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Who’s Who in The King of Dunkirk…
The King’s Germans.
Brandt, Captain Werner.
Ordered to assume command of leaderless 2nd Company, Brandt is a loyal supporter of the new colonel, Jacob Neuberg. He is firm friends with Erich von Bomm and married to Katerina Brandt.
Krombach, Private Sebastian.
Krombach finds Brandt’s Company a dangerous and divided world, made bearable by his strong friendships with Andreas Reifener and Henry and Tomas Pinsk.
von Bomm, Lieutenant Erich.
After the action at Rumes von Bomm is an officer whose mettle has been proven but is dogged by controversy. A rake and eligible bachelor and great friend to Captain Brandt.
Officers of 2nd Battalion.
Bachmeier, Captain Gerhard.
The officer commanding 3rd Company.
Harris, Regimental Surgeon.
A plain-speaking Englishman, from Derbyshire, who is a loyal supporter of the changes implemented by Colonel Neuberg.
Neuberg, Lieutenant-Colonel Jacob.
Having suffered humiliation through the actions of his battalion at Halle, Neuberg is painfully aware of the forces ranged against him, both from within his own ranks of brother officers and senior army commanders. He knows that he can rely on Captain Werner Brandt but little else is certain.
Schafer, Lieutenant Christian.
The senior lieutenant in Brandt’s Company, an inexperienced young officer, learning to command his men through the guidance of Brandt and Company Sergeant-Major Roner.
Thalberg, Captain Hugo.
The officer commanding 4th Company.
Volgraf, Captain Ernst.
The commander of 1st Company and a loyal supporter and mouthpiece for his uncle, Johann Volgraf.
Volgraf, Major Johann.
Usurped of what he considers his rightful claim to command the battalion, Major Volgraf enlists forces from inside the battalion and powerful friends without, to ensure that the tenure of Neuberg is as brief as possible.
Wexler, Doctor August.
Second Company’s doctor, a poor card player and partial to more than his share of medicinal brandy.
Other ranks of 2nd Company.
Gauner, Sergeant Conrad.
Fresh from his promotion after the events in Halle, Sergeant Gauner can sense that his time to control the affairs of Brandt’s Company is close at hand.
Fuchs, Frederick.
The lackey for Gauner, Fuchs feeds off the gossip of the Company.
Hartmann, Thilo (The Ox).
Nicknamed ‘The Ox’, Hartmann rarely speaks, brute force does the talking. An enforcer for Gauner.
Krogh, Peter.
A tough Dane, the only man ever to fight ‘The Ox’ to a standstill, Krogh has forged an alliance with Gauner.
Möller, Corporal.
A quietly spoken NCO who feels alarmed by the growing power of Gauner within Brandt’s Company.
Pinsk, Henry.
Younger twin of Tomas, Henry’s fiery temper is matched by a laconic wit. A firm friend to Sebastian Krombach.
Pinsk, Tomas.
Elder twin of Henry, Tomas is transferred to the newly formed 1st Grenadier battalion as the plans for war progress. He is placed under the command of acting Captain Erich von Bomm.
Reifener, Andreas.
A baker’s boy who was enlisted by his uncle to avoid payment for pregnancy out of wedlock, Reifener is full of surprises. His culinary skills bring life to dreary meals and his scrounging makes him a useful accomplice for Sergeant Winckler. He is a friend to Krombach and the Pinsk Brothers.
Richter, Sergeant Georg.
In the divisive world of 2nd Company, ‘Moustache Georg’ is a firm favourite of the redcoats, offering patrician care while overseeing the training of the new recruits.
Roner, Company Sergeant-Major William.
Transferred from the Grenadier Company with the arrival of Brandt, Roner is responsible for raising the standards of drill and discipline and providing a check to the growing power of Sergeant Conrad Gauner.
Winckler, Sergeant-Major Tobias.
An opportunist who knows how to turn a situation to make a profit, Winckler now works for Commissary General Brooks Jackson. For sentimental and financial reasons, he still has a vested interest in the events in Brandt’s Company.
The ladies of the regiment.
Brandt, Katerina.
The daughter of a Polish emigre family and the wife of Captain Werner Brandt.
Neuberg, Frau.
The redoubtable wife of Colonel Neuberg who is keenly aware of the ambition of Major Volgraf and appeals to Werner Brandt for his loyalty to her husband.
The Twenty.
A selected number of wives of the men of 2nd Battalion chosen to campaign with the men including Anna Weber and Clara Richter.
Westerberg, Maren.
Barmaid and daughter of the owner of the Blue Angel public house, she encounters Sebastian Krombach, when he is sent to Celle on behalf of Captain Brandt.
Soldiers from 1st Grenadier Battalion.
Baumann, Captain Leopold.
After his brother is bested by von Bomm in a duel, Baumann arrives to assume seniority of von Bomm’s command.
Franke, Lieutenant-Colonel Manfred.
Colonel of the Battalion.
Hahn, Sergeant Fritz.
Sergeant from 1st Guards in command of one of the battalion’s artillery pieces.
