Hello, Sir. I have been to Kolkata and stayed at the Tollygunge - very nice. Is it still open?

@@redcoathistory I live near Tollygunge. Where were you staying at Tollygunge?

@@anirbanbhattacharya2146 At the club, but it was so long ago I can't recall exactly which room though. I really liked Kolkatta.

2 films, one with Errol Flynn

@@redcoathistory It is.

Hi mate - yep, very terrifying...I wander if there is a moment of calm clarity where you realise its over and resolve to simply have a "good death"? I hope I never have to find out...

Thanks for sharing your knowledge in this extremely user-friendly way. I think you're right and we do grasp the situation, with our consciousness detached momentarily from the fog of war and personal hand to hand combat. As hard and unconditional as that may be, I think we face it nevertheless, whether we die in bed or on the battlefield.

Kipling wrote a stanza about it.

There’s a book title (concerning Isandlwana) that says it all about the mindset of the era: “How Can Man Die Better?”

The stickiest situation since Sticky the stick insect got stuck on a sticky bun.

Thanks a lot mate. I agree. That's a big part of why this channel exists. Any other battles you'd like me to look at in the future?

@@redcoathistory What about The Battle of the Bogside?

The "lads" were driven, not led, by incompetent upper class Officers. If Chelmsford had not been one of Victoria's favourites, he may well have got a dishonourable discharge. To expand an empire by rape, plunder and pillage, brought no benefit to the ordinary soldier. The Crown, Nobiity and Aristocracy were the only winners. Look at the state of Britain at the moment. The Kingdom has very little to be grateful for.

If you haven't covered Napier and the expedition to Abyssinia, then there's your answer. Keep it up though mate, love the conent.@@redcoathistory

@redcoathistory Francis Younghusband and the invasion of Tibet is a good story too.

Oh yes, this one came to my mind too. William Macnaghten tried his best to manipulate and bribe afghan leaders against each other, managing only to turn every afghan against the British, and ended up shot by a revolver he had used as a bribe a few days earlier.

The Afghans spared the one survivor, who was an army surgeon. They allowed him to live in order to convey the news of the catastrophe back to the British in India. The Kabul Retreat disaster was a British replay of the massacre of the 3 Roman legions under Quinctilius Varus, in the Teutoberg Forest in Germany in 9 AD.

It was a very impressive victory. But to say they didn't have firearms is a bit of a myth...they had thousands of them though they weren't experts with them and their tactical doctrine seemed unsure on the best way to incorporate them.

Quantity has a quality of its own

The britts where simply out numbered.

Single shot rifles and their ammunition supply system was awful.

it was 100 to 1 lol. Not impressive.

Thanks RIchard. Im glad I made you chuckle and I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks for watching and commenting. Are there other campaigns you would be keen to see me cover in future videos?

The history of the Redcoats covers such a large time span and geographical area I find difficulty in picking one particular episode. Being from East Lancashire there are many reminders of campaigns in Crimea and South Africa in pub and street names and it is fantastic to now be hearing the history behind those names. Being born in the sixties I think I got the tail end of history as written by the victors. Everything went swimmingly, "the officers were upstanding and played the game. The men were plucky and steadfast". Hearing how things didn't always go to plan, the officers weren't infallible, and the men, as individuals or a unit, often overcame near total disaster is eye opening. It is especially refreshing to have this backed up with excellent, often first hand, accounts that whilst not being hidden have at the very least been buried by the popular narrative. The efforts put in by yourself and your contributors are amazing. I'm more than happy to sit back and wait for the next surprise installment of "how did that happen and why?" It's not just the quality of information that's passed on but also the captivating way it's done.

Hey Chris what if you could have got around the old Maiwand battlefield with a metal detector while you were there. I'm sure you had plenty of downtime LoL

That dark British humor lol

Me too And I have climbed Majuba. I could not relate what I saw around me very well to what I had read about the battle. I think that the vegetation and the landscape must have changed a bit over the last century. Also unlike with the battle fields of Zululand I went up there without a guide. It is really important to have a guide who can make sense of what one sees in front of one.

At least the British took revenge against the Zulus, and eventually the Boers.

@@patrickmiano7901 Revenge for exactly what ? Revenge for the Zulus and the Boers defending their countries ?

@@patrickmiano7901 Revenge for exactly WHAT ?. For the Boers and the Zulus defending their countries ?.

Retreat from Kabul~approximately 16,500 soldiers and civilians killed, missing, or captured

One could argue that this action should not be included here at all. The troops were retreating from their positions and were not spoiling for a fight. Majuba Hill is the correct choice. They wanted this battle and came off second best..

