Military History 2005-10

E D I T O R I A L

OnlineCxtras October 2005 You'll find much more about military history on the Weh's leading history resource:

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www.TheHistotyNet.com Discussion: Could an earlier, less antagonistic assimilation of the Goths have prevented the Roman empire's decline and fall in the wake of Adrianople? Could Goths under Roman citizenship have helped drive back the Huns and then maintained the empire?

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for these great exclusives: locked in Sinister Embrace— When French Vice Adm. Pierre de Villeneuve emerged from Cadiz with his 33 mammoth wai^ships, Britain's Royal Navy awaited him with only 27, often smaller, ships of the line. But the British also had Lord Horatio Nelson. Stopping Attila: The Battle of Chalons—To save a faltering Roman empire from the rampaging Huns in 451, Flavius Aetius had to convince Theodoric, king of the \^sigoths, that Hunnish pillaging was more of a threat than the prospect of Roman domination. Invasion Into the Heart of Darkness—Examining the bodies of dead Dahomeans at Dogba on September 19, 1892, French Foreign Legionnaires were surprised to find that some of their attackers had been women. 6 MILITARY HISTORY OCTDBER 2005

After 1805 Britannia ruled the waves and Nelson ruled the navies. ASIDE FROM A SOMEWHAT belated final shot to mark the 60th anniversary of the last battles of World War II (interview, P. 30), this issue of Military History turns back the clock 200 years to mark one of naval histoi-y s gi'eat turning points. In 1803 Horatio Nelson looked back on his career in a letter to an admirer:

a.m. on October 21. The signal flags allowed only two words to be displayed at a time, requiring six hoists, and signal lieutenant John Pasco changed Nelson's word "confides" (i.e., had confidence) because it was not covered in the code book, to "expects," which was. Still, the message sent, "England expects that every man will do his duty," proved to be a Wounds received by Lord Nelson winner in more ways than one. DisapHis eve in Corsica pointed though he was with Trafalgar's His belly off Cape St. Vincent His arnn at Teneriffe outcome. Napoleon—in the sincerest His head in Egypt. form of flattery-—was one of the first to Tolerable for one war. commandeer his nemesis' words, orderAside from losing an arm and his sight ing the signal "La France compte que in one eye. Nelson had already achieved chaqun fera son de\'oir" flown from every renown for several naval triumphs, most surviving warship of his fleet. notably his destruction of a French fleet When Admiral Heihachiro Togo prein Abouki]' Bay on the night of August 1 -2, pared to ambush the Russian Second 1798, which left General Napoleon Bona- Fleet at Tsushima Strait on May 27.1905, parte's attempt to establish an empire in it was more than the coincident cententhe Middle East stranded, unsupported nial that inspired outside observers to and ultimately doomed to failure. dub him the "Japanese Nelson." At the But Nelson's war was not yet over. start of the battle, Togo signaled his ships, Having been credited with winning the "The fate of the empire depends upon this greatest naval victory of the 18th century one battle; let every' man do his utmost." at Aboukir, he won the greatest naval vic- The resulting annihilation of the Russian tory of the 19th century by decimating a fleet certainly did Nelson proud. large Franco-Spanish fleet off Cape In a centuiy in which the guided missile Trafalgar on October 21, 1805. Not only is the principal shipboard weapon, it is undid that victoiA' render impracticable Em- likely that broadsides will be exchanged peror Napoleons hopes of invading Brit- at sea anvmore, and any pithy quotations ain but in the process it established British had best be made in fewer words and naval supremacy—and with it the where- transmitted with a lot more alacrity than withal to extend the British empire to its Nelson used 200 years ago. Britain, no zenith^for the next 140 years (story, longer imperial though still influential, P. 38). The cost included Nelson, who re- tends to be discreet about celebrating ceived his last, mortal wound amid the Trafalgar's bicentennial when some of the battle, yet achieved a lasting immortality, fleet contingents that show up for the cereas the recent spate of biographies and his- mony are larger than its own—including tories that have emei^ed to join the mul- that of France. Still, the achievement and titude already in existence testify (one of the tradition remain to inspire those visthe latest is reviewed on P. 62). iting seamen from other lands as much One needn't be British to appreciate as they do the tars of the Royal Navy. An Nelson. Both his stining words and his officer doesn't have to be British to yearn audacious tactics have set a standard for for the opportunity to conjure up his own naval officers of many nations to emulate. modem variation on the "Nelson Touch," Foremost among the foimer, of course, and every country still expects that, was the signal he ordered hoisted from should the necessity arise, everyone in its J.G. his flagship HMS Victory at about 11:30 navy will do his—or her—duty.

LETTERS

FIGHTING IN ARMOR

It was with great delight that I read the article on armor in the July 2005 issue of Military History. I am well acquainted with the mobility of medieval armor, having worked as a jouster on the Renaissance fair circuit for five years, competing in purse tournaments in the United States and Canada. I have been unhorsed and gotten back to my feet without help, and I have done full forward rolls and returned to my feet during sword work while wearing full plate armor. A wellfitted suit is like a second skin, resulting in little loss of mobility. My circa 1510 suit, designed for the modem joust, weighs 80 pounds; I weigh 175 pounds. Thank you for a well-written article. John Perry Tampa, Fla. I greatly enjoyed John Clements' article "Medieval Armor: Plated Perfection." As one who engages in historical weapons skills to discover the true worth of variousfightingstyles, I agree that the idea of the clumsy, plodding armored warrior is a fanciful myth. It should simply stand to reason that trained professional soldiers would not use anything in combat that did not increase their sundvability. It is interesting to note, however, that in a recent article on the 1415 Battle of Agincourt in another military history magazine, the author states, "By now, the French knights were so crammed together they could barely swing their own weapons, and when they were knocked down they found it impossible to get up from the mud in their heavy armor." This shows how deeply entrenched the idea of a lumbering armored knight is in our collective psyche, as well as demonstrating the need to clear up these misconceptions. Scott A. Richardson Danville Historical Fencers Danville, Pa. TRIREMES AT SALAMIS

I enjoyed reading Barry Porters well-written article about Persian King Xerxes' campaign in Greece in the July issue, but I feel I should point out some details that Mr. Porter apparently had to omit in his condensed article, but which help to 8 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

make the campaign a little clearer. Athenian triremes at that time had crews consisting of 170 rowers (62 upper—"Thranite," 54 middle—"Zygite" and 54 lower—"Thalamite"), 10 marine hoplites, four archers and 15 deckhands, plus the captain (trierarch) and a flautist to keep time for the rowers. Some ships carried up to 40 marines. The Phoenicians did not suddenly panic under the Athenian onslaught as Mr. Porter said—they were in fact trying to back out into open water, where the smaller Greek fleet would be at a disadvantage, when Adamenes, the Phoenician admiral as well as overall commander, was killed. As the Phoenicians backed water, they ran into more ships that were advancing down the narrow channel. The resultant confusion was worsened by the effects of a freshening southerly wind that blew the Phoenician ships—which were taller and more top-heavy than their low-slung Greek counterparts—into one another and capsized several. It was only at this point that the Phoenicians started to panic. The Ionian Greeks indeed put up a good fight. They had been ambushed by Aeginetan and Megarian ships that burst out from Ambelaki Bay to their left and struck them in their flank. After the Phoenicians' defeat, the Athenian ships were free to attack the Ionians from behind. The Egyptian fleet sent to block the Megarian channel was met by the Corinthian contingent, which kept it from attacking the rear of the main Greek fleet. Andy St. Laurent San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

Harry Truman, an award kept classified until brought to light in 1967 by Illinois Congressman Ed Derwinski. Additionally, Office of Strategic Services files I had declassified in 1984 document heavyfightingbetween Chetnik and German forces in the autumn of 1944, when Mr. Krstovic assisted in the rescue of an American aircrew. David English Northville, Mich. As a third-generation American of Slovenian descent, I found Colin D. Heaton's interview of Mike Krstovic rather interesting. I really don't suppose that either would be surprised to hear my contention that Slovenians endured at least as much from the Chetniks as they did from the Germans—^the former virtually wiped out one branch of my family (father and two sons were locked in an icehouse and subsequently frozen to death). It also is no surprise to me that Mr. iCrstovic was in Germany at the end of WWII, as substantial numbers of Chetniks joined the German army's retreat in order to escape probable retribution. Few Americans are aware that little Yugoslavia was third only to the Soviet Union and Poland in the numbers of casualties suffered among the Allied countries in the war—and many of these casualties were at the hands of the fathers of the men who gave the world the term "ethnic cleansing." There are very few heroic Serbs in the eyes of any Slavic people other than the Serbs themselves. Joseph A. Godec Colorado Springs, Colo.

BALKAN INTRIGUES

DEATH OF A 'LIFEBOAT BABV

I read with keen interest Colin Heaton's interview with Milorad Krstovic in the July 2005 issue. His exposition of substantial anti-Axis activity by General Draza Mihailovics forces is refreshing, since that facet of Yugoslavia's World War II history is all too often underreported. My father, then-2nd Lt. Robert English, was one of more than 500 downed U.S. airmen recovered by Mihailovic's forces during the Ploesti bombing campaign of 1944. Readers might be interested to know that Mihailovic was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit by President

Jesse Roper Mohorovic, called the "Lifeboat Baby" because of his birth in a lifeboat after a German U-boat attack off Cape Hatteras, N.C., in 1942 (featured in "Best Little Stories," September 2005), died on August 6 at a Jacksonville, Fla., hospital, at age 63. Send letters to Military History Editor, Primedia History Group, 741 Miller Drive, Suite D-2, Leesburg, VA 20175, ore-mail to [email protected]. Please include your name, address and daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited.

P E R S O N A L I T Y With his conversion to Christianity and a string of victories, Clovis laid the foundations of France. By John Currier

The victorious Frankish chieftain honors a battlefield promise, in The Baptism of Qovis at Reims on December 25, 496, by Frangois-Louis Dejuinne.

IN 481 AD at the city of Toumai, in what is now Belgium, the Frankish chieftain Childeric died. He was laid in his tomb along with weapons, gold, jeweh'y and 15 sacrificed horses. Frankish waniors then lifted Childeric's 15-year-old son, Chlodwig—or Clo\is, as he is better known to posterity—on a shield to signify that he was now their leader Thus Clovis began ruling a people who would change the face of Gaul. Posterity knows nothing of Clovis' childhood and very little about his adult years and kingdom. Saint Gregory of Tours, a bishop and historian, is the most helpful resource, although he wrote some 200 years after Clovis' death. But given Gregory's work, along with that of the chronicler Fredegar and the anonymous writer of the Liber Historiae Francorum. 10 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

it is possible to construct a basic outline of Clovis' life, adventures, battles, alliances, failings and accomplishments. Letters of the time add some information, but details are few. The name Merovech, Clovis' grandfather, is used to identif\' the first great line of French kings, the Merovingians. In France, Clovis is regarded as the first king of the nation. Clovis himself would have found the title meaningless, since in his time there was no nation called France—just Gaul, a northern tenitory of the Roman empire. Nevertheless, the groundwork for the countiy named after his people was undeniably laid during his reign as king of the Franks. It began when Clovis, at about 20 or 21, resolved to challenge Syagiius, the last remaining Roman governor of Gaul. The

two men knew one another, at least by reputation, and had probably met. Gregory says that Clovis' father fought alongside the men of Rome—and consequently with Syagrius' father—when Saxons invaded the Loire Valley. Of Syagrius' father, Gregory says only that Aegidius died. One story has it that Aegidius was killed by Clovis' father, Childeric. If such was the case, it is not surprising that tension existed between their sons, Clovis and Syagrius. An extended family of Franks ruled various tribes in northern Gaul. Clovis launched his campaign against Syagrius with the help of his cousins, Ragnachar and Chararic. With their warriors, he met Syagrius in 486 at a battlefield north of the Roman governor's capital of Soissons. Syagrius was given the choice of kx:ation, and he chose to do battle on a sacred burial ground, hoping the Franks would prove superstitious and disinclined to fight as a result. As the engagement commenced, however, it became clear that the Franks had little trouble with the venue. When the time was right, a Frankish warrior would throw his javelin or perhaps his francisca. a deadly hand ax, into the opposing forces to rip through the ranks. Then, with a battle cry, the Frank would run into the fray, wielding his short sword, or scramasax. It's likely that numbers decided the battle. Syagrius led both Romans and Franks, a combined force intended to defend Gaul against outsiders, not against its residents. It was an army no longer certain of its mission. Rome had decayed precipitously after being sacked by the Visigoth Alaric 76 years earlier, and the seat of power was now in Constantinople. The western Emperor Zeno showed little official interest in or support for Gaul. Gregory's account says only that Syagrius' forces were annihilated. As defeat

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was unfolding before him, Syagrius decided to flee to Toulouse, seeking the protection of Alaric II, boy ruler of the Visigoths. It was only a temporary respite, however. Ciovis led his army to Toulouse and, threatening war, convinced Alaric to release Syagrius to him, Syagrius was then returned to Soissons and beheaded. Rome no longer held sway in Gaul. CLOVIS WAS NOW among the most influential rulers in Gaul. He was also its sole pagan, since other Gallic tiibes had entered the Christian faith by way of the teachings of Arius, a Libyan theologian and parish priest at Alexandria. As Ciovis became moi"e powerful, orthodox Catholics targeted him for conversion. The Church apparently assumed that a converted pagan would more likely champion their cause than a nominal Christian who had chosen an errant, nonTrinitarian interpretation of scripture. Scholars can only conjecture why Ciovis ultimately chose to become an orthodox Catholic, though it does seem plausible that if a political advantage existed in allying himself with a victorious Church, Ciovis would have seen it. His choice stiH carried a considerable element of risk, however, for there was no assurance at that time that orthodox Catholicism would withstand the ongoing challenge from the Arian heresy. Even after his conversion, Ciovis remained on friendly terms with Catholic and Arian leaders alike, allowing people of different religious perspectives to worship as they pleased and giving no special consideration to the Catholic bishops. By subtle promptings and intrigue, the Church succeeded in steering Ciovis into marriage with a Christian princess, Clotild (later Saint Clotild) of Burgundy Gundobad, king of Burgundy, having killed his brother, Clotild's father, had kept his niece isolated. Ciovis, upon learning of the princess' plight, threatened war against Gundobad, until a betrothal was agreed upon and a mairiage could be arranged. Clo\is did not convert after his marriage and was apparently deterred from that step by the death of his son. According to Gregoiy Ingomer, the first child born to Ciovis by Clotild, died while still in his baptismal robes. The sundval of subsequent children did not convince Ciovis to convert. What finally convinced the Prankish king to seek help from Clotild's god was the prospect of certain defeat at the hands of the Alemanni, a

tribe of fierce Germanic warriors who had set their sights on Gaul. Word came to Ciovis in 496 that the Alemanni were swarming over the Rhine, and he went to help his cousin, Siegbert, who ruled the Franks in Cologne. The armies met at Tolbiacum, a plain southwest of Cologne, near modem-day Ztilpich. and at first the Alemanni gained the upper hand. Ciovis promised to be baptized if he won the battle. He then personally led a countercharge and was astonished to see the battle turn in his favor. The Alemanni were routed and driven back across the Rhine for the last time. Ciovis lived up to his pledge, being baptized by Bishop Remigius (later Saint Remi) in Reims on Chiistmas Day, Tradition places the baptism in 496, but present-day scholars have decided that it actually occurred at a later date, probably between 503 and 508. Shortly thereafter Ciovis set his sights on the Visigoths. It's likely he simply came to consider Jesus Christ as his new god of war. Such a superstitious use of deity would not be unusual. Gregory quotes Ciovis as remarking, "I find it hard to go on seeing these Arians occupy a part of Gaul," and he received the blessing of the Church along with a promise for provisions, so long as he avoided pillaging the land as he made his way south tofightthe armies of Alaric II. Ciovis' campaign was successful. At Vouille in 507, northwest of Poitiers, his aiTnies defeated the Visigoths. Ciovis himself faced the Visigoth King Alaric II and killed him even while eluding the challenges of othei" soldiers. THE FRANKISH KING expended considerable effort to increase and secuie the area of Frankish influence. The vanquished and fleeing Visigoths split in two, one group retreating southward toward Toledo, Spain, and the other running east. Ciovis split his own forces as well. While he went south, he sent half of his men, under the command of his son, Theuderic, east to Aries, on a campaign to finish the Visigoths and secure Gaul to the Mediterranean. The eastern effort was halted, however, when Theodoric, the Ostrogoth king ruling in Italy, sent his general, Ibbas, to turn back the Franks. Theodoric knew the Franks were too dangerous to be allowed to hold lands on his borders. Theuderic's Franks suffered a serious defeat at Aries and withdrew to lick their wounds. News of that setback reached Ciovis as he was besieging Carcassonne,

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site of the Visigoth treasuTX He lifted his siege and went to meet his son's retreating forces. Soon after the Franks had come together, a message from Theodoric arrived, warning the Franks to "go no further." The time lo return home had arnved, and Clo\is settled for the triumph of defeating Alaric. Returning to the north, Clovis stopped at Tours so he might give thanks to Saint Martin. Coincidentally, there he received the title of consul of the Roman empire. It was an honor t arely conferred upon non-Romans, and Clovis used il lo his fullest advantage. Bringing with him a crown from his Visigoth spoils, he had Bishop Licinius of Tours place it on his head, turning the celebration into nothing less than a coronation. The people cried "Augustus," giving Clovis a name that was both a slap in the face to the western Roman emperor and a blatant acknowledgment that in the minds of the people Clovis now iiiled in Gaul.

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MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 20D5

tism, Clovis' actions in later years scarcely exemplified the Christian ethic. For instance, he slaughtered his own cousins so they would not challenge his supremacy. Once enemies such as the Visigoths and Alemanni had been defeated, his cousins disposed of" and his sister Audofleda married to Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, Clovis tunned his thoughts to articulating and compiling the laws of the Franks into a code known today as the Lex Salica. The statutes of his people were now to be found in an organized document that remains a valuable picture of early Frankish hfe. Clovis also called the Church bishops to a council in Orleans in 511, to consider an agenda tying the power of the king more closely with the authority of the Church. Later in that same year, Clovis died. Upon his death, the great kingdom he had built was split four ways to accommodate his sons. France would not see glory comparable to that of Clo\is' reign for nearly 250 years, when the Carolingians rose to power. The epitaph of Clovis, attributed to Bishop Remigius, says, "Rich in resources, poweiful in virtue, illustrious in triumph. King Clovis founded this realm." It goes on to say that Clovis was always "in the first line of battle." How virtuous Ciovis was may be debated, but he was certainly in thefii^stline of battle as France was bom. MH

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I N T R I G U E Scottish-born William Sempill became a key military and naval adviser to the kings of Spain. By Concepcion Saenz

WHILE LITTLE-KNOWN today, William

Francis Sempill achieved his place in history as the founder of the Scots College in Spain, which still stands. But few are aware of the importance of his political and military career. A mercenary in the service of William I, Prince of Orange, since 1568, Sempill betrayed his garrison in Liere in 1582 and placed his services at the disposal of King Philip II of Spain. Under Philip he distinguished himself in military and diplomatic affairs, particularly as his envoy to King James VI of Scotland to negotiate James' collaboration in the Spanish invasion of England. Sempill spent the rest of his life in the service of Spanish monarchs and hecame

the most significant influence on Spanish naval policy during the 17th century. Sempill—also spelled Semple in some accounts—has been somewhat overshadowed not only by those he advised but also by the school he created. Although a few historians have examined his secular life in their works—for example, Maurice Taylor in his The Scots College in Spam—ih\s article is the first attempt to use Sempills diary, which was recently discovered in a private collection in Spain and acquired by the Scottish Catholic Archives in Edinburgh, to focus on his military and political career. Bom in Lochwinnoch in 1546, William Sempill was the son of Robert, 3rd Earl Sempill. During his adolescence, he belonged to the household of Mar\' Queen of Scots. After Mary's imprisonment in England, he left Scotland for the Low Countries, where he accepted a commission in the service of the Prince of Orange. He fought with the Dutch rebel forces against Spain until 1573, when Lord George Seton, who was in the Netherlands trying to secure Spanish aid for the Scottish queen, managed to persuade him to enter Spanish senice and assist in maintaining secret contacts between Philip II and Mary.

