A good contrast of how the British conducted war is to compare the film series made from Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe Series for the British Army in the Napoleonic Era and C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower Series for the the British Navy of the same period.
A rich man could buy his younger son a Cornetcy in the regiment of his choice if boy was unfit for the clergy. After three years, the lad could purchase a Lieutenancy, providing one was open, and so on up the chain of command. As long as his father continued to pay his way, and neither the enemy nor his own men shot him, he would continue to gain rank. On the other hand, if you could only pay your way in, but could not pay for advancement, your best hope for either a higher rank or an early grave, was to volunteer to lead a forlorn hope the next time your regiment went into battle.
A poor but intelligent lad would be better off entering the Navy. Granted, he needed someone to recommend him, but once in, he only had to depend upon his brains for advancement, because the British Navy was run along meritocratic lines. Occasionally, someone like Hornblower would be promoted because of an act of bravery (The Duchess and the Devil). Sometimes it worked out well, sometimes, as in the case of Captain 'Dreadnought' Foster (The Fire Ships) not so much.
That, of course, was how the officers were handled. For the "enlisted" men, it was quite different.
If one were starving, getting regular meals and wearing a nice new suit seemed like an acceptable deal while one was still in England. So young men would take the King's shilling and become a private in the army. If they learned their trade, followed the Sargent's orders, and didn't get shot they could become a corporal, and so on up the 'enlisted' men's hierarchy. No matter how high they got, they still must follow their officer's orders (and remember, some of those officer's weren't the brightest and best) or they were flogged, in ever increasing amounts, depending upon the severity of the infraction, the frequency, and their commander's humanity. If they deserted, they were hung.
The British Navy didn't bother with any fiction about "accepting the King's shilling". Just before the ship left home port, they sent out press gangs to sweep up the town's layabouts and tavern drunkards and marched them aboard ship. Once the ship was a few cable lengths out to sea, if you didn't want to starve, you had to work. If you couldn't or didn't follow orders, talked back, or broke any of the navy regulations, you'd be flogged. Ultimately, you could be hung.
Surprisingly enough, many of the sailors who returned to England after a year or so would return to their ship when it left port again. Well, they had learned a trade, hadn't they?
reply
share