Keithen, Sergeant.
Sergeant from 1st Guards who becomes the senior Sergeant in the skirmish company commanded by von Bomm.
Rausch, Ensign Johannes.
A young officer from 2nd Battalion’s Grenadier Company.
Other Hanoverian Characters.
Diepenbroick, Colonel von.
The senior commander of the 10th Regiment and the man responsible for offering the role of Colonel to Neuberg, ignoring the seniority of Major Volgraf.
Freytag, Field Marshal Wilhelm von.
Commander of the Hanoverian Corps, with an uneasy relationship with both Wallmoden and the Duke of York.
Klinkowström Oberst von.
Commander of 3rd Brigade in which 2nd Battalion are located.
British characters.
Craufurd, Captain Charles.
An Aide de Camp to the Duke of York who is sent as the Duke’s representative to the Austrian camp of Prince Josias.
Dundas, Henry.
The Home Secretary and Minister for War, responsible for the appointment of Brooks Jackson, to control the conduct of the war from Whitehall.
Henson-Jefferies, Lieutenant Simon.
An Aide De Camp to the Duke of York from 3rd Guards Battalion.
Jackson, Brooks.
Appointed Commissary General to the Duke by the Minister of War, Henry Dundas, Jackson must grapple with the suspicion of the Duke towards his motives and lack of co-operation from Dutch allies. He finds a friendship with Stephen Trevethan.
Murray, Colonel Sir James.
The Chief of Staff to the Duke of York.
Prince Frederick, the Duke of York.
The second son of George III, the commander of the British and German forces sent to Holland.
Trevethan, Major Stephen.
By accident rather than design, Trevethan finds himself appointed as the engineer advising the Duke of York. The Cornishman, more used to building roads, must quickly adapt to a world where events are always outside of his control.
Austrian characters.
Baron Thugut.
The chief adviser to Emperor Francis II and a bitter opponent of Colonel Mack.
Clerfayt, Count François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix.
An Austri
an General under the command of Prince Josias.
Ferraris, Count Joseph Jean François.
An Austrian General under the command of Prince Josias.
Francis II Holy Roman Emperor.
The man recognised by many as ruling the most powerful military land empire in the world.
Josias, Prince of Saxe-Coburg.
Commander of the Austrian army in Flanders and keen to see an end to war with France at the earliest opportunity.
Mack von Leiberich, Colonel Karl.
The Chief of Staff to Prince Josias, the man responsible for co-ordinating operations of all the forces along the northern border of France.
Hessian Characters.
Louis X.
Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and the cause of a potential rift between Prussia and Great Britain.
William XI.
Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.
Von Schroeder, Captain.
An officer in the Hessian Chasseurs.
Dutch Characters.
Bentinck, General.
The Military adviser to the Prince of Orange.
Boetslaar, General.
The General commanding the strategically important fort Willemstadt.
de Bylandt, Count.
The commander in charge at Breda fort.
William V.
Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the United Provinces; a difficult ally for the Duke of York to deal with.
Prussian Characters.
von Knobelsdorff, General.
Commander of the Prussian forces on the northern French Border.
Wolf, Captain Otto.
An officer in the von Glotz hussars.
French Characters.
Beauvais, Captain Julien.
Officer of the 3rd Dragoons, wounded in battle at Jemappes, in saving the life of General Dumouriez. Now imprisoned by Genet for crimes against the Revolution, the fate of his lover Juliette, Countess de Marboré, is unknown to him.
Caillat, Maurice.
A stable boy turned investigator, thanks to the vagaries of the revolution.
Carnot, Lazare.
One of the most influential people in the effort to save the fledgling state. Carnot is nicknamed the ‘Worker’ in his tireless efforts to resolve several crises.
Courtois, Colonel Alain.
Commander of the 3rd Dragoons and friend of Julian Beauvais.
Davide, Captain Valerie.
Officer in the ‘Black Lions’, captain of 6th Company.
De-la-Faye, Colonel.
Commander of the 14th Nationals, the ‘Black Lions’.
Dumouriez, General Charles François.
A man treading the world of Revolutionary and Royalist camps with care. Since his failed attempt to bring his army over to the side of Austria, Dumouriez has gone into exile, but the effects of his actions are still being felt.
Ferrand, Jean Henri Becays.
Governor of Valenciennes and friend of Colonel Courtois of the 3rd Dragoons.
Genet, Serge (the Spider).
A one-time lawyer in provincial Dunkirk, France has made use of the legal and organisational skills of Serge Genet. Now serving Robespierre, Genet is rebuilding his power base in Paris.
Grison, Fabien.
Soldier in the 14th Nationals, the ‘Black Lions’; son of Jean-Francois Grison and older brother to Guilbert.
Grison, Guilbert.
Soldier in the 14th Nationals, the ‘Black Lions’; son of Jean-Francois Grison and younger brother of Fabien.
Grison, Jean-Francois.
The Mayor of Dunkirk, a close friend to both Gilles Tabary and Arnaud Mahieu.