William Sempill served as both mercenary and double agent in the Netherlands until his official defection in 1582. 16 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

As new evidence reveals, during the next eight years Sempill played both sides, functioning as a double agent. He remained in the Low Countries serving the Dutch as captain of a Scottish regiment in Liere while maintaining secret communications with the Spanish viceroy, Allessandro Famese, Duke of Parma. On

March 25, 1582, Sempill, after going unpaid for more than 10 weeks, betrayed his garrison and delivered the town to Parma. Liere was not a iai^e place, but it had strategic significance; Sempill—and others—regarded it as "the bulwark of Antwerp and the key of Brabant." In recompense for his services, Parma sent Sempill to Spain to collect a reward of 2,000 ducats, to be presented by King Philip himself. Sempill wrote that he declined the reward because while his own money lasted, he was content to know that he had served the Spanish monarch. Nevertheless, at Parma's request, he made his way to Spain, where he could also explain to Philip how important it was to "use Scotland as stepping-stone in the war against England." Sempill anived in Spain in May 1583, full of hopes of obtaining an audience with Philip. His timing was fortuitous; the pacification of Portugal underway that May had had profound political and indeed psychological importance for Philip, who decided to commit himself to the "enterprise of England." Very impressed with the young colonel, Philip decided that he would be an ideal adviser on British affairs. Philip was considering Scotland as a possible back gate to England and needed someone whom the Scottish Catholics would trust. Sempill stayed in the Spanish court, maintaining coirespondences with dissidents in Scotland and waiting for an opportunity to take a more active role. His great chance came in Januaiy 1587, when Philip asked him to create maps of the coast of the British Isles for the Great Armada. Sempill, however, tried unsuccessfully to dissuade Philip from launching the expedition—insisting that, as they lacked a fiiendly port at which to land, it was bound to fail. The king remained deteiTnined to go ahead with the expedition. But understanding the necessity of native

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support, he sent Sempill to Scotland in an attempt to persuade King James VI to join Spain in the enterprise. Just a month before the Armada departed, Sempill set sail for Scotland, landing in late July 1588. He recorded that he had been sent with two commissions, a public one for James and a secret commission "to lead the nobility when the army from Flanders would come into the Island." Immediately upon arrival, he organized a meeting with the Scottish Catholic nobility. His mission was to convince the Scots to wait until the Armada reached Scotland and then—and only then—create a diversion by taking up arms and seizing the port of Leith. While the Scottish Catholic noblemen were anxiously awaiting events, Sempill was negotiating with King James. Philip wanted James to renounce any right— civil, divine or by conquest—that he might have to the crowns of England and Ireland. Moreover, James would have to help Spain with 10,000 paid soldiers in the war in Flandei"s. In return, Philip would compensate him with 1 million ducals after the invasion of England. James, stalling for time, promised Sempill the earldom of the Hebrides and told him thai he would contact him shortly with a response. Just two days after their interview, however, word reached Scotland of the Armada's failure. As a result, James declared his support for England and ordered Sempill's arrest. Any diplomatic immunity that Sempill had previously enjoyed vanished instantly, and he was imprisoned in Edinburgh. Plans were made to extract a confession from Sempill that might have implicated many Scottish Catholics, but the wily Scot somehow managed to escape, elude his pursuers and make his way back to Spain. ON HIS RETURN to the court, Sempill found that Philip had lost trust in him. The Spanish monarch believed that, during the inteniew with James VI, Sempill had "dealt further than he had commission" and blamed him for James' decline of his offer to join the Armada. Consequently, Sempill was relegated to clerical duties for more than three years. In June 1592, however, he got a second chance when Philip, desperate because of the fiequency of English attacks on the Spanish fleet, asked him to come up with a plan for another invasion of England. Sempill recommended a combined invasion force of 20,000 Spanish and Scot-

tish soldiers under the Duke of Parma's overall command. He believed that the vast majority of Scottish nobles would join the Spanish army if King James attacked. Consequently, Philip sent Sempill to Scotland at the end of August, authorizing him to offer James 400,000 ducats to join Spain. However, James' refusal and Parma's sudden death in December 1592 put an end to the project. Although Sempill tried to gain Philip's attention for a holy crusade against Queen Elizabeth I by continually reporting the "martyrdoms" suffered by the Catholics in England, the increasingly visible economic crisis, the Spanish naval decline and Philip's own illness left him too preoccupied to give such reports much attention. Obviously, Sempill was conscious of the Spanish king's religiousness and quite understandably was tiying to exploit it. Nevertheless, all his efforts came to nothing when, in September 1598, Philip n died. During the ensuing five years, Sempill spent most of his time tiying to convince Philip III to follow his father's lead by openly confronting England. When Elizabeth died in 1603, however, her successor. King James VI of Scotland—now King James 1 of England—made peace with Spain. Under those circumstances, Sempill felt that Spanish hegemony in Europe could only be reinstated if its naval power was restored. He asked to be moved to naval affairs, and Philip, probably as compensation for his many years of unpaid service and loyalty to Spain, decided to appoint Sempill as a naval commander. For the next 10 years, Sempill organized the construction of 100 ships to restore the "ineffable Spanish reputation at sea." Thus he became the father of Spain's resun'ected Armada of the 17th centurv'. His ideas on maritime warfare were among his greatest achievements. Until then, the key Spanish naval tactic was to close in quickly on an enemy vessel, board it and try to overwhelm it in hand-to-hand combat. Sempill, copying the English system, promoted standing off from the enemy, firing cannons at a distance. The ultimate goal was to weaken the enemy's resolve with a powerful broadside at point-blank range just prior to boarding. Sempill's tactics and ships were successfully put to test when the Thirty Years' War broke out in 1618. The death of Philip HI and the accession to the throne of Philip IV in 1621 prompted a dramatic change in Spain's foreign

policy Philip IV saw the spread of the war in Germany as an opportunity to restore Spanish influence on Europe. Philip's chief minister, Gazpar de Guzman, conde y duque de Olivares, believed that Spain should concentrate all its power in the war against the Dutch, but Sempill still believed that an active war against England was the only way to suffocate the rebellion, since it would not only stop the English from supporting the Dutch with money and troops but would also secure gold and silver from America, which Spain desperately needed to win the war. Olivares' ideas were supported by the Castilian court, which prompted Sempills relegation from the circles of power Finally, in 1625, Sempill, disappointed with the progress of his situation in the court, decided to open a college for the children of Catholic nobles. Eor this, he selected a property in Madrid that had belonged to his deceased wife. Dona Maria de Ledesma. The Scots College in Spain was finally opened in June 1627. and although the school occupied the bulk of his remaining days, Sempill never abandoned the idea of Spanish military action against England until March 1,1633, when he died after a long illness, at age 87. We have long been familiar with the picture of the typical "intelligencer" of the 16th and 17th centuries, as the traditional historiography has commonly represented him—purely motivated by the desire to lay his hands on money. However, studies of surviving documents indicate that money could not have been Sempill's primaiy incentive. He not only rejected Philip II's gold from the very beginning, but he also used his life's savings to open the Scots College in Spain. Sempill advised the Spanish kings on political and military matters for more than 40 years, always with the desire to reimpose Spanish and Catholic hegemony in Europe, because he saw a war with England as inevitable. Military confrontations between Spain and England certainly did not cease in the years following his death, but he had taken the biggest step toward a predominantly secular approach to Spain's political dealings with the British Isles. When William Sempill died, his contemporaries clearly believed that a great figure had passed on, and that the political landscape had shifted substantially with his death. Sempill had changed the very nature of Spanish naval policy with his innovative ideas, and as a result left a lasting legacy beyond Scots College. MH

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PERSPECTIVES After the Battle of Trafalgar, battered ships had to be secured and the news conveyed to London. By John McAdam

ON OCTOBER 21,1805, the most decisive

sea battle in ihe Western Hemisphere was fought west of Cape Trafalgar, near Cadi/, in southwestern Spain. There. British Vice Admiral Horatio Viscount Nelson aboard His Majesty's Ship Victory (100 guns) led the weather side of two columns, totaling 27 warships, into the combined fleets of France and Spain, totaling 33 men of war, cutting the enemy line in two places. After 5% houT^ of pounding broadsides, French Admiral Piene de Villeneuve and his Spanish ally, Admiral Don Fredeiico Gravina, were obliged to stnke their colors in suircndcr. Within half an hour of the FrancoSpanish SLincnder, a low-pressure system brought on a violent storm, recorded on the Beaufort scale (with 12 representing a huiricane) as gale force 10. The westerly wind was pushing the damaged ships

of both sides—many dismasted and their anchors shot away—toward the Spanish west coast, which was littered with hidden rocks and shoals. The gale resulted in innumerable problems, for prize crews had been drawn from the already depleted crews of the British ships to man the captured vessels, but they were greatly outnumbered by the vanquished prisoneis. At 1:30 in the afternoon, a French musketeer high in the mizzenmast shrouds of Redoulabk had mortally wounded Nelson, commanding Prom his quarterdeck on Victory. Command then reverted to Vice Adm. Cuthbert Collingwood on Royal Sovereign, whose pdncipa! problem following the enemy's surrender was to save as many ships of both sides as he possibly could. Collingwood was later severely criticized by his peers for

not anchoring to safeguard the ships, especially the French and Spanish vessels that represented prize money. His misguided decision was to try to take them in tow and maneuver away from the lee shore against the wind and only anchor as a last desperate measure, if all else failed. It was not until October 27 that Collingwood hoisted his flag aboard Captain Henry Blackwood's 36-gun frigate Euryalus and settled down to the administrative task of writing his report to the Admiral ty. He wrote duplicate reports detailing the great victory that day, followed on the 29th by one on Lord Nelsons death. He then summoned Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotiere, commander of the schooner Pickle, and ordered him to convey the first detailed report of the battle with all speed to Secretary of the Nav\' William Mareden at the Admiralty in London. Two days later Collingwood sent the eight-gun cutter Enireprenante to Faro with duplicate dispatches for London, via the British Embassy in Lisbon. Collingwood was further criticized for not inviting the officers to write letters home to reassure their families of their safety after the battle. His detractors reasoned that it would have been no great inconvenience for Pickle to take an additional mailbag directly to England. PICKLE, ORIGINALLY called Sting, was

After his schooner Pickle reached Britain with news of the Battle of Trafalgar, Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotiere rode a chaise drawn by four horses to London, flying black crepe streamers surmounting a Union Jack over a French thcolor, as depicted by Frank Dadd. 20 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

built in 1799 and was renamed by Admiralty order on January 4, 1802. As its schooner rig was not well established in Britain before 1800, it is generally assumed that Sting was built in the Chesapeake Bay, whose yards were highly regarded for schooner construction. It was purchased by Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour, commander in chief in Jamaica, at Curacao in December 1800 for 2,500 Continued on page 66

Sixteen of the McCook family served in the Union Army or Navy during the American Civil War. Seven became generals. Four gave the last full measure. BY STEVEN L OSSAD

r

xploding shells, rapid-fire musketry and the screams of wounded men I added to the growing confusion in 1 the makeshift hospital. Daniel I McCook, a 63-year-old volunteer I nurse from Ohio, tried to concentrate J on his job, but he was preoccupied with his own worries. On the battlefield near Manassas Junction that day, July 21, 1861, two of his sons, as well as a nephew, were fighting for their counti^ and their lives. Exhausted and emotionally drained by trying torelievethe suffering around him, McCook needed a break and walked outside. What he saw both thrilled and terrified him. Amid a group of soldiers covering the retreat of the obviously shattered Union army stood his second youngest son, Charles Moms McCook. Daniel had not seen him since he had left Kenyon College before the end of his freshman year to volunteer for the Union at the outbreak of war in April 1861. Declining a commission arranged by family friend and soon22 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

to-be Secretary of Wai' Edwin M. Stanton, 17-yearoid Chai les had instead enlisted as a private in the 2nd Ohio Volunteer lnfantr>' Regiment. Now he suddenly foimd himself face-to-face with his father After the shock of the unexpected encounter subsided, they warmly embraced. Charles then briefly took leave of his comrades to lend a hand with the wounded. As the yoting private turned back to rejoin his regi-

ment, mounted troopers from the 4th Virginia, already renowned as the "Black Horse" Cavalr\, intercepted Charles and his comrades and called on them to surrender. Aiming his musket at an officer, Charles shot him hx)m his hoi^se and held off the others for several minutes with his bayonet. Watching with growing trepidation and recognizing the hopelessness ot the situation, Daniel called on his son to yield.

Charles T. Webber portrayed some members of the Ohio family who fought for the Union during the Amencan Civil War in his 1871 painting The Fighting McCooks (Ohio Historical Society].

OCTOBER 2005 MILITARY HISTORY 23

neral was attended by senior officers and several of his sons, and was covered by the national press.

After serving as a nurse at the First Battle of Bull Runin which he saw his son, Private Charles Morris McCook. cut down by Confederate cavalty-Daniel McCook Sr. obtained a commission in the Ohio Home Guard. He died in action exactly two years later at Buffington Island, at age 65 (Ohio Historical Socie^).

the "Fighting McCooks of Ohio," no less than 16 members of the family served the Union cause during the American Civil War. The McCooks were a Scots-Irish family that originally settled in Pennsylvania during the late 18th century. George and Mary McCook had three sons, George (1795-1873), Daniel (17981863) and John (1806-65). After being educated at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pa., all three men made their homes in Ohio, establishing deep personal, professional and political ties within [heir adopted state. The political connections, in particular, would lead to many important relationships that would help their sons before, during and after the war. The two younger brothers raised large families, fathering 14 sons between them and giving their names to the two major branches of the family: the "Tt ibe of Dan" and the "Tribe of John." Daniel and his wife Martha eventually settled in Can"ollton, Ohio, where he became a successtul real estate investor and owner of a brick-making plant. A local historian described him as "a man of commanding presence, an ardent patriot, and an earnest Christian," adding that "he possessed a most gentle and amiable to which Charles calmly replied, "Father, 1 will never disposition, combined with the highest pei"sonal surrender to a Rebel." Moments later he was cut courage, untiring energy, and great force of characdown. His father, shattered by what he had seen, ter" He was also active in civic affairs and served as rushed to his son and cradled him in his arms. The first clerk of the Court of Common Pleas when CarroUton became a county seat. Later, he became one boy died moments later. Private Charles McCook was the first of the "Fight- of the leaders of the Democratic Party in eastern ing McCooks" to be buried in the family gravesite at Ohio. Spring Grove Cemetet^/, but he would not be the last. Dr John McCook settled in Steubenville with his Moved by his son's sacrifice. Daniel McCook suc- wife Catherine, where he practiced medicine and cessfully pressed for a commission in the Ohio also became an important state Democratic Party Home Guard in spite of his age. Stationed at Cincin- leader. Duiing tbe war, however, he switched to the nati during Confederate Colonel John Hunt Republican Paity, enthusiastically offering his supMorgan's third raid into Ohio, Major McCook, 65, port to President Abraham Lincoln's administration. rode with the pursuing troops and led an advance Similar to his brother Daniel, he volunteered as a party ttying to block the Rebel raider at Buffington surgeon when hostilities broke out and barely surIsland. In the skirmish that followed, the family pa- vived the war, dying on October II, 1865, while vistriarch was mortally wounded and died on July 21, iting the headquaiiers of his son. Brig. Gen. Anson 1863, exactly two years after Charles' death. His fi.i- George McCook (1835-1917).

24 MILFTARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

Left: Daniel McCook Jr. took revenge on the home of Captain Frank B. Gurley, Ihe Alabama guernlla officer accused of killing his brother, Brig. Gen. Robert L. McCook (Library of Congress). Right: Edward Moody McCook distinguished himself during the Atlanta campaign and rose to major general of volunteers by 1865 (Ohio Historical Society].

