Thursday, 21 March 2019

Wellington in India, in the Peninsula and at Waterloo


"At last we meet again....the circle is now complete...."

Huzzah! At long last I have finally tracked down a copy of the first in Jac Weller's Wellington trilogy - Wellington in India.

I had a copy of Wellington at Waterloo which was swiftly followed by Wellington in the Peninsula. Both of these are first rate works and so, initially more from curiosity than a major interest, I was keen to track down the first volume. Ironically I had picked up the Kindle version during one of Amazon's periodic sales for the paltry sum of £1.19. For sure though, I wanted a hardback version as as I already owned the other two volumes in the Greenhill format it made sense to find a similar edition.

My knowledge of the period of when Wellington was in India is a little hazy, to say the least, but since I have a long standing interest in the wars of the Indian sub-continent it is a knowledge gap that needed filling! I am sure that Jac Weller's book will go a long way towards that. In later life the Duke, when asked what the finest piece of work he ever did on a battlefield simply replied -  'Assaye'. That anecdote alone piqued my curiosity about this stage of the Duke's career.


A scene from the battle of Assaye, 23rd September, 1803.

At this stage I cannot see myself gaming the period - the same can also be said for the 'Clive of India' era - but It certainly has everything I look for in a campaign - smallish forces and an exotic location to fight over. It would be 'doable' from a Portable Wargame perspective but sadly is not on my immediate horizon.

I must confess that recently I have been looking long and hard at the campaigns of the Revolutionary Wars and the British involvement therein. I always had a fondness for Napoleon's Egyptian campaign which would make for a great Portable Wargame style set up.

We shall see.




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6 comments:

  1. Mike Hall21 March 2019 at 17:29

    This brought back memories. My copy has been sitting on my shelf since 1972 (it cost £5.80 which seemed a lot of money then). Still, it does have a much prettier cover showing the battle of Assye - a different image from your illustration - apparently from "The Wars of Wellington" by Dr Syntax, 1819; a book I've never come across before (and don't want to read as it is a "narrative poem") but it does seem to include lots of interesting engravings.

    I was a little surprised by your "At long last" comment as there always seem to be used copies being sold on Amazon Marketplace, or are you a traditionalist who likes the thrill of the hunt through real book shops, plus the chance of a good bargain? I actually bought a Kindle copy a year or two ago when they did a deal on this and "Wellington in the Peninsula" at 99p each(seemed too good a deal to miss as I could take them along as holiday reads, and the Kindle copy has yet another cover variant).

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  2. David Crook21 March 2019 at 19:50

    Hi Mike,

    You are absolutely right about the ‘thrill of the hunt’ as this version seemed to be quite hard to get a hold of. There are paperbacks aplenty but never this version when i wanted to buy it.

    I have seen the cover you mention but as the other two I have are the Greenhill version it made sense getting the same version.

    The strange thing is I have the Kindle version of India and the Peninsula (as I recall they were both 99p and not £1.19 as mentioned erroneously) but not Waterloo. It would be good if that became available as it is a very good account of the battle.

    All the best,

    DC

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  3. Geordie an Exiled FoG21 March 2019 at 22:01

    Hmm, I have always been interested in this little foray by Arthur Wellesly

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  4. David Crook22 March 2019 at 08:02

    Hi Geordie,

    The Duke learned an awful lot about logistics here that stood him in good stead in the Peninsula. I have a soft spot for the British in India during the formative years of 'the Jewel in the Crown' and so this is welcome addition to the 'never-in-a-million-years' project list....:-)

    All the best,

    DC

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  5. Conrad Kinch22 March 2019 at 19:40

    Well done Sir. It’s a cracking book. I’ve written a CCN scenario for assaye if that would be of any use to you.

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  6. David Crook24 March 2019 at 15:34

    Hello Mr Kinch,

    I would very much like to see that old chap! If you could ping it to the usual email that would be peachy.

    I hope all is well in the Kinch household and that the offspring and the peerless Mrs Kinch continue to thrive.

    All the best,

    DC

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