Hello there! Excuse my ignorance but, what does it mean PVC? I suppose that the last two letters stand for "Victoria Cross". Regards from Argentina.

Great - I do hope in a small way, I am helping to fill the void for a new generation who have never been exposed to these stories.

How about a delve into " King" James Brooke and the Raj of Sarawak ? Head Hunters and Blue Jackets running riot .

​@@redcoathistoryI think you might have considered one of the defeats in battle to the Maori on this list. While casualties weren't high, the fact that the British felt the need to have a 5 to 1 man advantage says a lot and is vastly different to any of their other wars against native people, where they were usually outnumbered.

Especially when those in control today aren't even British.

Speaking as an Irishman, the whole presence of Britain in Ireland was appalling. Even when you left you could not do it properly, the situation in NI is still with us today. It took Irish governments over 60 years to repair the damage and only in the last 20 years has the country began to flourish. Thank goodness for Brexit, it puts you further out of harms way.

You swallowed a Fenian text book Raymond.

Enjoy your victimhood

Thanks for your kind words. I am a fan of all of those channels and it is an honour to be compared to Chris Cappy on Task and Purpose.

The 1st Boer War was no indication of what the British were capable of. By the first year of the second Boer War both Boer capitals were occupied and the Boer field armies were defeated and dispersed. The Boers actually had a numerical advantage to begin with but made some key strategic mistakes (i,e, not going for the coast). Indeed, the subsequent Boer Guerrilla campaign was the shortest in history and was snuffed out and defeated in only a year. The biggest killer was disease.

Good luck, I hope the Afrikaans separatists succeed or act as a moderating force to stop increasing aggression from the Bantus

Sad that the british put our mothers and children in camps, burn my forfathers farms like savages...They got f@cked up by our Boers, and then decide to resort to barbarism.

"Boer patriot freedom warriors" would be the more correct name, political incorrect but who cares. We always were and always will be.

as a south african, your insight is exactly the same as anyone else, the events happened well over 100 years ago. Being born closer to the events doesnt mean anything, you would have learnt about them the same as anyone else

Tell me about it. (South African here). I know a lot about the concentration camps thanks to my grandfather, but I didn’t know there was one in Mossel Bay. I also googled to find a battle fought there. Couldn’t find anything.

Germans perfected it by keeping them well fed and safe until the allies fixed that with their indiscriminate bombing campaigns specifically targeting civilians

George Blackall Simonds (the sculpter) had studied lions at London Zoo and the gait is correct. He also lived for another 40+ years after the unveiling of the lion and enjoyed considerable success. In 1922 he temporarily came out of retirement to build the Bradfield war memorial, commemorating the deaths in the First World War of those in the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers, which included his son. He died in 1929.

@@Levermonkey Actually he was notorious for getting things the wrong size, he threw himself off a chair.

Next thing you will be saying Readings Mayor has been arrested twice in Reading Stations toilets.

Every skirmish or battle in the First Anglo-Boer War, from Bronkhorstspruit to Majuba, was a defeat for the British, which culminating in the Boers winning that war.

Yep, it was a terrible time for the army to be fair.

They were always outnumbered yet few mention this Best soldiers for 3000 years recorded ask the Romans

​@@StuartAnderson-xl4boAgainst the Maori the British outnumbered them 5 to 1 in most battles and still struggled during this 30 year war against a population of no more than 200 000, likely far less due to war and introduced european diseases.

I think it's because they underestimated the Zulu army. The Zulus were the most feared tribe in almost half of Africa. But the Boers were, as you heard, just very good marksmen. There are interviews done by English men on their battles against the Boers. Winston Churchill was in one of the battles and was captured there as well. He got released later.

@@PhilMcrackin237 Judging by the huge white dudes in the Springboks the Boers were also big cnts. Near the biggest men in the world. Lots of meat in Africa. It really helps the intimidation factor when you're big cnts. The enemy is shit scared of running out of ammo.

Thanks mate...Ha ha yep, I wish I was a better artist!

Yep, 2nd Boer War certainly had a few bad days for sure. Any others you would have put on the list?

Yep

Really?

Thanks a lot. Appreciate the feedback.

Please Google "The treaty of Waitangi 6th feb 1840."

WRONG IN 1806 AND 1807 TWO ATTEMPTED INVASION AGAINT THE VICEROYALT OF RIO DE LA PLATA FAILED IN MISERABLE DEFEAT AT BUENOS AIRES AND THE BRITS RECOGNIZED IN A TREATY PEACE WITH SPAIN . ALSO AN ANGLO FRENCH BLOCKADE OF BUENOS AIRES END IN A FIASCO AND A TREATY WITH ARGENTINA RECOGNIZING THE EXCLUSIVE SOVERAINITY IN THE PARANA AND URUGUAY RIVER(THE LAST RIVER SHARED WITH URUGUAY REPUBIC)

America agreed to uphold the British treaties it had made with the native Americans.