Although the family is best known for its service during the Civil War, (here was a tradition of miiitaiT sewice. Daniel's third-born son John James (1823-42) attended the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Md., and while sowing as a midshipman aboard the fiigate USS Delaware off the coast of Brazil contracted a fever and died. Rear Admiral David G. Fanagut mourned his loss, noting in his autobiography the exceptional ability and high moral character of the promising young officer. John's brother Edwin Stanton (1837-73) was also educated at Annapolis and served aboard ships from 1854-56. During the Civil War, he reciuited a company in the 31 st Illinois Volunteers and seived under his friend, Colonel John A. Logan. Severely wounded at Fort Donelson, he eventually rose to command a division under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and was breveted a major general of volunteers for his distinguished service. The first general in the family, second-bom George Wyihe (1821-77) made his reputation during the Mexican War, marching off as a soldier in the 3rd Ohio Regiment and returning home as its commander. A classmate and partner of future Secretary of War Edwin Stantnn, as well as a foimer Ohio attorney general, George was commissioned a

brigadier general at the outbreak of hostilities in 1861. Plagued by poor health, however, he was unable to assume a field command and focused his energies on raising and training volunteers. George's brothel's and cousins, however, played a major role on Civil War battlefields. Altogether, the McCook family produced two major generals, five brigadier generals, one colonel, one navy commander, two majoi^s, two lieutenants, a volunteer surgeon and one heroic private. In nearly every major Western campaign at least one Fighting McCook was on the battlefield, often ser\'ing with bravery and distinction in the thick of the action. Four members of the family, al! fiom the Tribe of Dan, were killed in action and many of the others suffered woLinds and illness. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to find another American family that made such a dramatic contribution—and offered so great a sacrifice—in time of war These sacrifices were broad and went beyond direct combat. Firet-bom son of the Tribe of Dan, Dr. Latimer A. McCook (1829-69) volunteered as a surgeon and was quickly promoted to major of the 31st Illinois Volunteer Infantty, known as "John Logans regiment." Sewing for the duration, he was twice OCTOBER 2005 MILITARY HISTORY 25

Above: A prewar soldier on the frontier, Alexander McDowell McCook fought at First Bull Run and subsequently became a major general in the Western theater of operations. Right: Anson George McCook also fought at Bull Run and in the West, rising to brigadier general of volunteers.

wounded—the first time at Vicksburg and later dui"ing Sheiman's mai'ch north from Savannah. He died shoiily after the war, succumbing to the effects of his wounds and long exposure to the rigors of the battlefield. The Reverend Hem> C. McCook (18371911), third-bom son of the Tribe of John, was commissioned a lieutenant in the 41st Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He also ministered to his fellow soldiers as a chaplain in the regiment before taking a civilian pulpit.

mission in the Regular Army, he played a major role in the Atlanta campaign, where his troops blocked reinfoirements, destroyed General John Bell Hood's transport and captured three generals, hundreds of officei-s and thousands of men. B\' 1865, he had risen to major general of volunteers and commanded a division, earning six brevets for heroism at Shiloh, Perryville, Chickamauga, Fastem Tennessee, Seima and distinguished overall service during the course of the war. His young cousin, John James (1845-1911)— second of that name—also served with distinction in every member of the family served in the in- the cavaliy He followed his fallen brother Charles fantry. Henry's brother Roderick Sheldon and left Kenyon College to join the anny, where he (1839-86), a graduate of Annapolis in 1859, rose to the rank of colonel and was cited for bravery I was commissioned a naval officer. While in 1864 after being seriously wounded at Shady aboard USS Minnesota on June 5, 1861, he partici- Grove, Va. pated in the capture of Savannah, the first ConfedThe highest-ranking soldier of the family, Alexanerate privateer to be taken in the Union blockade, der McDowell McCook (1831-1903), fought close to and was named its prize master. He was later com- the hospital at Bull Run where his younger brother mended during the March 1862 operations at New was cut down. An 1852 giTiduate of the U.S. Military Bern, N.C., where he led a party of Marines and a Academy at West Point, he had spent most of the battery of six naval howitzers in a successful assault prewar yeaT"s fighting Indians on the frontier and that effected the surrender of an entire Confederate teaching infantr\- tactics at his alma mater. At the infantiy regiment. Later, as executive officer of the outbreak of war, he was appointed a colonel of volmonitor Canonictis, he fought at Fort Fisher and was unteers and led the 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry at present at the surrender of Charleston, S.C, in Feb- Bull Run. Fighting bravely during the disorderly reruary 1865. treat, he was commended for "coolness under fire One prominent member of the Tribe of John, and exemplary conduct" in covering the Union withEdward Moody McCook {1833-1909) enjoyed a spec- drawal, and was quickly promoted to brigadier gentacular career in the cavaliy A lawyer and Kansas eial of volunteers in September 1861. legislator, he lived in Washington, D.C. just before Transferred to the Western theater, he comthe outbreak of war and volunteered as a secret manded a brigade, then a division under Maj. Gen. agent. Rewarded for his exploits with a direct com- Don Carlos Buell in the Aimy of the Ohio. After 26 MIUTARV HISTOHY OCTOBER 2005

Major General Alexander McCook and his staff at Brightwood, near Washington, D.C. One of several Union officers blamed for the Union defeat at Chickamauga, he was later cleared of responsibility, but his military career never fully recovered (Library of Congress].

being commended by General Sherman for his services at the Battle of Corinth, he was promoted again and took command of the XX Corps, Amiy of the Cumberland, which he led at Perryville, Stone's River, Tullahoma, Chickamauga and Chattanooga. One of several officere blamed for the Union rout at Chickamauga in mid-September 1863, he was later cleared of responsibility but the charges hung over his career, blocking him from any further commands. Although he retired from the army in 1897 as a major general, his career never fully recovered from the accusations. Most of Alexander's brothers and eousins also made their martial reputations in the Westem theater. Anson Geoi^e McCook, of the Tribe of John, was studying law in the office of Stanton & McCook when the rebellion broke out. Sen/ing with the 2nd Ohio Volunteers, he was also at Bull Run. Within a year, he was colonel of the regiment, and later commanded the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, XIV Coips. His list of battle honors included most of the principal battles of the West—Perryville, Stones River, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Resaca and Atlanta. For his service he was breveted a brigadier general of volunteers at the end of the war. One of the most celebrated brothers, Robert Latimer McCook (1827-62), was already a successful lawyer in Cincinnati when he raised the 9th Ohio Volunteer Infantiy Regiment and was elected its colonel in May 1861. Hesei^ved in Maj. Gen. Geoi^e B. McClellan's first successful campaign in westem Virginia and at Mill Springs, Ky., where on Januai> 19, 1862, his horse was shot from under him and he

was hadly wounded. Refusing to be evacuated, he led a courageous bayonet charge later that day that scattered the enemy. Two months later he was appointed a brigadier general of volunteers, commanding a brigade under General Bueli, whose task was lo counter General Braxton Bragg's invasion of Kentucky. In a controversial action at Columbia, Tenn., McCook ordered the shelling of the town in retaliation for local citizens sniping at his troops as they repaired a loeal bridge. The action silenced resistance but inflamed local sentiments. Still recovering from his wounds and also suffering from acute dysenten, McCook was riding in an ambulance near Dechard, Tenn., on August 5, 1862, when he was ambushed by mounted partisans and, after some confusion—one account stated that he was trv'ing to suirender—motially wounded. After lingering until noon the next day, he turned to an aide and said, "Tell Aleck [his brother. General Alexander McDowell McCook] and the rest that I have tried to live like a man and do my duty." Those were his last words. Confederate guerrilla Captain Frank B. Gurley, who had been taken prisoner, was subsequently tried and sentenced to death for his murder, but was eventually pardoned after the war by President Andrew Johnson (see 'Tntrigue" in Military Histoiy, August 2005). McCook's men, especially the veterans of the 9th Ohio, were enraged. Before order was restored they burned a number of local buildings and even lynched several citizens in and around Huntsville. They were not the only ones moved to extreme deeds. Colonel Daniel McCook Jr. (1834-1864) was OCTOBER 2005 MILnAKY HISTORY 27

tional moments of the war, the doomed commander gathered his men around him for what everyone realized was a farewell. The words Dan McCook spoke were from "Horatius at the Bridge," Thomas Macaulay s epic poem of hopeless heroism and selfsacrifice: To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds Taking a position in the front rank of his beloved 52nd Ohio, McCook led his brigade into the maelstrom, clutching the colors in one hand and swinging his saber in the other. As he and a small band of men reached the very edge of the Confederate earthworks, one soldier yelled, "Colonel Dan, for God's sake get down, they'll shoot you!" Answering with a curse, he pressed on until he fell, liddled by Minie balls. Transported to his brother Georges home, he died there on July 17,1864, one day after he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers. The date of death on his grave is July 21, 1864, the same day and month his father and brother had fallen. He was Lhe last of the Fighting McCooks to die on the battlefield. stoiy of this amai^ing family does not end in 1865. Its membei-s who were blessed with longevity served their country as honorably Elected colonel of the 9th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment in May in peace as in war George Wythe McCook re1861, Robert L McCook rose to brigadier general. turned to his calmer as attorney and in 1871 ran as the Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio before his health forced him to withdraw from the campaign. outraged by the assassination of his brother and Edwin became the acting governor of Dakota Terrivowed revenge. Also a prominent attorney at the be- tory. During a heated public meeting on September ginning of the war, he had been a partner of William 11, 1873, he was murdered by an enraged citizen. T. Sherman and Thomas Ewing. All three men even- John James McCook, youngest son of the Tribe of tually became Union generals. Daniel joined the 1st Dan, prospered as a lawyer and businessman in New Kansas Volunteer Infantry as a captain, serving with York City and served as a trustee of Princeton Unidistinction at Wilsons Creek, Mo. After assignment versity. The highest-ranking soldier of the Tribe of as chief of staff of the 1st Division, Army of the Ohio, John, Edward, left his postwar assignment as military he was appointed colonel of the 52nd Ohio Volun- governor of Florida to accept an appointment as U.S. teer Infantry in the summer of 1862. In October minister to Hawaii. During his tenure he negotiated 1863, just over a year after Robert's death, he found an important commercial treaty between the two himself operating near Huntsville, Ala., close to the countries before being appointed governor of Coloscene of his brother's terrible encounter. Colonel rado Territoiy by President Ulysses S. Grant. He enMcCook sought out the home of Frank Gurley and, joyed great business success, amassing large real like an avenging angel, tore it apart, stating that he estate and mining interests, and at his death was re"left not one stone upon another," making of it "a ferred to as the "largest taxpayer in Colorado." place of desolation." Shortly after that episode, he Roderick remained in the Navy and commanded was given a brigade in Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's warships on the West India and Asiatic stations before di\ision in the Army of the Cumberland. his final service as lighthouse inspector on the Ohio On June 27, 1864, in what many consider a terri- River His health shattered by long sea duty, he died ble blunder, McCooks friend Sheiman launched a in 1886 after reaching the rank of commander The frontal attack against the fixed Confederate positions Navy named two destroyers (DD-252 and DD-496) on Kennesaw Mountain, Ga, McCook was selected USS McCook in his honor. His brother Anson was adto lead the charge, which everyone viewed as a sui- mitted to the bar after the wai" and embarked on a discidal mission. In one of the great diamatic and emo- tinguished career in law and politics. Moving to New 28 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

During the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, on June 27, 1864, Brig. Gen. Daniel McCook Jr. was mortally wounded when he personally led his old regiment, the 52nd Ohio. He died at the home of his brother George on July 17.

York in 1873, he founded Tite Law Journal and sen'ed as president of the New York Law Publishing Company until his death in 1917. Elected to Congress in 1876, he won reelection twice and then served as secretarv of the U.S. Senate &T3m 1884-93. Henry continued as one of the country's most prominent Presbyterian ministei"s, also semng as chaplain of the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment, National Guard, during the Spanish-American War. Renowned foi" his theological wiiting, he also gained international fame as a scientist thanks to his scholarly studies of ants and spiders. John James, the youngest of the McCooks, studied medicine after the war and then entered the Episcopal ministry, semng as rector of St. John's in Harttord. Conn., for many years, and as professor of modem languages and trustee at Trinity College. He was the last sumvor of the Fighting McCooks when he died in 1927. The McCooks were one of the most remarkable families in Amencan history, and their fame— though now mostly forgotten—lasted for many years. Celebrated by the media, one vignette reported in 77)e New York Ttmes of March 27, 1878, offere an especially poignant example of how poweiful the emotional appeal of the Fighting McCooks remained

and how broad their impact truly was even more than a decade after the war had ended. Four strangers were waiting in a Dayton, Ohio, restaurant for their train when they began to chat about the war. They soon realized that each had served in a regiment commanded by a McCook. "One of the veterans was a member of the First Ohio Volunteer Infantrv, Col. A.D. McCook;" stated the Tunes account, "another of the Second Ohio Volunteer Infantrv, Col. Anson G. McCook; another of the Ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry Col. Robert McCook, and the fourth man of the Fifty-Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Col. Daniel McCook. "The conversation between the veterans was becoming interesting and animated when the sound of the locomotive belt called them to separate, but it was with a hearty 'shake' and goodbye." MH New York-based conlribiitor Steven L Ossad is the coautlior, with Don R. Marsh, of Major Genei^al Maurice Rose: World War II's Greatest Forgotten Commander, For further reading, he recommends: Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, by Ezra J. Wanier; and Who Was Who in the Civil War, by Stewart Sifakis. OCTOBER 2005 MILITARY HISTORY 29

I N T E R V I E W

Russian Bear vs. the Rising Called away from Soviet operations in Courland, Major Makhmut Gareyev found himself in Manchuria facing a new enemy. BY VIKTOR LITOVKIN

orld War II did not end in May 1945 in Berlin. In the Far East, it ended that September with the final surrender of Imperial Japan to the United States, the British Commonwealth and the Soviet Union. The latter declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945, and unleashed the Red Army's First and Second Far Eastern and Zabalkalsky fronts, and the Mongolian People's Revolutionar\' Army, in cooperation with the Pacific Fleet and the Soviet Amur Flotilla, in an attack on Japanese-occupied Manchuria. Now president of the Academy of Military Sciences of Russia. Genei^ Makhmut Gareyev took pait in the Manchurian operation. In an interview for Military Histoiy with Viktor Litovkin, militarv analyst for the Russian news and information agency Novosti, Gareyev shared some lesserknown details and some personal obsei-vations on World War II's last gi^eat land campaign. Military History: In retrospect, do you believe the Soviet Union needed to break its neutrality with Japan to aid the Western Allies in 1945? Gareyev: Beginning with the latter half of the 1930s ail strategic plans of the USSR were dominated by the need to be ready to fight on both fronts—against Germany in the West and against Japan in the Far East. Soviet policy, diplomacy and military actions were subordinated to the effort to avoid a simultaneous war on both fronts, to fight the enemies one by one. In this respect the rout of militaristic Japan was never removed from the Soviet agenda. Russia's defeat by Japan

W

30 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

Sun

On January 16. 1946. Soviet T-34/85 tank crewmen and infantry take a musical break from their duties guarding prisoners from Japan's Kwantung Army in Manchuria [cBettmann/CORBIS].

in 1905 had left a deep imprint on the national memory. The senior generation had waited for decades for this ignominious memory to be erased. Japan took away Sakhalin, the Kurile Islands and some other lands without much respect for international law. During the Russian Civil War the Japanese captured a big portion of the Far East and created a real mess there. At all talks the Allies called on the USSR to intervene in the war against Japan. Josef Stalin always gave them an evasive answer until the Tehran Conference, when he finally promised to join. This issue ranked paramount at the Yalta Conference, where Stalin declared in no uncertain terms that the Soviet Union would go to war against Japan two or three months after the victory over Germany. He fulfilled his promise exactly in three months: The war in Europe ended on May 9, and the war against Japan was launched on August 9. About a month before August 9, the Japanese asked us to act as a go-between at peace talks with the United States and promised to return South Sakhalin and the KurUe Islands in exchange. We could have politically resolved our territorial issues without losing a single life, but Stalin preferred to keep his word rather than accept such a tempting proposal from Tokyo. Many claim that the Soviet Union violated its 1939 nonaggression treaty with Japan. But the USSR announced its withdrawal from this treaty back in April 1945. There was nothing to violate. Besides, it was clear from American studies and conclusions made by the staffs of U.S. armed forces during the war that the Japanese would not stop fighting even if the Americans seized their islands. They would have joined the Kwantung Army and would have continued fighting for decades. Tokyo planned to keep Manchuria as a bridgehead v^ith this aim in mind. The Soviet Union wanted to destroy this bridgehead be-

The rout of militaristic Japan was never removed from the Soviet agenda. Russia's defeat in 1905 had left a deep imprint on the national memory.

Japanese cavalry troopers of the Kwantung Army conduct maneuvers along the Amur River in anticipation of a possible Soviet invasion CAssociated Press Photo).

cause it posed a threat not only to the United States but primarily to its own territory in the Far East. American experts reported to President Franklin D. Roosevelt that if the USSR did not enter the war it might continue for a year or a year and a half and would cost the United States a million lives. Japan did not surrender even after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima on August 6 and on Nagasaki on August 9. MH: What advance preparations were made for operations in Manchuria, and how early were they made? Gareyev: AiTny General Aieksei I. Antonov, chief of general staff, in cooperation with Marshal Aleksandr M. Vasilevsky, planned the Manchurian operation so skillfully that the Japanese did not notice a thing. When General Ivan D. Chernyakhovsky was mortally wounded in action. Marshal Vasilevsky was appointed the commander of the Third Belorussian Front to speed up the rout of Nazis in East Prussia, release troops for the move to the East and acquire an experienced front commander. We started to move the troops eastward in

September and October 1944, that is, as soon as Finland withdrew h^om the hostilities. Only those divisions that had been previously transferred ft om the East to the West were transfeiTt'd back—some from the Karelian Front, others fiom Hungary. This was a demonstrative move. Both the Japanese and our civilians saw for themselves a triumphant return of our troops to the places of their permanent deployment. They were welcomed with flowers and music at railway stations. This homecoming was used as a coverup for the transfer of big tank and air force units as well as other troops. These were not shown anywhere. The trucks had covered sidings and the soldiere were kept inside and out of public view. MH: What was the gist of the Manchurian operation? Gareyev: The only way to rout the Kwantung Army without big casualties was a surprise attack. This was a difficult task for the Red Army, given the renunciation of the treaty in Apiil 1945. It was virtually impossible to transfer whole aiTnies from the West to the East without the Japanese noticing this. They were waiting for an attack but they With a Polikarpov Po-2 biplane providing direct tactical reconnaisdid not know anything about the timing. But misinfor- sance, T-34S—some serving as troop carriers—plunge into Manchuria mation and military tricks can carry you very far. on August 9.1945. MH: I understand you fought fii'st in the West, against the Germans, before being transfen"ed to the Far East. How did you and other Soviet troops take the order to go to another sauhed Konigsberg, was sent to fighl for Berlin. Others were war? sent U) the south. Some of our units were ordered to board a Gareyev: Here age was a major factor First I'd like to make a train. Nobody knew where we were going. We were exhausted little digression. When the war broke out on June 22, 1941,1 after heav>' fighting but nevertheless told to glue maps of the was a student of the Tashkent military school. We stood on the Berlin and Prague directions. So we thought that was where we parade ground and listened to Vyacheslav Molotovs speech. A were going. But it appeared that we were bound for Moscow. Cadet Garkavtsev, who was ne.xt to me, said: "While we are study- The echelon of the Fifth Arniy stafl arrived in the capital on May ing here ihc war will be over, just like it was in Khasan [1938] 2. We were at the sidings. In the evening, I saw the fireworks in and Khalkin Gol [1939]. We won't have a chance lo fight again." honor of the victory over Berlin. It was mmored that we would Garkavtsev was killed in action in the battle for Stalingrad in fight against Turkey. It was only after we had crossed the Volga late 1942. I recalled him because his opinion was prevailing River that it dawned on us where we were going. Our whole among us young officere. 1 was 22 years old in 1945, already a journey was couched in a thick veil of secrecy. major. I was even excited to hear the news about the war against MH: Did you move only at night? Japan. Oldei" people, let's say middle-aged, agreed that we ought Gareyev: No, we were on the go round-the-clock, but stopped to take revenge on the Japanese. But there were some who had only at night and never close to railway stations, only at sidings. been at war for four years. Before the war many had not been Even not every commander knew about our destination. This dismissed, even though they had served their terms. Some had transfer of huge militarv- forces was ver\^ well planned and carbeen in the arTny for seven or even eight years. They had fami- ried out. By that time Slalin had already tiTisted his generals lies and hoped to go home after the war but...I was single. So without reservation and did not fetter their initiative. we thought differently. MH: What was the attack plan once hostilities commenced? 1 remember another episode. When we arrived at our desti- Gareyev: The Japanese had a veiy powerful bridgehead on nation, battalion commander Gyorgi Gubkin, who was later Manchuria's border with the Soviet Union. The front's staff awarded the Gold Star of a Hero of the Soviet Union, stalled planned three days of continuous artillei'y fire to destroy it. A teaching us how to throw grenades. "You shouldn't throw them day or two was required just to get rid of the bushes that conthe way you did in Konigsberg where the land is flat," he said. cealed their fortifications. But the commander of our Fifth "Here in Manchuria we have hills. If you throw it upwards, it Aimy, Colonel-General Nikolai Kiylov, suggested to Vasilevsky will get to your feet before it explodes. After you pull out the an immediate offensive, without prior shelling. His proposal of safety pin, twist your hand twice before throwing it." After a surprise attack with advanced battalions was approved. Gubkin told us how to throw grenades he asked us whether we It was raining hea\ily in Khabarovsk at 1 a.m. on August 9, had any questions. A 45-year-old man wanted to know about when we crossed the border together with our frontier guards demobilization. Some were verv concerned about it. and seized the Japanese pillboxes. In peaceful times nobody MH: What was your situation when the order came? lives in pillboxes; consequently, the Japanese were asleep in Gareyev: On April 11, 1945, afterthecaptureof Konigsberg, in wooden houses some 500 to 600 meters away. Before they woke which I took pait, I was then in the operations department of up and rushed outside we had already occupied their pillboxes the Fifth AiTny headquarters. Our troops were moved from East without firing a single shot. Prussia to other directions. The Twenty-Eighth Army, which asAhead lav Mount Verblvud and Mount Gamizonnava to the OCTOBER 2005 MILITARY HISTORY 33

