Britain Against Napoleon

by Roger Knight

  27 April: American expedition captures and burns York (present-day Toronto)

  1 June: Shannon–Chesapeake action

  21 June: Wellington wins the Battle of Vitoria, driving French from northern Spain

  26–27 August: Napoleon defeats the Allies at Dresden

  8 September: San Sebastián surrenders to Wellington

  10 September: US victory of Put-In Bay, Lake Erie

  29 September: Americans recapture Detroit

  5 October: Defeat of General Procter at the Battle of the Thames by US troops under General Harrison

  8 October: Wellington’s army enters France

  16–19 October: Napoleon defeated at the three-day ‘Battle of the Nations’ at Leipzig

  8 November: Allied peace terms offering Napoleon his throne and France’s 1792 frontiers are rejected

  19 December: British take Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario

  1814

  1 March: Treaty of Chaumont with Austria (subsidy £1,064,882), Prussia (£1,319,129) and Russia (£2,169,982)

  8–9 March: Lieutenant-General Thomas Graham’s force defeated at Bergen-op-Zoom

  31 March: Allied armies enter Paris

  6 April: Abdication of Napoleon

  10 April: Battle of Toulouse won by Allies under Wellington

  27 April: Surrender of Bayonne

  3 May: Bourbon dynasty restored by Louis XVIII’s entry into Paris

  4 May: Napoleon arrives on Elba

  24 August: British troops capture Washington, burning public buildings, including the White House

  11 September: US naval victory of Plattsburg, Lake Champlain, halting a British invasion attempt

  1 November: Opening of the Congress of Vienna

  24 December: Treaty of Ghent ends Anglo-American War of 1812

  1815

  8 January: Before the news of the peace reaches New Orleans, British troops defeated after an unsuccessful attack on the town

  1 March: Napoleon escapes from Elba and returns to France: beginning of the Hundred Days

  March: Riots in London against the passing of the Corn Laws, which prohibit the importation of foreign wheat unless the price of home wheat is at or above 80 shillings a quarter

  6 April: Riot at Dartmoor Prison: nine American prisoners of war killed, twelve seriously wounded and forty-two with lesser injuries, caused by Somerset and Derbyshire militias

  9 June: Treaty of Vienna

  18 June: Battle of Waterloo

  22 June: Napoleon’s Second Abdication

  7 July: Allied armies enter Paris

  14 July: Napoleon surrenders to the Royal Navy

  9 August: Napoleon sails for St Helena

  October: Disturbances at Hull, Sunderland and South Shields during the seamen’s strike

  16 October: Napoleon in exile on St Helena, where he dies 5 May 1821

  20 November: Second Treaty of Paris: formal end of the French War

  Glossary

  able seaman: The most expert and highly paid seaman on a warship.

  adjutant-general of the forces: Based in Horse Guards in Whitehall, responsible for issuing orders to the army, maintenance of discipline and ensuring that troops were properly armed and clothed.

  admiral: Flag officer commanding a fleet or squadron, senior to a vice-admiral, who was in turn senior to a rear-admiral; a port-admiral was a flag officer commanding ships in and around a naval port.

  ‘alarmist’: Name given to those Whigs who initially opposed the war, but who, led by Lord Portland, supported Pitt’s government in coalition from 1794.

  battalion: A body of infantry of between 900 and 1,000 men, officers included, usually two to a regiment, though in a few regiments there were more. Battalions rarely served together in the same theatre of operations.

  bill: A negotiable payment order for goods or services issued by the navy, Victualling Office, Ordnance Department or Commissariat.

  blockade: The blocking of a hostile port by warships, lying off, to prevent the movement of enemy naval or merchant ships. A ‘paper blockade’ was one declared by a belligerent to exist, but not enforced.

  block mills: Mills in Portsmouth Dockyard built to house steam-driven machine tools, designed by Marc Isambard Brunel, which manufactured ships’ (pulley) blocks.

