An Engaging Picture of a Regiment at War - Rated 
Mark Urban has sought to recreate his earlier success with 'Rifles' by following a single regiment through a war. In choosing the 23rd Regiment (Royal Welch Fusiliers), he has plumped on a unit that fought throughout the American War of Independence from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, and can therefore act as illustrative of the war as a whole. Unlike the 95th Rifles, however, the 23rd were a 'line' regiment with none of the glamour of 'special' troops, although much of the action surrounds their detached light company. And given the very fluid organization of the army it is easy to see problems trying to carry out a single regiment narrative thread. As his Royal Welch witnesses come and go, he has had to use eyewitnesses wherever he could get them; not all are Royal Welchmen, nor are they necessarily eyewitnesses to the actual events he is discussing.
Mr Urban's lack of military background and wider understanding is sometimes apparent. As Donald Graves has noted, his belief that Revolutionary War tactics were important in Europe is dubious, and he is unfairly harsh on David Dundas. The essential need to train the army on a common doctrine was not possible until the Duke of York became Commander-in-Chief, with the full weight of Royal authority behind him. If the correct solution was a fusion of the `German' and `American' schools, that was never possible given the stresses of service until Sir Ralph Abercromby got nearly two months to properly train his army in 1800-1 before Egypt. He was the first British commander to have that opportunity after the reserve of trained troops was dissipated in the West Indies in 1793-5.
Due to these reservations I was only going to give the book four stars, but as a former Royal Welchman myself I thought, 'How can I!' Because in all honesty, Mr Urban has written a very engaging book about the British army in the Revolutionary War, when there are not many others (Hugh Bicheno and Christopher Hibbert come to mind) to choose from. He has also done much to dissipate the many myths beloved by American authors, particularly concerning their own tactical effectiveness. This is the book's greatest strength; a unit level account of a forgotten period in the army's history when they were fighting a bad war in a bad place at a bad time, trying to carry on as professionally as possible.
Thorough work on a complex theme - Rated
Centred on the elite 23rd (Royal Welch) Fuziliers [sic] during the American War of Independence, this book also gives an excellent account of many of the other units involved, since the light and grenadier companies of regiments were often hived off and brigaded with those of other units.
As we have come to expect from Urban, the battle accounts are both accurate and stirring, but I particulary like the way he draws on personal accounts of the war from both men and officers of both sides, many of them never published before, making it a highly engaging read. I learned a great deal about commanders such as Howe and Cornwallis, Balfour and Calvert, and the role they played not only in the fortunes of the 23rd Foot, but also in the political and military heirarchy of the time.
Readers new to the period may be surprised to learn that although the war was lost, the British and their allies suffered few actual defeats in the field; on the contrary, it was the remarkable ability of the Americans to recover from defeat after defeat that ultimately brought them victory.
The AWI has always aroused passions on both sides of the Atlantic, and whilst he concentrates on the fighting and campaigning of this conflict, Urban does not shy away from examining the tragic atrocities committed by both sides that served to polarise opinion during the war. This is a sober and refreshing antidote to some of the one-sided episodes in movies such as Mel Gibson's "The Patriot".
Overall, a thorough and humane examination of Great Britain's first major humiliation on the world stage, and the effects it had on the army the British are still justifiably proud of today. Highly recommended.
|