Left: A Red Army soldier checks a Japanese bunker whose occupants had offered typically stubborn resistance-and ultimately paid the price. Right: Japanese soldiers and civilian personnel are marched into Soviet captivity. Most preferred this to being released amid a vengeful Chinese populace CRIA Novosti].

north of Gradekovo, our fortified area, under the command of Maj. Gen. Andrei A. Shurshin. He decided to go for a 10-minute artiller\' strike in order to cheer up his troops. Instead, the Japanese rushed out of their pillboxes. After the war was over, 1 was crossing the border to deliver a report to the front's headquarters when I saw with my own eyes the Japanese who were still sitting there and firing. If General Krylov's proposal had been rejected we would have had to attack as we did in the Finnish war, cracking enemy defenses. This would have kept us fighting against pillboxes for six or seven months more. A smart decision by our commander had saved us from that. Some 690,000 men were taken prisoner from the million-strong Kwantung Army, whereas we lost 12,000 soldiers and officers during the Manchurian operation. MH: Western historv' books claim that after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the Kwantung Army was demoralized and did not pose a serious threat. Gareyev: Some Japanese were still firing at us from their pillboxes for another half a yeai;... They had enough food, water and ammunition, enough of everything. The war was ovei; but they were firing. If we had used standard tactical patterns in Manchuria, the fighting would have continued for a very long time, despite Hiroshima. The Japanese were adamant in their resolve to Bght, and they did fight fi^enziediy. I had to rescue the 84th Cavalry Division, which was en-

Manchurians greet their Soviet liberators after U years of harsh occupation under Emperor Pu Yi's reign and Japanese rule (RIA Novosti). 3-4 MILITARY HISTORY

OCTOBER 2005

circled on August 15-18 to the northeast of Nenang, a Chinese town. Once again our troops displayed their wisdom. Instead of directly landing paratroopers as originally planned, we moved t a big airborne landing force into the enemy rear, I and the Japanese were taken aback and smashed. s Here's another case in point. There was a u fortress, called Jehe, on the territory of the Transs Baikal Front, This powerful fortress made of stone was located in a city with half a million people. If we had to assault it, it would have taken us a lot of time and would have produced big casualties on both sides and among civilians. So what did the corps commander. General Issa A. Pliyev, decide to do? His idea would not have even occurred to anyone in 1941. He took seven or eight guards, one Dodge and two Willys vehicles, drove vei'y fast into the gates and went right to the headquarters. "iVe sent for the planes to bomb you," he told them. "Give up if you don't want to die!" After bargaining for an hour and a half, the whole ganison of 25.000 officers and men surrendered to one general and several guards. This is what a daring commander can do! MH: Wasn't the fighting over on August 14? After all. Emperor Hirohito ordered his army to stop fighting that day. Gareyev: Yes, he did, but not all garrisons and units of the Kwantung Army had received his order. Moreover, not everyone was going to obey it. Besides, there was a tacit order to surrender to the Americans or Chinese but to continue fighting the

Ki

OCTOBER 2005 MILITARY HISTORY 35

Russians. This was done to prevent us from seizing more land in Korea, Manchuria and other Chinese regions. But we achieved our goals regardless of this order. MH: Obviously, the United States and the Soviet Union coordinated their strategic plans against Japan to a point. But what was the case with tactical plans and military operations at divisional or regimental level? Gareyev: I was not privy to such information, but I learned something when I worked in the headquarters of the Fifth Ann>. We were told, for instance, that the Americans should not go to Port Arthur or the port of Dairen, because this was our deployment area under the bilateral agi'eements. The Ameii-

All the villagers came to our rescue. They helped us pull out tanks and other vehicles when they got stuck in the mud. cans were to stay south of the 38th parallel in Korea. Our battalions of the Twenty-fifth Army, under the command of Colonel-General Ivan Chistyakov, approached the northern out.skirts of Seoul and waited for two days for the Americans to arrive. We then withdrew to the 38th parallel. We knew some details of coordinated action. But when the units of the Thirtyfifth Army approached Port Arthur, two American units tried to disembark from fast inlantPy'-landing craft. Our troops had to open fire in order to prevent their landing, but they were shooting in the air. The Americans hoped to occupy Port Arthur and stay there, but generally the agreements were observed. However, there were many which Washington never honored. We were supposed to lake part in the occupation of Japan and one or two Soviet brigades were to be sent to Tokyo following the Berlin example. Our Thirty-fifth Army, commanded by ColonelGeneral Nikolai Zakhvatayev, was being trained for service in Japan and was about to land on Hokkaido. But none of this happened. General Douglas MacAithur, who was a very strong character and had a lot of influence in the White House, bluntly disavowed those American commitments. He did everything to block the Soviet landing in Japan. The Americans wanted to build bases on Soviet territory for the war against Japan. But it was clear that if they came to the Kurile Islands, for instance, or any other place for that matter, they would not have left soon. These suggestions were rejected. I have to admit that our postwar diplomatic efforts left much to be desired. MH: How was the Red Army met by the Chinese people? Gareyev: This is a whole new subject. But I can tell you that we never had such a hearty welcome as in Korea and China, except perhaps in Belorussian. I could quote countless exampies of good thinking in the Manchuiian operation, but here's a document. The head of reconnaissance of the Japanese Fifth Army (they also had a Fifth Army) reported to the Kwantung Army's commander. General Otsiizo Yamada, about the ongoing concentration of Soviet troops. He defined the depth and length of this concentration. They had agents at work. The report bears 36 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

one of the commanders conclusions: "Only insane people can start an offensive in the rainy season." The rains began in August. But we decided to start the offensive at the most inappropriate moment on puipose and created many difficulties for enemy troops. Their supplies were intemjpted at once. Everything got stuck in the mud. Later on, I saw with my own eyes how it was in North Korea,fii^stof all in Nenang, Girin and Donghua. All the viUagers came to our rescue. They helped us pull out tanks and other vehicles when they got stuck in the mud. In fact, they hauled tanks by hand from one village to another. Nobody forced them to do so, but they hated the Japanese so much that they were ready to do anything to see them go. The Japanese were notoriously cruel with the Chinese. We are often criticized for not letting Japanese prisoners go home, for taking them to the USSR. I was in charge of an operations group in northern Manchuria, and my task was to control these camps of war prisoners. Our troops were about to leave in 1945, but had to stay for several months more. When the first camps were handed over to the Chinese, they took all the food away from the Japanese. Any Chinese walking past a camp considered it his duty to shoot at its residents. MH: At the Japanese? Gareyev: Yes. Some journalists blame us for violations of international law. But what could we do with 650,000 people? We didn't have the means to get them back to Japan. Besides, there were mines everywhere. Nor could we abandon them to certain death in China. They begged us to take them out. MH: What was the Red Army's relationship with the Kuomintang, or Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek—and with Mao Tse-tung's Communists? Gareyev: There were many intricate issues. Before the start of the war against Japan the Soviet Union had struck an agreement with Chiang Kai-shek on Port Arthur and the Chinese Military Railway, among others things. The Communists took it vei7 badly. I used to meet Gao Gang, chairman of the Militar\' Council of North-Eastem China, a revolutionary and very clever man. He was absolutely furious about this agi'eement. MH: If that was the case, why did the Soviets help Mao rather than Chiang? Gareyev: All prewar agi^eements were signed with Chiang Kaishek. There was one indispensable condition: Neither the Communists nor the Kuomintang were allowed to enter the tenitory occupied by Soviet troops. It so happened that under the agreement with Chiang we had to withdraw from Manchuria in October-November 1945. But he realized all of a sudden that all cities would be seized by the Communists as soon as we left. He didn't want this to happen, but was not strong enough to replace us. He got stuck in the Special District and in other places. Besides, his troops were accepting surrendering Japanese. Anyway, he asked Stalin not to withdi^aw the Red Anny. which immediately evoked contradictions with Mao, But our postwar relations with the Chinese are the subject for an entirely separate discussion. MH Viklor Litovkin, military analyst for the Russian news and information agency Novosti, works in Moscow. For further reading, try: The End of the War in Asia, by Louis Allen; and Stalin's Generals, edited bv Harold Shukman.

K

NELSON He Did

His Duty

Horatio Nelson's two-column charge into the Franco-Spanish line was risky, but it won him the battle—at the cost of his life. BY WILLIAM E. WELSH

38 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

Victory, the 100-gun flagship of Vice Adm. Viscount Nelson, plunges into the Franco-Spanish battle line, in Battle of Trafalgar, by Robert Taylor (The Military Gallery, Wendover, England).

clear blue sky and a light wind from the west-northwest greeted the officei"s and sailoi^ of the two wooden sailing fleets who eyed each other warily 20 miles from the cliffs of Cape Trafalgar in southern Spain. It was the morning of October 21. 1805. The scattered rainsqualls that swept through the previous night had vanished hy sunrise and would not disrupt the historic sea hattle that would soon unfold. Despite the calm weather, however, experienced sailors in both fleets knew that the heavy swells the ships rode foretold the approach of a gale within a day. Two days before, on October 19, the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet, commanded by Vice Adm. Pierre Charles Jean-Baptiste Sylvestre Villeneuve, had raised anchor and inched its way out of the great harbor of Cadiz. Emperor Napoleon had ordered the fleet to ferry 4,000 soldiers to Naples, to capture any ships or convoys of the Third Coalition it found in the region. The wind was so still that only seven of the 33 ships of the line managed to clear the harbor. It was not until the following day that Villeneuve was able to get his flagship, the 8Q-gun Bucentaure. and the rest of the fleet into the open ocean. Once under sail, the fleet set a course southeast for the Strait of Gibraltar. The British squadron responsible for the blockade of Cadi/., under Vice Adm. Horatio Viscount Nelson, stalked its prey closely. By dawn on October 21, Nelson had closed to within nine miles of his advereaiy. In his place of command aboard the 100-gunflagshipVictory, Nelson signaled his 27 ships of the line to form two columns, one behind Victory and the other behind the 100-gun Royal Sovereign, flagship of Vice Adm. Cuthbei1 Collingwood, and to prepare for battle. Upon receiving the order, the British crews sprang to action. They tore down the partitions that formed officers' quarters around the aft guns, stowed mess tables and stools, and stuffed hammocks into nettings above the bulwarks to protect those on the upper deck. They also distributed fuses, powder charges and cannonballs to those manning the guns. The French and Spanish gun decks were already cleared for action. Knowing Nelson's reputation as afighter,Villeneuve had ordered his fleet to prepare for battle as soon as it was at sea. OCTOBER 2005 MILITARY HISTORY 39

Just before his two columns begin their attack on the Combined Fleet Nelson orders signal flags up with a final message to his officers and men: "England expects that every man will do his duty."

Nelson stood wilh Captain Thomas Masterman Hardy on Victory's poop deck. He wore a threadbare frockcoat, embroidered on the left breast with the stars of the four knighthoods ihat had been bestowed upon him during his lengthy naval career, He had been blinded in his right eye in Corsica in 1794 and had lost his right arm storming Tenerife in the Canary Islands in 1797. He may have been physically handicapped by the wounds, but his mental faculties were as sharp as ever. Nelson, together with his fellow countrymen, longed for the destruction of the Franco-Spanish fleet. Such a knockout blow, they believed, would put a finish to Napoleon's dream of global domination. To this end. Nelson planned a two-pronged attack that went against conventional tactics, which usually called for twofleetssailing in line opposite each other and trading broadsides. Nelson's ships would keep the weather gauge—that is, stay upwind of the Combined Fleet. When the Combined Fleet was sighted, the British would bear down on it in two columns, with one column punching through the enemy's center and the other column smashing through its rear. As the British ships broke thj-ough the Franco-Spanish line, they would engage their enemies from the leeward, or downwind, side. That would separate the main body of the Combined Fleet from its vanguard and allow the British to attain superiority in numbers. The plan, put down on paper October 8 in a document known as the Trafalgar memorandum, was dubbed "The Nelson Touch." Judging that his fleet would be unable to make it to the Strait of Gibraltai' before Nelson fell upon his rear, Villeneuve signaled his ships at 7:30 a.m. to return to Cadiz. By 10 the Combined Fleet had reversed direction and was bracing for the British attack. In an effort to overtake the Combined Fleet before it could regain Cadiz, the British hoisted auxiliary sails. Nelson would lead the 12 ships of the British weather column, while Collingwood aboard Royal Sovereign would lead the 15 ships that formed the British lee column. Nelson directed Victory to steer toward the I2th ship from the Combined Fleet's front, which turned out to be Bucentaure, and Royal Sovereign, which was positioned a mile and a half off Victory's starboard 40 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

beam, headed for the 16th ship from the enemy's front, in the final moments before the battle began. Nelson sent a signal to the fleet: "England expects that every man will do his duty." As each captain passed the message along to his crew, it was greeted with cheers. Nelson's plan was full of risk. As the two British columns bore down on the Combined Fleet, the bows, masts and rigging of lead ships in each column would be exposed to enemy broadsides, with no chance to return fire until they began to pass through gaps in the enemy line. The admirals and captains of the Combined Fleet were confident that they could break up Nelson's attack by dismasting the British ships before they could break through the line. The British had one decisive advantage over the Combined Fleet, however British gun crews could fire at least two or three times as fast as either the French or Spanish. Thus, if Nelson's bold plan of attack succeeded and the British could isolate parts of the Combined Fleet and outnumber it, then the British gunnery might administer a mortal blow to Napoleon's principal fleet. As Victory advanced. Nelson realized to his dismay that the Combined Fleet was not in one orderly line as he had expected. Instead, it was in clumps of three or four ships, with no gaps through which his column could pass. Shortly before noon, the 74-gun French Fougueux fired a full broadside from 1,000 yards at Royal Sovereign. Collingwood ordered men on all three decks to lie flat, but the shells fell short, doing no damage. The vice admiral had ordered the ships in his division to follow Royal Sovereign into battle on his starboard side. The ships fanned out and began to advance abreast rather than in column. Royal Sovereign was greeted by broadsides from Fougueux, the 80-gun French Indomitable and the 74-gun Spanish Moymrca. Once within range. Royal Sovereign was largely dismasted as it steered toward a gap between the Spanish 112-gun Santa Ana and Fougueux. Victory received a similai^ reception. As soon as Nelson's flagship closed to within 1,000 yards, it was fired on by the 74-gun French Heros, Bucentaure and the gigantic 140-gun Spanish Santisima Trinidad. The solid shot toppled Victory's mizzen topmast, tore off its studding sails, cut the tiller ropes and broke the ship's wheel. Victory's advance was much slower than Nelson would have liked, but he exercised no control over the capricious winds that were barely blowing. As Nelson and Hardy strode the quarterdeck, a cannonball passed between them. Each man looked at the other to see if his friend had been in-

jiired, but neither had. Nelson said, "This is too warm work, Hardy, to lasi long."

range into the French flagships stem. That cripplingfiT"stbroadside killed or wounded upward of 200 of Bueetitaure's crew and dismounted 20 of its guns. The French ship's misei>' was compounded in the course of the next hour as broadsides from five more British ships shredded its hull and masts. The French maneuvered in vain to rescue Bucentaure. The 84-gun Neptune fired a broadside that splintered Victory's foremast and bowsprit, while Captain Jean Jacques Lucas steered the 74-gun Redoutable into position to have his crew board the British man of w ar. Hardy accepted the challenge and ordered his crew to steer Victory so that its starboard side would come alongside Redoutable's. Victory's bow rammed Redoutable's port bow, and the two ships locked yardaims. In a scene that was to be repeated olten throughout the battle, Lucas and his men tried to disable Victory by annihilating the crew that controlled the ship from its upper deck. While Victory's gun crews poured shot into Redoutable, sharpshooters and grenadiei's perched in Redoutabie's tops fired (heir muskets at any human target they

apoleon had tried with varying degrees of determination lo get a French aiTny across the English Channel for an eightyear period between 1797 and 1805. At Boulogne the French emperoi' managed to assemble about 2,000 boats to carry nearly 112,000 of his best troops across, but the various parts of his fleet were bottled up by blockading British squadrons in the French polls of Brest, Rochefoit and Toulon. Spain had joined France when it declared war on Britain in 1804, and the following month the two continental powers signed a secret treaty whei'eby King Charles IV agreed to provide Napoleon with between 25 and 29 ships of the line. With the addition of the Spanish ships, the French and Spanish admirals would have larger, more heavily armed ships than iheir Bntish counteiparts. What's more, the French ships were of better design and faster under sail than the British ships, if used properly, ihey might offset British experience. Anticipating that Nelson would try to cut his line. Villeneuve had foiTned a 12-ship reserve, which he called a "squadron of obsei^vation." If properly led, it might be able to neutralize Nelson's attack by counterattacking the British. When the French departed Cadiz, the vanguard of their fleet was commanded by Spanish Vice Adm. Ignacio de Alava aboard Santa Ana, the center under Villeneuve aboard Bucentaure, the rear under Rear Adm. Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley aboard the 80-giin Fonnidabie and the squadron of obsen'ation under Admiral Federico Gravina aboard the 112-gun Principe de Aslurias. When the fleet reversed course, it put Dumanoirs division in the van and should have put Alava's in the rear. Gravina, however, swung into the rear instead of taking Nelson's attack plan called for him to lead 12 ships at the 12th man-of-war from the front up a position windward as Villeneuve of the Franco-Spanish line-which chanced to be the French flagship Bucentaure-whWe had instructed. As the battle unfolded, Vice Adm. Cuthbert Collingwood led 15 ships at the 16th major warship from the front. the Combined Fleet missed two key opportunities. One was that the van under Dumanoir could have fallen upon the British rear, and could spot on Victory's deck. the other was that Gmvina's squadron of obsewation could have More ships joined the expanding battle in the center. The 98reinforced the Franco-Spanish line either in the center or the gun British Temeraire cut sharply through the enemy line behind rear where the British attacked. Those missed opportunities Victory. In the process, it took a broadside from Neptune that would cost the Combined Fleet the battle. brought its main topmast crashing down. Despite the damage, Temeraire was able to take up a position opposite Victors' on Redoutable's starboard side, from which it began to fire a number ^-. s Victory passed astem of Bucentaure, one of the foiiner's of effective broadsides. As thefightingprogr'essed, Tetneraire and gunners pulled the lanyard on a 68-pounder carronade on the Redoutable became locked together when their masts fell across forecastle port side, sending a deadly short-range combination each other. The ships gr^adually drifted leeward until Temeraire of one massive ball and 500 musket balls thr ough Bucentaure's crashed into Fougueu.x, a I'efugee from the action begun by stem and across its deck. That carronade blast was followed Royal Sovereign farther down the line. This created the rare bv a double-shotted broadside from Victoryfiredat point-blank spectacle of four ships of line locked together in battle. OCTOBER 2005 MILftARY HISTORY 41