  bounty: A sum of money paid by the government as an inducement to join the army or navy.

  breastworks: A general name for temporary fortifications, consisting of a parapet and trench, that offered protection to infantry.

  bullion: Gold or silver bars, but also applied to coin.

  bush: Equipment for cleaning a musket.

  carbine: A firearm of smaller than musket calibre and generally shorter in length, used by cavalry.

  carronade: A short, light naval gun, which fired a large shot with low velocity, very effective at short range, manufactured by the Carron Company near Falkirk in Scotland.

  cartel: A written agreement for the exchange of prisoners of war, or the ship used in the exchange of prisoners.

  cauldron or chaldron: A measurement of coal by volume, weighing about 1 ton, 6 hundredweight.

  caulkers: Skilled shipyard workers who drove oakum, or untwisted rope, together with pitch, into the seams between the planks of the hull or the decks of a ship to make it watertight.

  Chatham Lines: Fortifications and forts around the dockyard at Chatham.

  chips: Pieces of unused dockyard timber, allowed by custom to be carried out of the yard on the shoulder of a dockyard worker; abolished in 1801.

  Commissariat Department: The government organization responsible for supplies and provisions for the army, as ordered by the secretary of state for war but reporting directly to the Treasury.

  commissary-general: An officer of the Commissariat attached to army units and garrisons worldwide.

  Consols: Short for ‘Consolidated Annuities’, the government securities consolidated in 1752 into a single stock bearing interest at 3 per cent. Their market price was taken as an indication of confidence in the government and the current economic situation.

  corsairs: Name generally applied to privateers or pirates of other nations.

  crimp: Someone who engineered the recruitment of seamen or soldiers for private profit.

  diagonal bracing: Strengthening a ship by means of additional timbers called riders. Sometimes called cross-bracing.

  Downs: The anchorage off Deal in Kent, inside the Goodwin Sands, sheltered from westerly winds.

  drover: Someone who herded and drove cattle or sheep to market, often for many hundreds of miles.

  embody: The term for calling out the militia to active duty (regular regiments were permanently on duty). When a militia regiment was embodied, it came under the provisions of the Mutiny Act, was subject to standard military discipline and received pay. When its services were no longer required, the regiment was disembodied.

  emolument: The profit from office or employment.

  establishment: The authorized strength of officers and men of an army unit, which could be changed as the war continued; for the navy, each ship had an establishment determined by its rate.

  fees: Payment to officeholders by a beneficiary for carrying out or expediting a duty, such as making out a navy bill.

  felucca: Small Mediterranean vessel of six or eight oars, or a narrow, decked galley-built vessel with lateen sails.

  firelock: General term for a soldier’s musket; also the lock on a firearm, which consisted of the priming pan and the hammer holding the flint, by which the gunpowder charge in the barrel was ignited (see also gunlock).

  freight money: Money earned by a ship’s captain for carrying specie.

  general: Holding the rank below field marshal and above that of lieutenant-general, who was senior to major general.

  graving dock: A dry dock used for cleaning and repairing the hull of a ship.

  grazier: The middleman who purchased cattle or sheep from the farmer, fattened them for sale and brought the
m to market.

  Green Wax Monies: Fines exacted for non-compliance of orders from the Exchequer, named after the colour of the seals affixed to the documents.

  gunlock: A flintlock mechanism adapted for fixing to a cannon barrel, by which the weapon could be fired (see also firelock).

  heave to: To bring the ship to a standstill, by setting the sails to counteract each other.

  howitzer: A short-barrelled field gun, designed to fire explosive shells at a high angle of elevation and at low velocity, so as to drop them on to a target.

  hoy: Small coastal vessel, used for carrying goods and stores to and from a ship.

  hulk: An old warship laid up and put to various uses, including storing gunpowder or other stores, or prisoners of war.

  impress or press: To recruit seamen forcibly by means of a press gang, acting on the authority of a press warrant issued to empower a named officer to impress seamen.

  jobber: One who used a public office for improper gain.

  keelmen: The crews of the barges on the rivers in the north-east of England that brought coal from the mines to ships for onward transport.

  landsman: An unskilled volunteer or pressed man aboard a warship.

  leeway: The lateral drift of a ship to leeward when sailing into the wind.

