other Battle in 1805: Second Caldiero - David Hollins
3: The Prussian Light Infantry in 1806 - Hans-Karl Weiss
4: The Pursuit After Jena - Kevin Kiley
5: A Poor Place to Fight a War: Franco-Italian Operations in the Tyrol 1809 - John H. Gill
6: Maucune's Division at Salamanca - Garry David Wills
7: Rockets at Leipzig – The British Contribution to the 'Battle of Nations' October 1813 - Guy Dempsey