An unidentified shaipshooter perched in the mizzen top of Redoulahle fired a shot from his musket that struck Nelson in the chest at 1:25 p.m. as he and Hardy walked the quaiterdeck. "I hope you're not wounded, my Lord?" Hardy cned. "They have done for me at last, Hardy," Nelson gasped. "I hope not!" "Yes," Nelson said. "My backbone is shot through." Hardy ordered Nelson carried down to the orlop, the lowest deck, where he would be protected from gunfire. On the upper decks, the battle seemed to be going Lucas' way as Victory's crew was forced to abandon a dozen l2-pounders on the quarterdeck and retreat below. Lucas oi^anized a boarding party, cut the main yard for a bridge, and prepared to board. Victory had a larger crew than Redoutahle, however, and Royal Marines and sailors repulsed the attack. Lucas then tried to board Temeraire, only to fail again. Through repeated broadsides, Temeraire eventually forced both French ships to strike their colors, but Lucas and his crew had inflicted so much damage on Temeraire and Victory that neither ship was able to play a significant role in the second half of the battle.

of the leeward column, which immediately followed Ro\al Sovereign through the line, were to suffer the most. Royal Sovereign managed to oveipower Santa Ana, but Belleisle and Mars, which followed closely behind it at about 12:15 p.m.. were severely handled by their French adversaries, Fougueux and the 74-gun Plutori. respectively. Santa Ana was pure "Spanish perfection," wrote CoUingwood after the battle. "She towered over the Royal Sovereign like a castle." As it passed Santa Ana's stem. Royal Sovereign fired a broadside from its port side into the rear of the Spanish threedecker. The blast wrecked 14 of the ship's guns and killed nearly 100 of its crew. The 74-gun Belleisle followed closely, firing another broadside through Santa Ana's stem. Royal Sovereign then took up a position on Santa Ana's leeward side, and the two remained locked in combat for nearly two hours before the Spanish ship struck its colors. Belleisle, under the command of Captain William Hargood, was the next to enter close combat. As it sailed through the enemy line, Fougueux struck it amidships. The bowsprit of the French ship made a screeching sound like a wounded animal while it was dragged along Belleisle's quarterdeck. Once locked together, the two ships proceeded to demolish each other with J *- lthough the British seemed most hard pressed at the cannon fii-e. While engaged with Fougueux, Belleisle was subpoint where Victory cut through the Franco-Spanish line and jected to broadsides from a half dozen other enemy ships. Nelson was mortally wounded, that was not the case. The ships Belleisle lost all three masts, while Fougueux lost two before fi-

A musket fired from Redoutable's mizzen top fells the British commander, in Death of Admiral Nelson, by Nicholas Pocock. When Captain Thomas Hardy cried, "I hope you are not wounded, my Lord?" Nelson replied, "They have done for me at last, Hardy." 42 MILrrARV HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

naJly managing to break free. Although it appeared that Belleisle would have to strike its colors, Hargood and his men held on until other British ships distracted their attackers. The next British ship to join the action, Mars, came under fire from both Santa Ana and Pliiton. Mars traded broadsides with Pliitou for about 20 minutes. The latter got the upper hand, ending up on Mars' starboard quarter, from where it pounded the British ship unmercifully. About that time, Fougueiix also turned its attention to Mars. Now under fire from three ships. Mars was in a tight spot. While trying to pinpoint the positions of the enemy ships from the quarterdeck, its captain was decapitated by a cannonball fired from Fougueiix. The arrival of the 80-gun British Tonnant at about 1 p.m. turned the tide in favor of the British. First Tonnant silenced Monarca with a several effective broadsides. Next it turned its attention to Algesiras, the 74-gun flagship of French Rear Adm. Charles Magon. Like Redoutahle's Captain Lucas, Magon also believed boarding was the way to capture an enemy vessel. While Tonnant was filing double shot at the French ship, Algesiras collided with it amidships. Immediately Tonnant's car-

Theodor Weber's depiction of The Sinking of Admiral Villeneuve's Flagship was a bit premature. Bucentaure's crew retook it amid a storm after the battle, but it subsequently ran aground.

Anatomy of a d Battle Fleet The wooden sailing ships of the three nations—Britain, France and Spain—that fought at Trafalgar were formidable fighting machines that the Europeans had perfected over the 2)i centuries preceding that battle. By the beginning of the 18th century, all major European navies had implemented standardized methods of production for these flillrigged ships. This allowed them to be constructed with common ai-chitectural featui-es for their hulls, stnictures and sail patterns within the diffeient rates and classes. Naval ships were grouped into sLx major categories, known as rates. Ships of the first three rates were referred to as "above the line," while ships of the last three rates were referred to as "below the line," Ships above the line formed what was known as a battle fleet. A first rate ship generally mounted 100 to 120 guns, a second rate ship 90 to 98 and a third rate 64 to 84 guns. Ships with 84 to 120 guns required three decks to deploy their guns, while ships with 64, 74 or 80 guns required two. These were referred to as three deckers or two deckers, respectively. Ships below the line included fourth rates with 50 to 60 guns, Bfrh rales with 32 to 44 guns and sixth rates with 20 lo 28 gims. While fourth and fifth rates were two-deckers, sixth rates mounted all of their guns on the main deck and thus required no gunports from which to fire. Fifth and sixth rate ships were known as frigates and were built according to a streamlined design introduced by the French. In a large battle, frigates served as scouts, passed signals back and forth among ships and guarded any ship that had surrendered by striking its flag. At the time of Trafalgar, European navies used smoothbore muzzleloading cannons firing solid shot to pierce the hulls of enemy ships or bring down their masts. A first-rate ship of the line at Trafalgar mounted 32-pounders on the bottom deck, 24-pounders on the middle deck and 12pounders on the upper deck. Solid shot fired from these guns could clear the decks of enemy ships, dismount enemy guns from their carriages and send thousands of wooden splinters flying through the air to kill or maim crew members. One well-executed broadside from a ship of the line was capable of destroying the offensive capability of an enemy ship and leaving it open to boarding and capture. The big guns had a maximum range of 3,000 yards, but naval commanders at the time of Trafalgar preferred to fight at 350 yards or less. The 33 ships of the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet mounted ahout 500 more guns than the 27 British ships at Trafalgar, but that numerical advantage was more than offset by superior British gunnery. For example, it took British gun crews only 90 seconds to reload and fire a 32-pounder, whereas it took Spanish crews aboutfiveminutes lo perform the same task. W.E.W.

OCTOBER 2005 MILnARY HISTORY 43

Informed of the British victory by his officers at 4 p.m.. Nelson responded, "Thank God. I have done my duty." He died 30 minutes later.

under his command as well as two ships that had been leading Villeneuve's division, Heros and San Augustin. and one ship, Intrepide, that had been unable to get into position at the start of the battle. No longer able to ignore the fleets desperate plight after two hours, Dumanoir ordered his ships to tuiTi around. The 74-gun French Intrepide and 74gun Spanish San Augusti}! were the < only two ships to head for the thick of ^ the battle, tn'ing to assist Bucentaure ^ and Santisima Trinidad, respectively. I Hardy, aboard Victory, spotted the I movement and signaled for all avail= able British ships to meet the threat. As it bore down on Bucentaure, Intreronades, which were packed with grapeshot and musket halls. pide was shredded by cannon fire from seven ships of the line swept Algesiras' upper deck, resulting in heavy casualties. that had responded to Hardy's signal. Intrepide, however, did During an hour-long battle, the crew of each ship attempted to not easily succumb to the British gunnery. Under the skillful board the other. Finally 60 of Tonnant's crew, armed with cut- command of Captain Edward Codrington, Orion took up a polasses, pikes and tomahawks, scrambled aboard Algesiras and sition on Intrepide's starboard quarter from where his ship could captured it. The boarders found Admiral Magon at the foot of inflict heavy damage and avoid return fire. After a two-hour fight, Intrepide struck its colors at 5:30 p.m. the poop ladder, dead h^om a bullet in the chest. Collingwood's squadron had attacked the Franco-Spanish San Augustin met a similar fate. Its advance was checked by rear in four separate groups, cutting it in three places. Royal the 74-gun British Leviathan under Captain Henry Bavntun. Sovereign led the first group, while the 74-gun Bellerophon led When the two ships became entangled, Bayntun ordered the second. The attack of the second group initially seemed Leviathan's canonades to sweep the Spanish ship's upper deck promising, but quickly deteriorated. As Bellerophon passed to prepare it for boarding. On the third ti>. Leviathan's crew through the Franco-Spanish line it reeled hom the broadsides managed to board and capture the Spanish ship. of five enemy ships. When Bellerophon rammed the 74-gun French Aigle, the crew attempted to subdue the British by firing muskets and tossing grenades from the ship's tops. Through a -fter he was shot, Nelson was carried by a sergeant major freak accident, a grenade thrown through a port exploded in and two seaman from the quarterdeck down to the orlop deck. Bellerophon's storeroom, blowing open its door and, fortunately Dr. Beatty, the ship's surgeon, instructed them to place the adfor its crew, blowing shut the magazine door. When the 74-gun miral on a bed of spare sails and old canvas. In the dim canDefiance came to Bellerophon'^ assistance, Aigle struck its colors.dlelight, the doctor pi-obed Nelsons chest wound. Finding no The third and fouiih groups focused on the front and rear of exit hole in his back, Beatty concluded the bullet had lodged in the squadron of observation, led by Gravina aboard Prirwipe de his spine. For nearly three hours, Beatty and the others preAustwias. The most significant action in this sector occurred sent attempted to keep the admiral informed of the battle's when the 98-gun Prince engaged Gravina's flagship, nearly forc- progress and as comfortable as possible. During a visit from ing the Spanish ship to suirender lt was saved, however, when Hardy at 4 p.m.. Nelson said, "Thank God, I have done my duty." the 74-gun Spanish San Justo and Neptune came to its rescue. Thirty minutes later he was dead. The battle was drav^dng to a close as Nelson breathed his last. Franco-Spanish ships not ah-eady captured by the British either he plight of the Franco-Spanish center and rear might have surrendered or managed to escape to the north or south. Bucenbeen alleviated if Rear Adm. Dumanoir, who was commanding taure struck its colors around 4:30 p.m., and Santisima Trinidad the Combined Fleets vanguard when Nelson struck, had turned did the same a few minutes later Although mortally wounded, the van around in the opening stage of the battle. He ignored Gra\'ina led 11 ships to Cadiz, while Dumanoir led four ships two signals from Villeneuve to come lo the assistance of the south. A total of 17 ships, eight French and nine Spanish, suirenmain body of ihe fleet. The fii^t signal was made shortly afrer dered to the British. The explosion of the French 74-gun Achilk, noon at the outset of the engagement, while the second was which had caught fire, marked the end of hostilities at 5:30 p.m. given an hour later, at about I p.m. Dumanoir had seven ships Continued on page 12 44 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

Vie Taking ofAndriba Peak, Madagascar, 15th September 1895, depicted by Louis Tinayre, marked the beginning of the end of thp French campaign to conquer the islan'd kingdom (Mu'see des^ :s d'Afrique et d'Oceanie. F^ris, France/Bridggman Art Library].*

Madagascar's native populace proved easy to defeat in 1895. The island itself turned out to be far more deadly to the French invaders. BY R. MICHAEL POSSO

W

hen the French tricolor rose over the vast and exotic island of Madagascar in October 1895, it marked the realization of an ambition that the French had harbored for more than 250 years. It also marked the culmination of one of the last—and certainly among the least-knovvn^ampaigns of 19thcentury European colonialism in Africa. Located in the Indian Ocean more than 400 kilometers from the southeast coast of Africa, Madagascar is the worlds fourth-largest island, coveiing an area more than twice that of Britain. The French had first arrived there in 1642. constructing a settlement at the southern end of the island that they christened Fort Dauphin, now known as Taolanaro, but the colony was abandoned in 1674. The French were more successful in securing the islands of Sainte Marie off Madagascar's east coast in 1750 and in 1841 the small isle of Nosy Be off the norihem coast. Farther to the east, the French colonized what they called Bourbon Island in 1643—renamed Reunion by the revolutionary regime in 1793—and the abandoned former Dutch island colony of Mauritius in 1715. While the European colonial interests vied with each other and slowly consolidated their holdings around the rim of the Indian Ocean in the 18th and 19th centuries, Madagascar's 18 indigenous Malagasy tribes were united under the hegemony of the Merina or Hova people, who originally occupied only the central highlands of the island. Begun between 1787 and 1810. the process was completed by King Radama 1, who ruled one of Africa's few independent states from the central capital of Antananarivo ("city of a thousand warriore"). French interest in Madagascar briefly revived during the Napoleonic wars, when French agent Sylvain Roux established an outpost on the islands east coast at Tamatave (now Toamasina) in 1804. In 1810, however, the British occupied Reunion and Mauritius, and on February 18, 1811, a British force from Mauritius seized Tamatave as well. King Radama, mindful of French territorial aggression and British success against Napoleon, turned to London for support as the lesser of two colonial evils. British military advisers aided the Hova in their drive to unif>' Madagascar, and Britain signed treaties in 1817 and 1824 recognizing the island as an independent kingdom. In the first treaty, Radama agreed to end the slave trade, and teachers hom the London Missionan' Society were invited to the island. After Radamas death in 1828, his wife seized the throne and, as Queen Ranavalona I, tried to reverse the adoption of Christianity and Western customs. After her death in 1861, however, Radama's reforms resumed and by 1868 the monarchy itself was officially Protestant.

Above: French and Algerian troops overrun a Hova camp, in an illustration by H. Meyer from the June 2. 1895. edition of Le Petit Journal. Left: Within a year of ascending to the throne on July 13, 1883, Queen Ranavalona III found herself forced to grant concessions to the French.

Having already evicted the French from India, the British .steadily expanded their conti ol over the Indian Ocean and East Afiica. By the late 1800s, they were positioned at the gates of the independent sultanate of Zanzibar, where they offered a reasonably attractive alternative to the overlordship exercised by Arab slaving interests. To France the continued success of its traditional English rival was intolerable. Defeat in the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War created a Third Republic, which was hungry to restore national prestige. The old desultory interest in Madagascar revived with a vengeance.

Eschewing worries about the white mans grave/ the army included a 48 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

On July 13,1883, Queen Ranavalona II died, and 21-year-old Ranavalona III succeeded her, manning her prime minister, Rainilaiaiivony, shortly aftenvai'd. In that same year, the French began seizing coastal positions in Madagascar, and in 1884 a naval base was established at the islands northern tip in the port of DiegoSuarez (now Antsiranana). The next year the French compelled Queen Ranavalona to sign a treaty ceding them furthei" rights and concessions. In 1886, Ranavalona sent gifts lo President Grover Cleveland in what proved to be a vain attempt to get recognition and support Irom the United States. Then, at the Convention of Zanzibar in 1890, France reached an accommodation with its imperial rival, recognizing Britain's suzerainty over Zanzibar in exchange for British recognition of a French protectorate over Madagascar. The royal government in Antananarivo was not consulted.

13th Regimen! de la Marine, plus smaller contingents representing virtually every other available source of militarv' manpower, fi'om Senegalese infantiy to a With the path now open for the final 150-man mounted contingent of the Chasseurs consolidation of France's grip on the vast d'Afrique. Altogether this brought the troop strength island, in 1894 a committee was formed to just over 15,000, under the command of Maj. Gen. in Paris to draw up a campaign plan. The Jacques Charles Rene Achille Duchesne. resulting scheme seemed to be a marvel of both innovation and thrift. ResponsiIn addition to soldiers, the e\peditionar>' force inbility for the coming invasion was vested cluded some 8,000 porters and mule drivei s with no in the army, on the basis of its having produced an estimated direct combat role. Roughly 5,500 of the auxiliaries were from budget that was some 30 million francs lower than that pro- Algeria, including about 3,500 Berber Kabyle tribesmen from posed by the navy. Of coitrse, that fiscal decision also removed the Algerian highlands who at least had some experience with the responsibility for planning from the Navy Ministry, where traveling in undeveloped country. The remaining 2,000 Algerimost successful French overseas experience (in Tonkin, for ex- ans had been recruited from the streets and alleys of coastal ample) resided. cities and were of more dubious value. Eventually another 2.000 The army plannet s had ideas to reduce the large and expen- portere would be hastily recruited, primarily from Somalia and sive logistical tail that has always been an inherent feature of Madagascar itself. campaigning in an undeveloped country. Their primai>' logisIt should be noted that, based on recent colonial experience, tical improvement was the newly designed Lefevre wagon, a the number of porters was distinctly small in proportion to the prefabricated collapsible metal cart weighing about 500 pounds. fighling force. For comparison, during France's 1892 campaign Having won its bid, the army turned to assembling a hetero- to subdue Dahomey, the ratio of fighting men to porters had geneous expedition from a number of units. Eschewing any been roughly equal. The French were counting on their Lefevre wonies about "the white man's grave," this hodgepodge in- wagons to reduce the need for costly foot transport. cluded a high proportion of unaccUmatized troops from metFacing the French was a 40,000-man-strong Hova army—at ropolitan France. least in theoiy. In reality, only about half of its personnel could Three infantiy regiments, each numbering about 2,400 men be expected to be aiTned with modern rifles, primarily Snidei"s. on paper, comprised the combat core of tbe force. Exemplify- The core of Madagascar's fighting fot ce was an authentic standing their ad hoc nature, the 200th Infantry was composed of ing army, complete with artil!er>' and foreign advisere—mostly regular French soldiers drawn by lot from 12 other regiments. British, of course. The rest carried ancient muskets, spears and The equally new Regiment d'Algerie comprised one bataillon de various improvised weapons. Many troops were recently conmarche of the Foreign Legion, with men drawn from both of scripted, and some were even prisoners from the island's jails. the Legions two regular regiments, plus two battahons of AlThe French selected Majunga as their beachhead. Located on gerian tirailleur light infantry. Finally, a so-called Regime}it Colo- the islands west coast, it lay roughly 500 overland kilometers niale was raised from volunteers on Reunion and later from dis- from their ultimate objective, Antananarivo. The French opted affected Malagasy fighters. In addition, the force included the for that target even though late in 1894 they had reoccupied the French forces reoccupy Tamatave in late 1894. With Hova troops entrenched outside the port at Farafaty, the French opted to advance on the Malagasy capital by another, longer route.

high proportion of unacclimatized troops from metropolitan France. OCTOBER 2005 MILITARY HISTORY

The French decision to advance on Antananarivo from Majunga was based on inadequate intelligence. The best-laid plans made in Paris went awry from the moment the troops landed.