  Letter of Marque: A licence issued by the Admiralty allowing a privately owned ship to attack the shipping of a hostile nation named in the document.

  licence: A permit issued to a ship by the Privy Council to allow trade with the enemy in a particular commodity, making an exception to a blockade already established; used also by other nations.

  lugger: A small fore-and-aft rigged vessel, with two quadrangular sails.

  magazine: A reinforced building designed to store gunpowder as safely as possible; also used to denote any store of provisions or military equipment.

  mast ship: A merchant ship adapted for carrying masts or fir or pine trees, loaded through ports cut into the stern.

  militia: Non-regular army units raised by each county through a ballot system held in towns and parishes, to serve only within the British Isles; their main tasks were invasion defence, guarding prisoners of war and keeping public order.

  musket: The standard infantry long arm, discharged from the shoulder, with a flintlock ignition and capable of being fitted with a bayonet.

  navy agent: A civilian based usually in London, although a few were in the main naval ports, who attended to the financial affairs of naval officers, essential, as the officers served at sea for long periods (see also prize agent).

  Nore: Anchorage at the mouth of the Thames, and also a wider area constituting the naval station in the southern North Sea, where warships would be under the commander-in-chief at the Nore.

  order-in-council: Issued by the Privy Council with royal assent, bypassing parliament.

  ordinary: The part of the Naval Estimates used to fund routine activities, including ships in reserve and the crews to maintain them: hence ‘ships in ordinary’.

  ordinary seaman: A semi-skilled seaman, between able seaman and landsman.

  packet: A merchant vessel contracted to the Post Office to carry mail.

  panopticon: Jeremy Bentham’s name for a circular prison constructed so that a single warder centrally placed could observe all the prisoners in their cells. The government purchased land at Millbank to build one, but it was never started and the scheme was abandoned in 1812.

  parole: A formal promise made by a prisoner of war, almost always an officer, not to try to escape, or to refrain from taking up arms against his captors for a stated period; in return, the prisoner was allowed freedom within stated boundaries.

  perquisite: Any casual emolument gained in addition to a salary or wage.

  pintles: Vertical pins pointing downwards, fixed to the rudder while hanging on the sternpost of the ship, allowing the rudder to turn.

  placeman: One who holds a government post, used derogatively if one or more sinecures was enjoyed.

  plenipotentiary: A diplomat given full powers to negotiate.

  poleacre: A three-masted ship of the Levant, carrying square sails on the main and lateen rig on the mizzenmast.

  pricker: (1) Infantry equipment consisting of a short, stiff length of wire, with a small horsehair brush, to dislodge gunpowder residue from the touch hole or priming pan of the musket; (2) a bronze spike used to clear gunpowder residue from the vent hole of a cannon barrel.

  privateer: An armed vessel of any nation carrying a Letter of Marque issued by that country’s admiralty, permitting it to capture enemy ships and cargo and sell them in that country’s prize court.

  prize agent: A civilian who specialized in securing prize money on commission from the prize courts for an individual naval or army officer, or other ranks (see also navy agent).

  prize money: For the navy, the profits arising from the sale of prizes, either cargo or the vessel itself, and distributed in a strict ratio by rank. The army could earn a much more limited amount of prize money from captured equipment.

  proof: A test, usually at Woolwich Arsenal, to check the soundness of cannon made under contract before acceptance and payment by the Ordnance Department; this consisted of firing 30 times.

  quartermaster-general of the forces: Based in the Horse Guards in Whitehall, responsible for organizing the marching of army units, in particular the routes and times.

