Reminiscences Of My Military Life From 1795 To 1818

Reminiscences Of My Military Life From 1795 To 1818
Author: Lt.-Colonel Charles Steevens
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2011-07-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1908692871
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Having survived a posting to the disease ridden West Indies, the young ensign Steevens returned to Europe for further service with the XXth Regiment of Foot of the British Army, known as the “Old and Bold”. After some desultory fighting in the campaign in Holland, during which he was wounded and taken prisoner, Steevens had the good fortune to be exchanged for a Dutch officer and went back to active service. His adventures continued in Egypt and Sicily to Maida, where he was engaged with his regiment at the battle of the same name (1806). Posted to the Peninsular, Steevens was in the light company of his battalion which fought in the company of the 95th Rifles at Vimiero (1808), despite suffering from a severe illness. His command of the light company of his regiment in the 1809 campaign under Sir John Moore would be very trying for him as the army retreated to fight a rearguard action at the battle of Corunna. As part of the military policy of the British government an expedition to Holland was again sent whilst Napoleon was elsewhere engaged, Steevens had the misfortune to be one of its members, suffered depredations on the “Fever” island of Walcheren. Steevens would then be sent to the Peninsular once again to take part in the later part of the 1812 campaign doing some hard marching, until the battle of Vittoria in 1813, the debris and looting after which he gives a graphic description of. Present at the battle of Sauroren, and the siege of San Sebastian, he passes some touching anecdotes of some of his comrades who were not as lucky as he in avoiding harm during these hard-fought actions. After participating in further engagements that sent the French finally out of Spain, the later years of his soldiering were on garrison duty in Ireland. “Lieut.-Colonel Steevens received a gold medal for the actions on the Pyrenees (July 28th to August 2nd, 1813); and also the silver war medal, with seven clasps, for Egypt, Maida, Vimiera, Corunna, Vittoria, Nivelle, Nive.” A thoughtful memoir of a widely-respected soldier who saw much action during the Napoleonic Wars. Author – Charles Steevens – (1777-1861)

Reminiscences of My Military Life from 1795 to 1818 (Classic Reprint)

Reminiscences of My Military Life from 1795 to 1818 (Classic Reprint)
Author: Charles Steevens
Publisher:
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2015-09-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781330613672
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Excerpt from Reminiscences of My Military Life From 1795 to 1818 We remained at Lichfield only a short time, and about March, 1797, we marched to Liverpool, at which time I was made Lieutenant without purchase. We remained here till the summer of 1798, and then we received a route for Manchester. About this time I was sent on the recruiting service to Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. I was there a few weeks, and from thence I was sent to Bury, in the same county. I cannot forbear mentioning a circumstance that took place while I was recruiting at Bury; though it may appear of little consequence, it was not so to me. I had been in Bury about three weeks, without anyone to speak to, except the man and his wife where I lodged, who were very civil to me. Just picture to yourself a young recruiting-officer, in a small dull country town, wandering about, without any society, although daily meeting many gentlemen of the place at the reading room, only to be gazed at, (for at this time recruiting-officers always wore their uniform, ) and, perhaps, by some looked upon as a sc& for, by-the-by, the reason why I met with no civility was owing to the misconduct of the officer I relieved on the recruiting service; however, as good luck would have it, one fine morning the clergyman of the parish, who lived opposite to my lodgings and was a family man, called upon me and asked me to dine with him, an invitation I most readily and cheerfully accepted. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

British Military Spectacle

British Military Spectacle
Author: Scott Hughes Myerly
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 1996
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780674082496
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In the theater of war, how important is costume? And in peacetime, what purpose does military spectacle serve? This book takes us behind the scenes of the British military at the height of its brilliance to show us how dress and discipline helped to mold the military man and attempted to seduce the hearts and minds of a nation while serving to intimidate civil rioters in peacetime. Often ridiculed for their constrictive splendor, British army uniforms of the early nineteenth century nonetheless played a powerful role in the troops' performance on campaign, in battle, and as dramatic entertainment in peacetime. Plumbing a wide variety of military sources, most tellingly the memoirs and letters of soldiers and civilians, Scott Hughes Myerly reveals how these ornate sartorial creations, combining symbols of solidarity and inspiration, vivid color, and physical restraint, enhanced the managerial effects of rigid discipline, drill, and torturous punishments, but also helped foster regimental esprit de corps. Encouraging recruitment, enforcing discipline within the military, and boosting morale were essential but not the only functions of martial dress. Myerly also explores the role of the resplendent uniform and its associated gaudy trappings and customs during civil peace and disorder--whether employed as public relations through spectacular free entertainment, or imitated by rioters and rebels opposing the status quo. Dress, drills, parades, inspections, pomp, and order: as this richly illustrated book conducts us through the details of the creation, design, functions, and meaning of these aspects of the martial image, it exposes the underpinnings of a mentality--and vision--that extends far beyond the military subculture into the civic and social order that we call modernity.

Empires of the Imagination

Empires of the Imagination
Author: Holger Hoock
Publisher: Profile Books
Total Pages: 561
Release: 2010-07-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1847652239
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Between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries, Britain evolved from a substantial international power yet relative artistic backwater into a global superpower and a leading cultural force in Europe. In this original and wide-ranging book, Hoock illuminates the manifold ways in which the culture of power and the power of culture were interwoven in this period of dramatic change. Britons invested artistic and imaginative effort to come to terms with the loss of the American colonies; to sustain the generation-long fight against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France; and to assert and legitimate their growing empire in India. Demonstrating how Britain fought international culture wars over prize antiquities from the Mediterranean and Near East, the book explores how Britons appropriated ancient cultures from the Mediterranean, the Near East, and India, and casts a fresh eye on iconic objects such as the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon Marbles.