French Advance on

Antananarivo 1835

(f

4 auphiu, sift, of

400 kib

old Napoleonic base at Tamatave on the east coast. Tamatave was 150 kilometers closer lo the Malagasy capital, but the Hova had managed to hold on to a fort at Farafaty, just outside of Tamatave, thus bottling up the French there. In weighing the obstacles to be overcome, the French judged it better to fight the Malagasy terrain and take the longer route from the west than to attack an already entrenched enemy force from the east. Viewed from a desk in Paris, Majunga looked like a promising landing site for a shipbome force. The town stood on the headland of a bay more than 10 kilometers wide that bit nearly 80 kilometers into the western coast, a seemingly pei"fect staging area. The bay also provided direct access to the mouth of the Betsiboka River, which with its tributaries was believed to pro\ide a navigable river route extending almost 250 kilometers into the interior highlands. The main French forces landed at Majunga in April 1895—

autumn in the southern hemisphere and the start of Madagascar's dn' season, with average daytime temperatures hovering around 90 degrees. French gunboats had silenced a small Malagasy fort overlooking the harbor in January, and the troops were able to land and consolidate without any significant Malagasy interference. It was just as well for the French that the Hova were so quiescent, because their campaign plan began to fall apart almost at once. In spite of a sporadic French presence in Madagascar for many years, pre-invasion intell igence about the landing site seems to have been virtually nil. It had become immediately obvious after disembarking that the force had landed on difficult terrain with an unhealthy climate, swarming with disease-carrying insects. Malaria was endemic to the entire island. Worse, the French supplies of quinine had been loaded onto the ships first, and therefore would be among the last items unloaded. The operation immediately ran into difficulty with the unwelcome discovery of a coral reef just off Majunga that hindered construction of a wharf needed for unloading the heavy transports. The problems were compounded by persistent Indian Ocean swells that rolled into the bay, preventing assembly of the prefabricated shallow-draft river craft meant to accompany the expedition. Suddenly the 250-kilometcr riverine advance the French had envisioned turned fiom serene to impracticable. Seeing his original plan going awr\; General Duchesne could consider four alternatives. With his seagoing transport still available, he could abort the operation and withdraw. He could stay where he was and request further supplies and personnel, including porters. He could continue inland with his available forces. Finally, he could leave most of his personnel in Majunga and advance with a smaller, lighter force that his existing porters could support. Several factors influenced Duchesne's opting for the third choice. Withdrawal was almost certainly unacceptable politically, while waiting would have exposed his force to a war of attrition with disease and other privations. The fourth option was tempting but would have presented the serious risk of dividing his force in the face of an enemy of unknovm strength and ability. It should also be remembered that among the hard-bitten colonial officers of the 19th century, both a stoic endurance of hardship and a certain nathless disregard for casualties—on either side—were actively fostered. Advancing in full force with half the usual number of porters made the Lefevre wagons essential. That, however, required building a road through the trackless lowland wilderness. Thus, even in a pre-motorized world, Duchesne found himself commanding one of the first road-bound aiiTiies. The original timetables were torn up, and the invasion proceeded at the pace of the pick and shovel—a slow purgatory of backbreaking labor, stifling heat and air that swaimed with insects carrying an arsenal of suffering and disease. Soon the Lefe\Te wagons.

The force had landed on difficult terrain with an unt 50 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

Almost as swift as their \ictory was a reminder to the French officers of how far from St. C\T they were. The name Merovoay means "many crocodiles," and with Hova dead and dying Uttering the riverbank the giant reptiles emerged in droves to enjoy an unexpected feast as the horrified Europeans looked on. The French continued their slow road building parallel to the Betsiboka, turning to follow the Ikopa River when it branched off from there. On June 9, they reached the town of Maevatanana, where they again quickly routed the Hova who opposed them. Duchesne and his senior officers were still uncertain whether Hova resistance would continue to be negligible or if this might be only a prelude to more serious fighting in the mountains before the central highlands. By that point, the French expedition was likely to be debilitated and its supply lines stretched to their luUest extent. Their concerns were well founded. By the time they reached Maevatanana, the French had advanced roughly 200 kilometers in six weeks—an average rate offivekilometers per day-—and they still had another 300 to go to reach Antananarivo. At that point, Duchesne found it necessary to pause and have his troops erect a temporary hospital. It would not want for occupants. The decision to use unseasoned metropolitan troops was proving fatal as the men worked themselves to death in the wilderness. Ever>' dusk brought swarms of mosquitoes to torment the barely living and infect the next crop of malarial casualties. Each dawn a few less men awoke. The entire expedition was moving to the Foreign roundly hated by all, would be rechristened Although they easily routed Legion's dictum of "march or die." Any soldier fievre ("fever") wagons. the Hova at Maevatanana on who fell out en route was doomed; the Hova took During that time, the French managed to June 9, the French found their no prisoners, and stragglers were immediately enlist some of the Sakalava people of the supply lines straining after killed by the locals. Some could stand the sufferwest coast into the Regiment Coloniale. The having advanced roughly 200 ing no longer. Suicide, typically more of a garriSakalava had been among the last Malagasy kilometers in six weeks-with son problem than something encountered on tribes to be torcibly incorporated into the another 300 still to go. campaign, became a real concern—16 suicides Hova kingdom, and they still smarted under were officially counted in the Regiment d'Algerie the domination of what they considered lulers as foreign as any emanating from Europe. The Sakalava in the course of the campaign. seemed ideal candidates for recruitment, not only because of On August 21, the French reached Andriba and encountered their antipathy to Queen Ranavalona but because of their ap- resistance. After a four-hour artillery exchange, however, the parent blood t hi rsti ness—they had been practicing human sac- Hova shelling fell off sufficiently to allow Brig. Gen. Emile Jean rifice as recently as 1850. Francois Regis Vovron, Duchesnes 2nd Brigade commander, to The French moved out oi Majunga at the end of April and ad- launch an infantry assault that broke the defenders and secured vanced around the edge of the bay to the mouth of the Betsi- the town the next day. With more than 200 kilometers still to boka. There they encountered the first serious Hova resistance, cover between there and Antananarivo, Duchesne again halted, centered on the fortified town of Merovoay. The French as- this time for two weeks in order to assess conditions. Even by saulted the city on May 2, and the Hova levies, faced with su- the callous standards of 19th-century colonial warfare, the situperior firepower, including support fi'om gunboats in the bay, ation was terrible. In the Regiment de la Mmine there were 1,500 almost immediately abandoned their positions and fled inland. effectives left out of the original 2,400; only 350 out of 800 ChosFrench casualties were negligible. seurs a Pied were stillfit—barely—forduty. Even the relatively

^althy climate, swarming with disease-carrying insects. OCTOBER 2005 MILITARV HISTORY 51

defended. The ascent continued, with the French hoping that the Hova wei^ too demoralized to offer further resistance. That hope was dispelled as soon as they emerged from the defile onto the highland plateau on September 15. There Voyron and his troops encountered a Hova army of nearly 7,000 men drawn up on a transverse ridge at Tsmainondrv. Voyron immediately launched an attack, utilizing a pin-and-flank approach, combining a frontal assault by the tough professionals of the Regiment d'Algerie to hold the Malagasy forces in place while the Regiment Mixte simultaneously sought to outflank them. The Malagasy tr(K>ps responded to the French frontal assauh with their artillery, but their fire was ineffective. Aside firim their lack of training and skill, many of their shells proved to be duds. Then once again the defendei-s abandoned their positions and fled before the French could come to grips with them. The French resumed their advance, and on September IS after a night march the column reached the foot of its last and greatest physical obstacle: the Ambohimenas Mountains, which i^ose before them. There, too, the Hovas had dug in to make a stand. Once more Voyron used a hardy Regiment Coloniale had lost 25 percent of its French wounded and sick effective sti'ength, leaving 450 Legionnaires and 1,200 leave Madagascar for home in pin-and-flank approach, with the Regiment d'Algerie again making the frontal Algerian tirailleurs able to cairy a hlle. In all, the ex- January 1896-three months pedition's effective fighting force had been cut in half after the successful conclusion assault. Once more, too, the Hova opened up with a few ineffective artillery rounds without suffering serious casualties in a single battle. of a campaign that had cost and then abandoned their positions in the Clearly it was time for Duchesne to reconsider his few battle casualties, but options. Both delay and reembarkation were out of almost 5,700 deatfis to disease. lower foothills. On this occasion it was the appearance of their traditional enemies, the question—the point of no return had been the erstwhile headhunting Sakalavas, in passed. The only decision left was whether to conthe flanking force that drove the Hovas intofinalheadlong flight. tinue pressing on as they were or split off a light force, using most of the dwindling band of effective troops. The Hovas' habit The Flinch gained the heights and entei^ed the central highlands. of rapid flight had preserved their army which, in theory, could From there, on September 26, they glimpsed Antananarivo lying still be effectively deployed in the mountain barrier that re- below them, about 25 kilometers distant. The light column had mained between the French and the highlands. If Duchesne justified its existence by covering more than 200 kilometers in continued at his snail's pace, however, and his army was still in two weeks, while suffering fewer than 20 battle casualties. the wilderness when the rainy season began in November, comOn the morning of September 30, the light column reached plete catastrophe would be certain. the final ridge five kilometers from the outskirts of the MalaDuchesne decided to reorganize his effective troops into a gasy capital. There, the Hova's royal guard regiments made a light column for a dash to the capital. The Regiment d'Algerie last effort to defend the city but were swiftly driven off. The would lead it, followed by a newly constituted and aptly named French deployed artilleiy and prepared to bombard the city. One Regiment MLxte. Then would come 3,000 pack animals with one round from the first salvo neatly pierced the roof of the royal handler tor each two, and finally a small rear guard. The force, palace. At once a white flag emerged. Antananarivo had fallen, commanded by General Voyron, totaled roughly 200 officei-s, and on October 1, Queen Ranavalona 111 accepted French de4,000 soldiers and 1,500 mule drivers—the best that remained mands that her island become a protectorate of France. The of the 23,000-man force that had landed five months earlier. campaign was over. Vovron's column moved out of Andriba on September 14 and Thus France added Madagascar to its imperial holdings. began plodding up into the mountains, where the teirain of- From the vantage point of Paris, the cost in absolute terms fered deteiTnined defenders ever^ advantage. doubdess seemed quite reasonable. Proportionately, however, Twelve kilometere lix)m Andriba the column reached its first the losses were appalling. Just over 4.600 of 15,000 French obstacle, the mountain defile at Mamokomita, which was unContinued on page 73 52 MILITARY HISTORY

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he annals of the later Roman empire are scarred by events that took place near the Thracian city of Adrianople on the afternoon of August 9, AD 378. By that evening, the eastem Roman Emperor Valens was dead along with tens of thousands of irreplaceable warriors, in a defeat that signaled the beginning of the end of Rome's ability to resist external pressure and prevent penetration of its defenses. According to the contemporary historian Ammianus Marcellinus, himself a Roman officer, "No battle in our history except Cannae [Hannibal Barca's great victon' in 216 BC] involved such a massacre." After the death of Emperor Constantine in AD 337, the Roman empire saw the retum of sibling struggles for total control. Constantine had hoped that his three surviving sons would be satisfied with onethird of the empire each—western Europe, southeastern Europe and the eastem provinces—but such was not to be. After his three sons were killed, they were followed not bv blood relations but bv a suc-

54 MILITAKV HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

cession of generals from their armies. The general who finally secured the imperial purple on Eebruary 26, 364, was Flavius Valentinianus, a man of humble biiih but considerable military skill. As Emperor Valentinian 1, he focused on shoring up the h'ontier along the Danube River. To keep the eastem part of the empire in friendly hands, on March 28 Valentinian appointed his brother, Flavius Julius Valens, to the position of co-emperor and placed him in Constantinople. Valentinian died in 375 and was succeeded by his 16-year-old son, Flavius Gratianus, or Gratian. Contemporaries described Gratian as "a young man of remarkable talent: eloquent, controlled, warlike, yet merciful." During his short life, he fought successfully against Rome's enemies and vigorously attacked the last vestiges of paganism. At the time he became emperor in the west, however, Gratian was much too inexperienced to hold any sway over his uncle, Valens. In contrast to his brother, Valens did not join the Roman army until 360, and thanks to Adrianopie he has gone down in history as an ineffective military

ADRIANOPLE LAST GREAT BATTLE OF ANTIQUITY Emperor Valens' haste to come to grips with the Goths cost him his life and Rome its last predominantly Roman army. BYJOEZENTNER

leader. In actuality, he was not without skill as a commander. His earlier offensive campaign against the Goths, fi"om 367 to 369, was conducted with vigor and skill. In spite of difficulties in cairying out operations against elusive enemies in their home territory, he was able to bring his Goth foes to battle and defeat them. According to their own traditions, the Goths originated in a land called Gothiscandza, identified as southern Scandinavia, Those same traditions cite population pressure as the reason for their move to what would become their long-standing homeland between the Oder and Vistula rivers, in what is now Poland. However, no archaeological evidence exists to support this idea. What seems to have happened was a slow, steady drift from the Oder-\^stula region into Scythia, now known as Ukraine. That region already contained a mixed population, and the Goths would certainly have mixed with othei" peoples to produce a populace that was far from homogeneous. By the middle of the 3rd centuiy they had become a formidable power. The leader of a Visigothic tribe called the Tervin-

gians, Fritigem (derived fi-om the Goth word frithugaims, "desiring peace"), was a prominent waniorking whose followers included a number of Roman subjects as well as Goths. The former ranged from escaped slaves and gold miners to Goth soldiers in the Roman army who, although initially loyal to Rome, had been driven to rebellion by the hostility of the local populace. Fritigem must have been a man of enormous charisma and strength of will. He managed to hold together a confederacy of disparate clans and tribes with no greater authority than their belief in his ability to win. Since Fritigems followers included Huns, Roman expatriates and Ger-

Above left: Encircled by Goths in the Battle of Adhanople, Roman legionaries make their final stand, in a painting by Howard Gen"ard [Artwork by Howard Gerrard, from CAM84 Adrianople AD 378, ^Osprey Publishing). Above: A portrait coin of Emperor Flavius Julius Valens (The Art Archive/Jan Vindrond/ Numismatist Pahs/Dagli Orti). OCTOBER 2005 MILITARY HISTORY 55

<>

Fleeing oncoming Hunnic hordes to the east tribes of Germanic Goths drifted into Imperial Roman territory in growing numbers in the mid-4th century. Skilled with the sword, spear and battleax, they also used their wagons as defensive weapons by circling them into a laager from which their warriors would sally in and out

manic tribesmen, large numbers wouid have deserted him had they felt better off under someone else's leadership. Compared to the vast trove of information available on the Roman army of the 4th century, virtually nothing is known of the Goth fighting organization— if there was one. Nevertheless, the Goths were not mere wild men, as popularly portrayed in Roman and later accounts. Many had served in Roman armies and knew how to wield a sword, spear or battle-ax with skill. Such weapons were more of a threat to the Romans than in previous centuries because of changes in the Roman infantry. Due to reductions in available funds for military spending, the Roman soldier wore less metal armor, his shield was smaller and rounder and, to compensate, his short stabbing gladius had been replaced by a sword longer than the one he had used in the 1st century. Roman infantn formations were still formidable but had lost some of the invincible aura they had enjoyed in the imperial heyday. The Goths often fought fi-om laagers, a group of wagons an^anged in a circle, from which they would dart out to do battle, then quickly return. This amounted to a mobile fortress that could protect them no matter where they fought. In the fall of 376, the Romans agreed to help Friti-

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gem's people cross the Danube and settle in the province of Moesia. In 377, however, a famine struck the Roman areas settled by the Visigoths, and their appeals for help went unanswered by the Roman authorities. The magister militum (governor-general) of the area, Lupicinus, and his dux secundae, Magnus Maximus, treated the Visigoths badly, forcing them to pay exorbitant prices for food and keeping Goth women as concubines. As the Goths became restive, Lupicinus invited Fritigem, Alaxav and other Visigothic chieftains to a banquet at his headquarters in Marcianople, planning to make them hostages to keep their tribes in line. His plan failed—a fight broke out the Gothic escorts and Alaviv were killed, but Fritigem escaped. The Tervingians under Fdtigem now rose in open revolt, pillaging the countryside surrounding Marcianople. Lupicinus led a small force to confront them nine miles outside the city, only to be overpowered and massacred. The crisis continued into 378, with the Visigoths holding sway over much of Thrace, an ancient country in the southeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, reaching north to the Danube and comprising modem Bulgaria and parts of Greece and Turkey. Emperor Valens and his army were in Thrace, marching west from Adrianople along the Martisa

River valley when news reached him that the Goths were moving south along the Tundzha River. At first he thought it was only a small raiding party, but he soon realized it was a much larger force. He therefore turned back toward Adrianople and established a fortified camp just outside the city. ocated at the western end of the Thracian plain near the Greek border, 130 miles northwest of Constantinople, Adrianople (now Edime in Turkey) was originally named Hadrianopoiis, for the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who built it in AD 125 on the site of the ancient city of Uskudama. Lying at the confluence of the Martisa, Tundzha and Arda rivers, it had been of geographic and military importance since ancient times. Holding a conference with his lieutenants during the night of August 8.378, Valens faced a CITIcial decision: Should he engage the Goths at once or wait for his young nephew and co-emperor, Gratian, to join him? This caused a rift among his senior officers. The more cautious among them recommended that Valens wait and allow Gratian to anive with his army. The Romans could then move as a combined fcjrce to fight a stronger battle and wipe out the entire Goth threat. Gratian's western contingent was not many days' march away, they argued, and communications between the two armies had already been established. Another group of officers, led by a general who knew what he was doing, urged immediate action. Comes (Count) Sebastianus had been appointed to overall command in the region two months earlier, and in the previous weeks had adopted an aggressive guerrilla-style mode of campaigning. It had proven immensely successful thus far, forcing the Goths to cease raiding in small bands and coalesce into much larger groups for their own protection. That made them \Tilnerable to a conventional, lai^e-scale Roman attack. Sebastianus had, in fact, caught and destroyed a large column of Goths returning from a plundering expedition to Rhodope in southern Thrace, shortly before joining Valens and being appointed to command his infantrv'. Several factors influenced Valens' final decision. First, his scouts reported that the Goth force contained only about 10,000 fighting men. Since Valens had about 15,000 soldiers in his own arniy, it was tempting to engage the Goths in battle then and there. Moreover, Valens' standing in Constantinople

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was very low at that time. If he allowed a Goth army to take position between Adrianople and Constantinople, he would not only find his supply lines cut off but also risk the likelihood of the populace in the eastern capital feeling abandoned by their emperor. Valens' contemporary, Ammianus, and many later historians believed that the emperor—jealous of his young nephew^—decided on an immediate battle to gain personal glory. Though that was perhaps true, it would not have been the only reason for Valens' hasty actions. He may have underestimated the Goths' strength, for he had defeated them on the

Danube nine years earlier In any case, Valens seemed confident of an easy victory on the morning of August 9, as he led the field army of the east from Adrtanople to attack the Goths, who were camped 12 miles from the city. The Romans marched rapidly under a blazing sun, coming upon the Goth camp at about 2 that aftem(X)n. The Goths were encamped in a secure p<> sition, probably on high and easily defensible ground. The imperial troops were hastily drawn Lip into battle formation while the Goths broke into savage howls, as they were accustomed to do just before an engagement. Either because of unfamiliarity with the teirain or by mistake, the right wing of the Roman cavalry came within sight of the Goths while the left was still a considerable distance away, with many of the horsemen on the left wing scattered along roads leading up to the Goth camp. Some historians

Emperor Valens permits the Goth chief Fritigem to lead his Tervingian Goths into the province of Moesia in 376. A famine, combined with shabby treatment by the Roman authorities, drove the Goths to revolt the next year.