  rammer or ramrod: A cylindrical wooden block fixed to the end of a rod, pushed down the barrel of a cannon to compress the charge before the ball was inserted; also, when made of iron or steel, used for firearms.

  rate: The six divisions of warships arranged according to their size and weight of armament (100 guns = a first rate). The establishment of the complement of officers and seamen was decided by the warship’s rate.

  reef: To reduce sail to allow for heavy weather.

  regiment: A body of soldiers in the regular army, differentiated by the type of troops, such as cavalry or Foot Guards, commanded by a colonel; in the case of the militia or volunteers, associated with a county or London district.

  regimental agent: Appointed by the colonel of the regiment, based in London (or Dublin for Irish regiments), to act as the link between the War Office and the colonel on financial matters, functioning as bankers for individual officers as well as providing news and other services.

  regular army: Permanent, full-time units, subject to the Articles of War and other disciplinary or legal constraints; also empowered to commandeer quarters in public houses and impress transport.

  resident commissioner: A commissioned naval officer, responsible to the Navy Board, in charge of a royal dockyard at home or abroad.

  reversion: The right of succession to an office or a place after the death or retirement of the holder.

  riders: Additional internal ship timbers bolted to the frame of an old or weakened vessel in order to strengthen it.

  rifle: A firearm with a spirally ground bore, giving the ball a rotating movement in the air; more expensive but more accurate than a musket.

  Sea Fencibles: Volunteer force of fishermen and seamen gathered and paid by the government for the defence of coasts and ports during the French invasion threats.

  semaphore: A visual signal structure, consisting of a tall upright, with one or more arms moving in a vertical plane.

  sheer a vessel: Suddenly to alter course, or to use the tide, to swing the vessel away from something.

  shot: Usually a solid metal ball discharged from cannon, but naval variants included bar-shot, chain-shot and grapeshot.

  sinecure: An office to which no work or duties were attached, yet for which there was a salary or emolument.

  ‘sinking fund’: First set up in 1724, a fund formed by periodically setting aside revenue to accumulate capital to reduce the principal of the national debt.

  slip: An inclined piece of ground running into water, on which a ship was built and from which it was launched.

  slops: R
eady-made clothing and equipment issued by the purser to seamen aboard a warship.

  specie: Silver or gold coin, mainly Spanish dollars.

  springs: The highest and lowest sea level reached at spring tides, which occur twice a month, when the position of the moon affects the magnitude of the tidal range. High-water springs could be the only time when it was possible to float a large warship out of dock.

  station: A geographical sea area in which all British warships would be commanded by an admiral (e.g., commander-in-chief, Mediterranean).

  transport: A merchant ship of 200 tons or over contracted to the Transport Board for the carrying of stores, equipment or provisions; also the chief means of transporting troops by sea (see troopship).

  transport agent or agent for transports: A commissioned naval officer responsible to the Transport Board, positioned at a naval base or port, or who sailed with a convoy.

  troopship: A medium-sized warship with some guns removed and converted to troop-carrying (see transport).

  turnscrew: A Y-shaped tool issued with every musket; screw-driver blades were on two of the arms and a spike on the third.

  verderer: A judicial officer of the king’s forests who dealt with trespass and other misdemeanours.

  volunteers: Infantry or cavalry army units consisting of individuals who served voluntarily, and largely at their own expense. In London, infantry units were raised by organizations such as the Bank of England; in the country, units were commanded by the local aristocracy and gentry. Though mostly committed to the defence of their county or local area, during the invasion threats of 1803–5 many units volunteered for duty further afield.

  windward ability: The ability of a sailing vessel to point into the wind, achieved most efficiently by fore-and-aft rigged ships and hardly at all by square-rigged merchant ships.

  worm: An instrument for servicing muskets, designed to be screwed on to the slim end of the ramrod of a firearm or cannon, enabling a ball or wadding to be extracted from the barrel of the weapon.

  xebec: Small three-masted Mediterranean vessel, found along the coasts of Spain, Portugal and the Barbary states.