Juliette, Countess de Marboré.
The one-time emissary of Dumouriez, is now an enemy of France and separated from the man who would protect her, Captain Julian Beauvais.
Lavigne, Major.
Officer of the 3rd Dragoons who holds a personal grudge against Julian Beauvais.
Mahieu, Arnaud.
Captain of the Perseus and older brother to Jean-Baptiste. Close friends with both Jean-Francois Grison and Gilles Tabary.
Mahieu, Jean-Baptiste.
Soldier in the 14th Nationals, the ‘Black Lions’, younger brother to Arnaud.
Robespierre, Maximilien.
Leader of the Committee for Public Safety.
Tabary, Gilles.
The Mayor of Mont-Cassel and close friends with both Jean-Francois Grison and Arnaud Mahieu.
Author’s notes.
Men's lives are short. The hard man and his cruelties will be cursed behind his back and mocked in death. But one whose heart and ways are kind - of him strangers will bear report to the whole wide world, and distant men will praise him.
Penelope in Robert Fitzgerald trans. THE ODYSSEY (364) – Homer.
The King of Dunkirk continues from where The Black Lions of Flanders ended. I have grown to love the characters in writing about them. Each seems to demand more of their story be told. That is why I have found the death of Major Trevethan, a character ‘whose heart and ways are kind’, difficult to write.
Trevethan was based on Colonel Moncrief, a very popular figure in the Duke’s staff. Moncrief was killed by French gun boats in the final attack against the British positions at Rosendael. It was said that his loss was deeply felt at Headquarters, and coinciding with the scale of the defeat and the near calamity that had beset York’s command, must have coloured the latter months of 1793 to an even more maudlin shade but more of that later.
There are two set-piece battles in this book, Valenciennes and Hondschoote and both battlefield sites are worth visiting. The Carte Bleue 2606E covers Valenciennes and its environs. With a copy of the Fortescue map (the details of Fortescue’s book are in the glossary), it is possible to find the French gun battery position at Fond des Vaux. The road leading to this is one of the original cobbled postal roads. As you leave this and crest a ridge to your left, you are treated to the view of wide-open fields, which would have been filled with the Austrian and British columns on the dawn of 23rd May 1793. The starting position of the Duke of York’s forces can also be found. In cresting the ridge, as they did, it’s possible to imagine the fear and horror of more French gun batteries revealing themselves. The Rhonelle, which cuts the plateau, is now little more than a minor river in late May, but the ground is exceptionally steep on either side. Had the Duke chosen to press home the attack, the result would have been devastating for his force.
The plan as conceived by Colonel Mack was too elaborate and the ground had been poorly reconnoitred, a shortcoming that will be returned to in future notes, I fear.
The Duke of York was given the honour of leading the Allied troops into Valenciennes, when it finally fell. What remained of the inhabitant, acclaimed him as the King of Valenciennes. I took that idea for the title of the book. The vignettes about the cavalry troopers killed while cleaning out a French shell as a trophy is true. Sadly, so is that of the bookseller whose wife and child were killed in the first allied bombardment, while his bookshop remained untouched throughout the following six weeks.
The map of Hondschoote can be followed in Carte Bleue 2402 O. Again, most of battlefield is traceable when compared to the Fortescue map. I visited the site in September 2014, after some particularly heavy rain. It was my first experience of Flanders mud and I couldn’t help but think of the events of 1914-18. The conditions hampered the French attack as much as they did that of the allied retreat.
Of the French, their record of dealing with perceived failure is brutal. Over the period of just over a year, the Army of the North had seven commanders. Two defected, attempting to take the army with them, two were guillotined, another narrowly avoided that fate, another died in battle and one refused the ‘permanent’ command (the Irishman Kilmaine) on the basis that it was a poison chalice.
Carnot is a real character and part of a group known as ‘the workers’. The politics of France are too complicated for me to attempt to do justice to in this sto
ry but the efforts of Carnot and others cannot be downplayed in attempting to bring some form of order to the surge of new recruits from the Levee en Masse, and the battered Army of the North, during July to September. By avoiding a set battle until the allies had separated and the moment for attack was of France’s choosing, the destruction of the Army of the North, and the opening of the road to Paris, were avoided.
Of Lincelles, I have scant information. The scene of the action, a battle honour for the Foot Guards, is lost to the urbanisation of Lille. Fortescue is damning of the Dutch and while a recent historian has tried to convince me that they were good troops when well led, I can find little evidence of the matter in 1793.
There has been criticism across the ages for the actions of the Duke of York (Fortescue et al), and a form of rebuttal by Byrne. I hope I have been even-handed in this account. I believe that the mission to Holland was deeply flawed from the outset. There was an expectation that the Duke should maintain an independent command from the Austrians, without the means to do so. I quoted Machiavelli, on the reliance of auxiliary troops by a prince. At the time of Hondschoote, York was forced to rely on his Germans as a flank guard. This means he either trusted them to cover his flank, or he didn’t trust them to carry out an assault. I still can’t decide which.
The King of Dunkirk Page 34