OCTOBER 2005 MILITARY HISTORY 57

gem's infantry closed in, while his cavalry kept any Romans who broke out from getting very far. The battlefield ran red with blood, most of it Roman. Men slipped on the bloody ground and many died after falling on their own weapons. Heaps of bodies littered the field, including Comes Sebastianus. There are two stories concerning Valens' fate. One claims that an arrow struck him while among the ranks of his army, and his body was never foimd. The other claims that, w^ounded by an arrow, he was taken by his guards to a nearby peasant dwelling, which the Goths subsequently attacked. The Roman defenders initially managed to drive back the Goths with aiTows, but they soon returned, piled up brushwood and straw against the house and set fire to it. One Roman soldier jumped from a window and was captured by the Goths, but the others, including the emperor, perished in the blaze. The prisoner later escaped to tell the story, Ammianus stated that two-thirds of the Roman army died at Adrianople. His comparison ofthe massacre to Hannibal Barca's tactical masterpiece at Cannae is apt because in both battles Roman horsemen were driven from the field, leaving the infantry to be encircled, hemmed in and destroyed.

Valens' 19-year-old nephew and coemperor,, Flavius Gratianuis, was leading a second Roman force to join him and was just a few days' march from Adrianople on August 8,378, After weighing both options, Valens decided to immediately strike at the Goths with what soldiers he had [Getty Images).

assume that the Goths fought fiom behind their wagon laager at Adrianople, but that would have been unlikclv. Their usual procedure was to engage their enemies in the open and fall back on the camp only when an encounter was not going well. Had they remained behind the laager, they would have not only surrendered the initiative to the Romans but also would have been unable to use their prefeired fighting tactic of charging into hand-to-hand combat with spears, swords and shields. On several occasions Ammianus' descriptions of the battle explain that one part of the Roman line managed to fight its way foi'ward as far as the wagons, clearly indicating that the fighting took place primarily in the open, beyond the wagon laager. Riding boldly into the Roman right wing, the Goth cavalry scattered the surprised Roman cavalry line and then turned to attack the Roman left wing. Within moments, all the Roman horsemen had been driven from the field, leaving the weary infantry exposed. Fritigem chose that moment to burst from the laager at the head of his own infantry, Ammianus described the Roman soldiers' plight: "The different companies became so huddled together that hardly anyone could pull out his sword, or draw back his arm, and because of immense clouds of dust, the heavens could no longer be seen...,Hence Goth arrows whirling death from every side found their mark with fatal effect, since they could not be seen beforehand nor guarded against." Hemmed in from all sides, the Roman foot was packed together too tightly to create any effective battle formation. The slaughter was frightful as Friti-

58 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

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he outcome at Adrianople shocked the Western world. The Romans had lost battles before, but never so decisively. Nor had barbarians made Roman commanders look so utterly incompetent at the art of war. From beginning to end, Valens and his generals had been outguessed, outsmarted and outmaneuvered by Fritigem's Goths. Various explanations have been offered for this improbable victory by an ad hoc force of refugees and deserters over the best organized, equipped and disciplined army in the world. Some observers claimed that, contrary' to Valens' faulty appraisal, the Goths enjoyed a numerical superiority of as many as 200,000 warriors. In fact, given the logistical difficulties of feeding and sustaining so many men, Fritigem would have been lucky to muster one-tenth that number. Other historians claimed that the battle proved the superiority of cavalry over infantry. The truth is that while a timely cavalry charge sealed the battle's ultimate outcome, it was primarily a clash of infantry with infantry-. The Roman defeat at Adrianople can be attributed to both strategic and tactical reasons. At the strategic level, the Romans were unable to assemble enough high-quality troops to deal rapidly and decisively with the Goth threat. Although the empire had some 500,000 men under arms at that time, they were committed to guarding imperial borders from Britannia to Syria. There was a real danger that if a significant number were moved from one point to another, a potential enemy would take advantage of the weakened border segment to attack. Moreover, while Roman fieid armies were supposedly mobile and rapidly deployable, orders to move to a new area of

Battle of Adrianople

CAVALRY

August 9,378 fNFANTflY CAVALRY

VISIGOTHS ROMANS

Hi I

I

WAeONLAAGER

operations often resulted in mass desertions that critically thinned their ranks. When it came to using the force at their disposal, the Roman commanders at Adrianople acted with an arrogance typical of leaders of a well-equipped "civilized" army faced with what they perceived as rabble. Those commanders allowed themselves to be drawn into battle without proper reconnaissance and without ensuring that the odds were stacked in their favor before committing their forces to a fight. It is also probable that the quality and morale of eastem Roman soldiers were low before the campaign began. Only 13 years earlier, Valens had led them on a rigorous but reasonably successful campaign against the Sassanian Persians, only to abandon the effort and leave Armenia in Persian hands. In any case, it was an overwhelmingly hot August day when Valens' soldiers had marched hmriedly from Adiianople to the plain near where the Goths had been reported. Consequently, they were exhausted and thirsty before the fighting began. It would be unjust, however, to cite the Roman failings without crediting the strategic skill shown by Fritigem; in spite of his logistic problems, the Goth com-

mander managed to dictate the terms and tempo throughout the campaign.

G

ratian was well advanced in his march to assist Valens at Adrianople when he learned that his impatient co-emperor had been killed and most of his army destroyed. In light of this setback and distracted by his own affairs in the westem empire, he believed that imperial administration in the east would require undivided attention that he would be unable to give. Gratian therefore placed Flavius Theodosius, the son of a distinguished general and himself a commander of some experience, in charge. On Januan' 19, 379, Theodosius was proclaimed co-emperor and officially assigned to mie the eastern provinces. Fritigem's victory at Adrianople gave the Goths control of nearly the entire Balkan Peninsula, They raided Greece, leaving only the city of Athens and other small areas of that country unravaged. Theodosius' plan for pacifying the Goths proved to be as damaging as Valens' original decision to let them cross the Danube. He would grant them the right to occupy Thrace if they would swear loyalty

When his horsemen drove the Roman cavalry from the field, Fritigern and his warriors defending the laager went over to the offensive, encircling Valens' infantry.

OCTOBER 2005 MILITARY HISTORY 59

After the debacle at Adrianople, the western empire's army ceased to be primarily Roman, becoming increasingly dependent on Goth soldiers to fill out its depleted ranks.

to the empire and become Roman soldiers, Peace was restored, but at a tremendous cost. With the empire lacking the human resources to replace its losses in the wake of Adrianople, the Roman army was transformed into an aiiny of Goths fighting for the emperor. As the fourth century ended, the Goths bloodlessly gained control of the army. For the first time in its history, the Roman army was no longer composed primarily of Romans.

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cholars have given a variety of dates for the fall of Rome, the latest being 1453, when Constantinople, capital of the eastern Roman empire, fell to the Ottoman Turks, but that was a new, Byzantine, Greek-speaking empire far removed from the Caesars. The fall of tiie wcslem empire is set at 476, when its last emperor, Romulus Augustulus, surrendered to the Ostrogoths. That, however, was just the coup de grace following a succession of

60 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

disasters, such as the murder of Valentinian m in 455, the loss ofthe African provinces to the Vandals in 429 and Alarics sack of Rome in 410. It might be argued that ancient Rome received its mortal blow in 378, and simply took almost a century to die. The empire had been in bad shape before, but not so bad that a single strong leader could not have saved the situation. After Adrianople, however, Rome's decline became irreversible. Once the Romans had to rely on the Goths to fight their wars for them, the emperor's power collapsed, and the new Goth-dominated army was unable to fend off other marauding peoples who spilled over the eastem frontiers. It may be stretching the point for military historians to pronounce Adrianople a victory of cavalry over infantiy thai ushered in the era of the medieval knight. After that battle, however, Roman armies lost their classical character, Cavaliy came to predominate and because horsemen, especially those from the east, were also archers, their ability to attack at long range severely limited the power of infantry fomiations. Not until the 15th century did weapons such as the longbow and crossbow begin to overturn the effectiveness of cavalry on the battlefield. As the r-eliability of the native Roman army declined after Adrianople, emperors, generals and even private citizens began to hire bands of retainers, usually GeTTTianic in makeup. By the mid-fifth century, Roman field armies had evolved into large bands of mounted warriors owing their allegiance directly to poweiful warlords rather than to the state. Those aimies had more in common with a feudal host than with Rome's republican or imperial legions of classical limes. Although il was fought in the east, the Battle of Adrianople had its most direct effect on the affairs of Rome's western provinces. It initiated a huge influx of Gennanic peoples who continued their migrations to oveniin the westem Roman empire within the next century. In ironic contrast, the eastem Roman empire, with its capital at Constantinople, would survive the fall of Rome itself and, adapting to the eastem envii^onment in which it was isolated amid a sea of barbarians, endure for another 1,000 years, MH For further reading. Caiy, N.C.-based contributor Joe

Zentner recommends: Adrianople AD 378: The Goths Crush Rome's Legions, by Simon MacDowall; and Barbarians, ^v Tim Newark.

R E V I E W S Napoleon's doom was sealed at Trafalgar 10 years before he met his Waterloo. By Robert Guttman

"NAPOLEON HAD HIS WATERLOO" runs

the old sa>ing, in reference to the 1815 land battle that put an end to the French ruler's imperial ambitions. Yet it was the sea battle fought 10 years earlier off Cape Trafalgar that made Waterloo inevitable. Just in time for its bicentennial, Nelson's Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed the World, by Roy Adkins (Penguin Group, New York, 2005, $27.95). reexamines the most decisive engagement of the age of fighting sail. Celebrated at the time as ihe salvation of Britain, the Battle of Trafalgar accomplished far more than merely forestall the immediate invasion threat by Napoleon's army. It also meant that a British army could one day land on the Iberian Peninsula, to eventually fight its way into France and help overthrow Napoleon. In addition, it established an undisputed British maritime hegemony that lasted more than a century and enabled Britain to establish a world empire, the economic effects of which are still felt today British influence continues to dominate the maritime world, where English is still the universally accepted language. Ever since Trafalgar the victorious British admii-al, Horatio Viscount Nelson, has sei-ved as the yardstick against which every successful naval commander has been measured. When Japans Admiral Heihachiro Togo defeated a larger Russian fleet at the 1905 Battle of Tsushima. he was widely hailed as the "Japanese Nelson." Sir David Beatty. the reckless commander of the British battle cruiser squadron at the 1916 Battle of Jutland. To see these reviews and hundreds more by leading authorities, go to our new book review section at

www.thehistorynet.com/reviews TheH4istoryNet.com 62 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

ertheless, the French and Spanish were less than confident of victory'. Vice Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve, the French commander, led his ships into action knowing that Napoleon was about to relieve him of command. The Spanish fleet was manned largely by inexperienced soldiers and conscripts, and many of its officers were reluctant to serve under French command. On October 21,1805. the two fleets met off the Spanish coast not far from Cadiz, Audaciously dividing his fleet into two columns and sailing head-on into the enemy battle line, Nelson effectively separated the enemy van from the main body. Sailing downwind, the ships in the Franco-Spanish van took two hours to reverse course, giving their beleaguered compatriots little more than token assistance before returning. Twenty-one sliips of the Combined Fleet were captured, sunk or burned, whereas was described as having been "imbued not a single British warship was sunk or captured. Among the 449 British sailors with the spirit of Nelson." Even the naval uniform itself has been killed and 1,241 wounded, however, was influenced by the battle's outcome. The Nelson himself, shot by a French sharpthree stripes on a modem-day British shooter when his flagship passed within sailor's collar commemorate Nelsons musket range, The admiral lived just long three great victories (the Nile, Copen- enough to leam that he had won a decihagen and Trafalgar), while his tradi- sive victory; tional black neckerchief is worn in symExtensively researched. Nelson's Trafalbolic mourning for the admiral who died gar: The Battle That Changed the World is at the moment of victory. a highly detailed account of one of the Trafalgar was the culmination of most important battles of the past two Nelson's seven-month pursuit of the centuries. Roy Adkins describes the French fleet across the Atlantic Ocean to action based not only on official docuthe West Indies and back again to ments, but also from the private letters Europe. After the French joined up with and memoirs of the participants. Many of the armada of Spain, which was then the author's sources are French and allied with Napoleon, two of the greatest Spanish as well as British, and include naval powers in the world sailed out of men fi^om all walks of naval life. The Cadiz to confront Nelson's less numerous result is not simply a dr\' rehash of miliships. Among the Franco-Spanish forces tary history, strategy and naval tactics— men-of-war was the largest and most it is an up-close and persona! account of heavily armed warship in the world, a ferocious Napoleonic sea battle. Spain's mighty Santissima Trinidad. NevContinued on page 69

W E A P O N R Y The minesweeper M/a>vM/cleared Korean coastal waters and helped stage a dummy invasion. By Bamett R. Wilson

I WAS ONE OF MANY U.S. Naval Re-

feet wide and displacing 318 tons. Each of its twin screws was powered by a 500hp diesel engine. The normal crew of an AMS averaged 35 enlisted personnel, with four officers, including the captain, a lieutenant junior grade. Since Waxbil! was a ffagship for a group of sweepers, however, we carried a fifth officer, with the rank of lieutenant, serving as commodore for the unit. We did not have a rated radioman at the time, so 1 was assigned to send and receive the commodore's voice radio messages. Our ship was unique in that we had experimental sonar gear. Instead of sound, the pulse produced a

"picture" on a screen similar to radar. I was a third-class radarman (RD-3), but I had undergone a six-week crash course in the operation of this sonar gear at Little Creek, Va., before going overseas. With such a small crew we only had one or two ratings in each category, so of necessity the men had to become somewhat conversant with the various functions of their respective divisions: operations, deck and engineering. For example, in operations, during standing watch and minesweeping operations you could expect to spend time on the bridge with navigation, in the pilothouse keeping the ship's log and on the helm, and a turn in the radar/radio compartment. Our primary job was to clear harbors and nearshore waters of mines so the bombardment ships could operate closer to the beach and pound the enemy more effectively We swept for two types of mines in Korea. Moored mines, anchored to the bottom and suspended beneath the surface by a wire cable, exploded on contact with a ship's hull. Magnetic mines, laid on the bottom, could be detonated by a ship's magnetic field. The sweep gear deployment was a bit cumbersome and complicated, but effective. To deal with moored contact mines we streamed 250 fathoms of wire cable to either the right, left or both sides of the ship. This cable was equipped with cutters every 6 to 10 feet, and when it engaged a mine wire the mine was cut loose and Shown off the Korean coast in 1952, the U.S. Navy minesweeper Waxbiil helped keep Wonsan Harbor safe for Continued on page 70 United Nations forces. Crewman Bamett R. Wilson Onset] also took part in a mock invasion of Kojo. servists who were called for two years of active duty during the Korean War In 1952 I served aboard the minesweeper USS Waxbill (AMS-39), based at Yokosuka, Japan. We conducted minesweeping operations on both coasts of North Korea. Our numerous excursions to the war zone vaiied from 30 to 50 days. Between trips we often recouped and replenished at Sasebo, Japan. The keel, hull and decks of sweepers such as Waxbil! were made of wood, mostly northern red oak. Only the essentials of machinery, equipment and fittings were metal—all in the interest of producing a low magnetic field. It was a small and compact ship: 136 feet long, 24

64 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

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pounds sterling, aflcr that island's surrender to the British the pre\ious October. Upon purchase, Sting was assigned on Febmarv 19, 1801, as tender to Seymour's flagship HMS Sans Pareil. Displacing 125 tons. Pickle was the second smallest ship at Trafalgar, with an overall length of 73 feet, a beam of 21 feet and a draft of 10 feet. It was armed with 10 12- or 18-pounder caiTonades and a nominal complement of 35 officers and men, although its muster book listed 52 names on October 21, 1805. In common with the rest of Nelson's fleet, half of Pickle's crew were English, mostly from Devon and Cornwall, while a quarter of the crew were fiom Ireland. Pickle, as a lightly armed schoonermessenger craft, was not in the thick of the battle, but was involved in a famous maritime rescue. At 5:15 p.m., the powder magazine aboard the French three-decker Achille exploded. When the cloud of smoke and fire subsided, British boats were launched to save all they could in the gatheiing twilight. One of the survivors they rescued was Jeanne Caunant, the wife of a maintopman who had been employed \nAchille'?> powder room. She had stayed by the rudder until the lead lining its tiunk melted onto her, then she stripped and jumped into the sea. A British sailor swam to her rescue, and Lieutenant Hugh Montgomery, commanding one of Naiad's boats, was quoted as saying, "I saw her floating with the assistance of a ship's quarter billboard." After being rowed to Naiad, she was transferred to Pickle, where her wounds were treated and she was given clothes to wear. Pickle's commander, John Lapenotiere, was bom at Ilfracombe in Devon in 1770, though his family was of French Huguenot nobility (his great-great-grandfather had come to England with William of Oi^nge in 1688). John first went to sea at age 10 in the armed merchant ship Tliree Sisters out of Leith, Scotland, under the protection of his father. Lieutenant Frederick Lapenotiere. John Lapenotiere served under several commanders of note in famous ships before he was given command of the eight-gun cutteryo5e;7/i, which saw action near the French port of Brest in 1800. His gallant conduct there was noticed by his commander in chief, John Jarvis, Earl St. Vincent, and Sir

James Saumarez. Joseph was paid off in shortening sail at Lisbon Rock, before enthe spring of 1802, and on May 24, 32- tering the river mouth to Lisbon Harbor. vear-o!d Lieutenant Lapenotiere was Pickle continued northward and on November 3 met with the 74-gun Superb, given command ot Pickle. On the morning of October 27, Colling- whose captain was Richard Keats, one of WCKKI summoned Lapenotiere to Euryalus Nelson's favorite officers (It was in the and gave him the dispatches to deliver garden of Nelson's home in Merton, with all speed to the Admiralty in Lon- Surrey, that Nelson confided to Keats his don. Lapenotiei e was under strict ordei^ unique plan of attack whenever be met up that should he ever meet a French ship he with the French fleet). Summoned aboard was to weight the dispatches pouch with Superb. Lapenotiere conveyed the news a cannonball and consign them to the of Nelson's death, a bitter pei"sonal blow deep. Although Pickle served as a fleet to Keats and his entire crew. messenger, it was unusual for a junior ofLajienotiere had planned to make landlicersuch as Lapenotiere to be entiusted faU at Plymouth, Portsmouth or even up with such important dispatches, since the Thames River to London. As Pickle enthis job would normally cany promo- tered the English Channel after eight days tional recognition along with the usual at sea, however, it faced adverse winds compensation given lo the bearer. Why and tides that compelled Lapenotiere to Collingwood did not .send a naval officer head for Falmouth. There, the captain's of at least captain's rank as "king's mes- jolly boat was rowed into the harbor, arsenger" aboard Pickle is still a matter of riving on the quayside at 9:45 a.m. on Noconjecture. vember 4. Within the hour he had hired At midday of the 27th, Pickle weighed a chaise and four horses. anchor and made sail to the northwest. Two days later, nine nautical miles off Cape LAPENOTIERE'S 266-MILE journey to St. Vincent, Pickle hove-to to infoim HMS London involved 21 changes of horses Naulilus' crew of the victory and Lord and took 37 hours. In 1805 England's arNelson s passing. The two ships kept close terial coach routes had established stopcompan\- until NamUits was seen to be ping points where ostlers would attend to

a change of horse and repair any damaged tack, and boot boys would clean and polish travelers' riding boots while the occupants warmed themselves by a roaring fire and rested while enjoying food and a glass of mulled wine. Many of these hostelries still exist today and have retained their descriptive names of Coach and Horses or Travellers Rest. Lapenotiere's expenses claim form traces his route with everv stopping point: Falmouth, Truro, Fraddon (Blue Anchor), Bodmin, Launceston, Okehampton, Crockemwell, Exeter, Honiton, Axminster, Bridport, Dorchester, Blandford, Woodyates, Salisbuiy Andover, Overton, Basingstoke, Haitfordbridge, Bagshot, Staines, Hounslow and Whitehall (London). As a contribution to the bicentennial celebrations of this famous ride, the Ordnance Survey Company of Great Britain has produced a map marking each of the 21 stopping points. Lapenotiere's total expenses claim was 46 pounds, 19 shillings, one pence, which 200 years later would amount to 1,739 pounds ($3,338). Today, with National Expi'ess coaches on a similar route, the journey time fi"om Ealmouth to London would be eight hours at a fare of 33 pounds ($64).

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Lapenotiere arrived in a veiy foggy London at 1:30 a.m. on November 6. He was courteously received and shown into the boardroom just as Secretary of the Admiralty Marsden was about to go to bed. "Sir," Lapenotiere reported, "we have gained a great victory over the combined Ft ench and Spanish fleets off Cape Trafalgar, but regrettably we have lost Lord Nelson." Marsden read the dispatches and immediately left to report the news to Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, the Fii-st Lord of the Admiralty, who had already gone to bed. He and Barham then discussed their strategy and immediately summoned as many clerks and messengers as they could muster at 2 a.m. to set the administrative machine in motion. Letters and copies of Collingwoods official report had to be prepared for King George III, Prime Minister William Pitt (the Younger), the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, Cabinet members and ministers of the Crown, along with the lord mayor of London and the marine insurance men in their coffeehouses. The clerks toiled through the night writing the letters and copying Collingwoods official report. Government messengers then had to ride through the night to deliver the documents. When the mentally ill King George received his letter and copy of Collingwoods report, he immediately summoned Lieutenant Lapenotiere to an audience in Windsor Castle at 7 the following moming. There the king presented Lapenotiere with a solid silver sugai" sifter. At long last Lapenotiere was promoted to commander, and the Patriotic Fund gave him a sword worth 100 guineas, which stayed in his family for many years. On the question of prize money, he was obliged to plead with the secretary of the navy for his due reward of a 500-pound gratuity, but Lord Barham insisted, "He must have it." In 1806 Commander Lapenotiere was appointed to the 16-gun brig Orestes. During tbe following four years he saw action in and around the English Channel in a variety of small ships, including Orestes and La Favorite. Lapenotiere obtained post rank on August 1,1811, but it was too late. He had had his moment of fame when he brought home the "Trafalgar Dispatches." He retired to live quietly in Cornwall with his wife, Mary Ann, daughter of the late Lieutenant John Graves, whom he had married in 1805. At least one of their seven children served in the Royal Navy. MH

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shelled daily for more than 2'A years. On the night of August 20, 1952, we Continued from page 64 scraped our bottom on a rocky reef off Chin Cho, in Haeju Wan, on the west coast north of Inchon. It destroyed the sonar came to the surface, where we sank it by and damaged one screw and drive shaft. small arms fire, generally the M-1 rifle. We limped back to Sasebo on one engine, For magnetics, we dragged an electric a harrowing joumey made worse by the cable behind the ship, through which we punishing backwash of a typhoon that sent electric pulses sufficient to explode had passed only two days before. These were some of the worse sea conditions I those mines. Precise navigation and steering was ever experienced. Sleep was virtually imimperative, and there was always a possible—you couldn't stay in your rack! danger of running into a "floater" that It was extremely dangerous to be out on we'd cut with our own gear. Four mine- deck—you could have been swept away sweepers were sunk during the Korean in an instant. Our cook couldn't keep anyWar: Pirate, Pledge. Magpie and Partridge. thing on the galley range, but he manAll struck mines and were blown to aged to strap on a large soup pot and we pieces—many crew members were lost. ate soup and cold-cut sandwiches for the Several sweepers were damaged and had entire trip. And of course the coffee pot men injured by enemy artilleryfire.Wax- was always going. I didn't have dut>' the bill was fired at many times, and on two first day after we got to Sasebo and into occasions its decks were covered with dry dock. I laid down on my rack at 1200 spent shrapnel from near misses, but the hom-s that day and got up at 1500 the folship wasn't damaged and none of the lowing afternoon—27 hours later. I was so weak and hungry I could barely stand. crew was injured. One of the most heavily mined areas was the harbor and environs of Wonsan ONE OF THE MORE memorable incidents on the east coast of North Korea. We were in which Wa.xbill was involved was a there often, to sweep all day or all night. decoy invasion of Kojo in October 1952. The crew got very little rest during those We were at Wonsan when the orders times. In May 1952, we swept Wonsan for came down. I recorded the following ac28 straight nights without a break. Wax- count as the action took place: bill tallied 25 moored and one magnetic mine while I was on board. Some of the Friday, 10 Oct. other sweepers cut more than 50. We got orders to top off on fuel, fresh We always had a gunfire support ship water, and chow. (GFS)—usually a 2,250-ton destroyer— nearby w hen we were sweeping. When we Saturday, 11 Oct. came under fire, which occurred rather Alongside LST-735, to receive same. Ofoften in the da\'time, we called on our ficially advised of our participation in guardian ship to silence the shore batter- an invasion. ies. In addition to their main armament of 2400 hours: underway—proceeded six 5-inch guns, these World War II vin- vicinity of Kojo, Korea, 23 miles south tage destroyers had several twin mounts of Wonsan. In company with our ship, of automatic 3-inch guns, plus a score of Waxbill (AMS-39), were the Osprey 40mm and 20mm guns. Dozens of those (AMS-28), Redhead (AMS-34), Heron ships—they rotated every six months— (AMS-18), and Swallow {AiVlS-36). conducted most of the shore bombardments in Korea. Usually we knew only the Sunday, 12 Oct., D-day-3 code name of our GFS ships. I remem- Cruised around all day in formation, ber two in paiticular, Basenm and Ghost- seas too rough to sweep. Made one pass like, because they saved our lives on more up landing beach checking navigation than one occasion. points. By July 1953, the four battleships, eight Numerous tin cans [destroyers], one cruisers and approximately 80 destnjyers Cruiser {Rochester), and Battleship that the U.S. Navy deployed to Korea had (Iowa) pounded beach all day. [Douglas] fired more than 4 million projectiles rang- ADs from the Carrier S(Ci7y made bombing fiom 3 to 16 inches at Communist tar- ing and rocket attacks. gets—more than were fired by all the Anchored near Nan-do Island during ships of all the navies in World War II, the night. Bombardment of beach never Wonsan, to give only one example, was ceased.

Monday, 13 Oct., D-day-2 Underway early, streamed port gear, commenced pass up landing beach 6000 yai'ds out; four sweepers—we third in line. Our GFS ship; USS Bausell (DD845). Received few rounds from beach— one almost hitting our pig [float at end of sweep cable]. Completed pass—no mines. One DD and the Rochester coming up beach firing on gun positions as we swing around to start second pass. Had ringside seat and enjoyed watching another bombing, strafing and rocket attack by carrier aircraft. Second pass, three sweepei"s—we last. Under fue again, first two sweepers pulled away to starboard. We follow, laying smoke screen to cover our escape. Several DDs, Rochester and Iowa blasting gun positions as we come around to try again, Bausell standing in close: we commence sweeping again. Enemy laying down a murderous fire—both guns and mortars. We all three cut our sweep gear, begin laying smoke screen and running. We bring up rear as our smoke screen is better Geysers jumping up all over the place. Osprey reports one hit and one casuaJty. We are at GO [general quarters]. I'm on the radar and 1 can see as well as hear over the radio and phone everything that is going on. My hands are shaking, I'm thinking more about survivors leave than about combat pay! Secured from GO, proceeding to LST [landing ship, tank] for new gear. WiU wait until dark before trying more sweeping. Meanwhile, hope they can soften-up that beach. Tension is off for a while. Coming a]ong side LST, 1 get Armed Forces Radio Network from Tokyo—a dude [Hank Williams] is singing "Honky Tonk Blues." Afternoon—all sweepers alongside LST. COs and Commodore having powwow. Commodore returned aboard, good to see him. I feel better now. He was on board the Redhead. Looked at Osprey'^ damage [6th time for this ship to be hit by shore batteries during Korean War]. They had been hit by numerous pieces of shrapnel from a very near miss. Four men were injured, two hospitalized. Executive officer hurt the worst—shrapnel in belly and up under ribs—a piece came through side of bridge.

Tuesday, 14 Oct., D-day-1 .. .Anchored all day. Iowa and DDs pound beach. Numerous dive-bomber attacks. Beach shrouded in smoke and dust. I believe the MSB and UDT boys worked today as the LST and LSD were in close to beach most of the day. 2300 hours: no sweeping tonight. Sky overcast, wind reading 3. Again, tonight, searchlights from beyond the mountains probing the sky. Several star shells over the beach—bombardment continuing. Flash red aircraft warning just before dark, but no MiG-15s came. Wednesday, 15 Oct., D-day Dawn. The Iowa, Rochester and several DDs blasting beach. Many ships all around, including ten APAs [troop transports] and one LSMR [rocket firing] ship. We had ringside seat. Nothing happened, no troops landed! We learned the invasion was a fake— purely a diversionar>' action—an effori to draw strength and attention away from the fix^nt; to pressure the enemy into redeploying his forces, thus making them more vulnerable to attack. Whether the decoy worked or not, we did get their attention... .Enough artillery, bombs and rockets were thrown at that beach to have destroyed eveiything for miles around, I don't know how the Osprey's Exec felt about it, but I wasn't too happy about being shot at for drill. Remained anchored rest of day. Wind and seas kicked-up in the afternoon, giving no rest. Returned to Wonsan. A little higher on the totem pole now, with the Commodore back aboard. So ended the invasion that wasn't. Sometime afterward, a photograph with the caption "Operation Decoy" appeared in Stars and Stripes. It had been taken from Bausell and showed Osprey from the North Korean shore batteries. The farthest sweeper, at the extreme left of the picture, was WaxbiU. Two others pictures, showing Waxbill under fire at Wonsan, accompanied an article by Harold Lavine in the January 12, 1953, issue of Newsweek. Lavine, an associate editor of the magazine, rode on our ship one day at Wonsan. Those pictures were obviously taken from whichever GFS ship accompanied us on that one-of-a-kind day. MH

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COL'PON F.XPIRES 12/31/05

OCTOBER

72 MILITARY HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

05

NELSON Continued from page 44 Magazine presents

Assuming command of the British fleet upon Nelson's death, Collingwood ordered the prizes taken into tow and the fleet to sail for Gibraltar. The following day a teniHc storm with gale-force winds thai would last six days engulfed the fleet. Collingwood signaled the fleet to destroy or disable the ships under tow and concentrate on saving the ships with masts. The captured ships were either sunk, burned or run aground. The British ships that survived the battle intact all arrived safely in Gibraltar. British casualties in the Battle of Trafalgar totaled about 450 men kiUed and about 1,240 wounded, while the French suffered about 3,650 killed and wounded and the Spanish 2,000 killed and wounded. Nelson was not the only flag officer among the casualties—half of the admirals in the Combined Fleet were either killed outright or later died of battle wounds. Alava. Gravina and Magon died, while Dumanoir and Villeneuve sumved. It is said that Nelson and nature destroyed Napoleon's fleet. The storm following the battle seized as a metaphor for the emperor's luined ambitions. Napoleon's dreams of invading Britain and controlling the high seas were shattered by British naval fire during the battle and by the treacherous shoals of Cape Trafalgar thereafter. PreseiTed in a cask of brandy. Nelson's body was taken home to England, where he was buried with full honors in a coffin made from the wood of Orient, a French ship of the line destroyed in an earlier key Nelson victory; the Battle of the Nile. Villeneuve was held as a prisoner of war by the British for six months. He died under suspicious circumstances shortly after his return to France in 1806. Napoleon claimed he committed suicide to avoid court-martial, but the half-dozen knife wounds in his body made it more likely thai Napoleon had an^nged his "suicide" as retribution for his failure to defeat the British. MH William E. Welsh writes from Vienna, Va., and as furlher reading recumuiends: The Battle of Trafalgar, Iry Geoffrey Bennett; The Enemy at Trafalgar, by Edward Eraser; Trafalgar: The Nelson Touch, by David Howarth; and Trafalgar: Countdown to Battle 1803-1805, by Alan Schom.

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MADAGASCAR Continued from page 52

ti"oops were dead—a death rate of 31 percent—in addition to which more than 1,100 porters had perished. More than 1,000 men had died in the 200th Infantry Regiment alone, including its commander. As a military force, Duchesnes expedition had ceased to exist. Yet of all those deaths, only seven were directly attributable to combat. It was Madagascar's harsh conditions, combined with the illprepared nature of the expedition, that caused the losses. Following their occupation of Antananarivo the French officially declared Madagascar a protectorate on January 16, 1896. The first governor general was the experienced colonial officer Joseph Gallieni. After one abortive revolt, he deposed Queen Ranavalona and sent her and her prime minister husband into exile on February 28, 1897. That removed the last vestige of Malagasy independence, but pacification of the countryside would be a French headache for many years to come as the century turned and World War I began to brev^'. Gallieni would later become famous for his role in stopping the Germans in the Battle of the Mame in 1914, while sei^ving under the former militaiy commander of the base at Diego-Suare/, Joseph Joffre. In spite of the toll it paid acquiring the colony, France contnilled Madagascar for little more than a generation. The British returned for a spell in May 1942, when they seized it from the Vichy French. Full Malagasy independence wasfinallyrestored on June 26, 1960. The Madagascar campaign passed into dusty history, its locales renamed, its most famous generals remembered not because of the few thousands who died on that distant island but because of many thousands more who died in a war in Europe. Yet this strange little campaign serves as an enduring example of the teirible price an army can pay in a Third World conllict, and of the folly of tiying to predict that cost fix)m committee rooms far removed from the campaign at hand. MH R. Michael Posso writes from Lake Worth. Fla. For further reading, try: A History of Madagascar, by Menyn Brown; and The

History of Civilization in Noith Madagascar, by Pierre Verin.

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Philip Nolan seemed a simple adventurer, but the Spanish in Texas thought he might be more than that. By C. Brian Kelly

YOUNG IRISH-BORN PHILIP NOLAN

never did live in Texas, but he did a lot of "visiting",, .enough to become a symbolic figure from the state s tumultuous early history. Lingering on even today, though, are the unanswered questions left behind when he met a violent end at the hands of a Spanish patrol sent out to stop his activities in stiU-Spanish Texas. Was he, for instance, the harmless adventurer, explorer and occasional mapmaker that his public persona indicated? Or could he perhaps have been a spy for his mentor, U,S, Army Maj, Gen, James Wilkinson, soon-to-be governor of the Louisiana Territory, alleged co-conspirator with Aaron Burr in dreams of creating an independent Westem empire,, ,and a spy working for the Spanish themselves? Or, as Nolan himself apparently wished to be known, was he simply a mustangcatcher seeking fun and profit? Whatever the true case, he emerges from the pages of history as an early symbol of Texan pride, rebellion and independence, despite the fact that he may not have had any such thoughts in mind at all, BORN IN BELFAST, Ireland, in 1771, Nolan first comes into historical view in 1788, when he turns up in Louisiana as a bookkeeper and shipping clerk for the double-dealing James Wilkinson, commanding general of the U,S, Army and at the same time an agent for the Spanish, Still remarkably young in 1791, Nolan, with Wilkinson's support, ventured into neighboring Spanish Texas for the first time, ostensibly on a trade mission. But the Spanish in Texas reacted by seizing his trade goods and Nolan disappeared, apparently to live among friendly Indians, Out of sight for two years, he honed his skills as a hunter and rounded up his first 74 MILITARV HISTORY OCTOBER 2005

herd of mustangs. He also saw—and perhaps informally mapped—^wide areas of future Texas, Returning to New Orleans with 50 of the wild horses, Nolan was given a warm welcome by the recently installed governor of Spanish Louisiana, Louis Hector, Baron de Carondelet, No doubt he also spent hours relating his adventures to his mentor. General Wilkinson, but he didn't linger long. By June 1794, Nolan was back in Spanish Texas with papers from Carondelet authorizing him to procure more horses for the Louisiana militia, Nolan now traveled as far west as San Antonio de Bexar, the provisional capital destined to become famous 42 years later for the siege of the Alamo,,,not by the Spanish, but by Mexican strongman Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Given permission to round up 250 mustangs, Nolan had returned safely by the end of 1795, In 1797, again with Carondelets authorization, he once more traveled to San Antonio, where he allegedly fathered an illegitimate child, BY NOW NOLAN could boast of more firsthand knowledge of the Southwest than most Americans, But the Spanish were becoming increasingly wary of the newly created, dynamic United States poised on their eastem border. They feared the newly independent Americans would not remain penned up behind the Mississippi, and suspected that a simple adventurer like Nolan might be more than that, might even be a spy. As history has shown, their fears of future American expansion were fuUy justified, but there is no solid evidence to say that Nolan was anything but a horsecatcher, an adventure-loving wanderer always seeking new vistas. Nonetheless, his latest journey resulted in orders for his arrest, and he once again disappeared into the hinterland. His chief enemy

among the Spanish, a general, thought Nolan had left the area. But he hadn't. Almost a year later, that official was shocked to leam Nolan was still around after all. With a provincial govemor interceding for him, Nolan was allowed to stay on long enough in 1799 to gather 1,200 mustangs for later delivery to American buyers. At the end of the same year, Nolan married,,,not the mother of his alleged Texas child but the daughter of a wealthy Natchez planter. By this time, too, Nolan and future President Thomas Jefferson had been in touch by letter. As one result, Nolan set out for Virginia in the summer of 1800 with a mustang intended as a gift for Jefferson, but for reasons unknown today, the young Irishman apparently aborted his journey east and returned home, ACCOMPANIED BY two dozen or so

armed men, Nolan now traveled deep into future Texas, to a tributary of the Brazos River, where they set up a semifortified complex of horse pens and began the customary roundup of mustangs. In March 1801, just days after Jefferson was sworn in as the third U,S, president, Nolan and company were attacked by Spanish cavalry, Nolan was shot and killed on the spot. Half of his men were captured, with the oldest man among them—a Ouaker and veteran of the American Revolution—later executed, Nolans fellow Americans of the day— and for decades to come—quite naturally were outraged. Taking the longer view, however, just consider the possible ramifications of another patrol the Spanish sent in pursuit of an American expedition while Jefferson was president. Fortunately for all concerned, this patrol never did catch up to its quarry.,,which just happened to be the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806, MH