Thanks for watching and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hope all is good with you.

Thanks Sir though I was in Iraq and Afghanistan as an observer rather than a combatant so you will have had a much harder time than me. Thanks for your service.

You didn't 'serve' anyone, apart from a few people in the military industrial complex. Do you honestly think you were somehow protecting your 'freedom'? Actually, you played a small part in destabilising the region, terrorising the Iraqi population, and funnelling tax money into private wealthy pockets. Stop thanking people for their service, and start applying some critical thinking

Wasn't Spion Kop after Victoria's death?

Many thanks and welcome!

Very true, Sir.

Corporal Jones hadn't got there yet, it was different when he arrived....

It wasn't really a British defeat as it was Egyptian and Sudanese troops. Gordon also disobeyed orders by refusing to evacuate from Khartoum despite the hopeless situation. Another thing of note is that the Mahdists suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Abu Klea by Wolseley's relief column of regular British troops despite having overwhelming numerical superiority. It's likely that if the column had reached Khartoum in time, Gordon and Wolseley would have destroyed the Mahdi's forces. Instead, Kitchener got to do the honours at Omdurman 13 years later. Now that was what you call a crushing defeat!

Canada is a wonderful country , a bit like England on steroids.

Hi there. Many thanks for your message. Just to clarify though, I am not a military veteran - I have worked alngside the military extensively as a cameraman documenting Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere but as a civilian. In answer to your question though my feeling is that a lot of knowledge from previous conflicts was forgotten and they were forced to try and reinvent the wheel.

Cheers, Chris. Any other subjects you'd like me to tackle?

​​​@@redcoathistory Hi and thanks for the opportunity to offer up some ideas. Would be fascinated on your thoughts on how the passage of pre-battle, battle and post battle might be for the typical redcoat? A few questions come to mind: Would soldiers be informed of the developing tactical situation and be told why they are performing various actions, or be given simple commands without context? As combat becomes a possibility, what actions would be performed to prepare the troops for battle? Would they have been encouraged individually or as a group and by whom? Would there have been any alcohol, singing or other forms of morale boosting practices? When battle is joined, would they be encouraged or threatened and by whom? What would be the rhythm of battle for the solider in line? ie how was water, ammo, food, organised over the duration of a longer fight? If the line appears shaky or some soldiers run in fear, what action would have been taken to steady the line? Once the battle is over, how might the typical soldier spend the rest of the evening, and if there is no more fighting, what might happen the next day? Sorry if you have covered some or all these in previous videos, I have not yet watched your entire catalogue! These are just a few questions of the top of my head, but I'm interested in your thoughts on really anything along these lines as to how combat might have typically felt for the soldier on the ground, perhaps even drawing comparisons with your own experiences in battle, under fire? Many thanks

@redcoathistory Hi Chris did you see my reply, you are usually quick to respond ;)

Not that the Prussians were much better, see von Bredow's Death Ride at Mars-la-Tour, where 800 horsemen went out and 420 returned after just an hour.

​@Valnox92 Von Bredow's charge was a very different situation. It was a deliberate sacrifice carried out at a desperate point in the battle and Von Bredow executed it with great tactical skill that made maximum use of the terrain to shield his troopers from enemy fire. The charge scattered 10 of the 12 deployed French artillery batteries as well as 4 battalions of infantry which immediately reduced the pressure on the worn out Prussian infantry. The charge also unnerved the French commander in chief (Bazaine) so much that he halted further attacks by the French 6th Corps which gave the Prussians time to bring their X Korps to the battlefield and those reinforcements effectively saved the Prussians from destruction and defeat. While the infamous 'Death Ride' was very costly it more than achieved its objectives and compare to losing the battle the casualties suffered by the two regiments were acceptable.

I think both Britain and France tend to have that romantic image in their heads of the dashing cavalry charge. When it works out it's glorious! Haha

The defeats against the Maori should have been considered as they usually outnumbered the Maori 5 to 1 yet still struggled during this 30 year war against a population of no more than 200 000, likely far less due to war and introduced european diseases.

Majuba, obviously. Got to watch that spell check!

In terms of military tactics the Boers were years ahead of their time

Glad you liked it! Appreciate the feedback.

Thanks John. Yep I'd be very keen though I would need to do a lot of research. Any good sources you would reccomend?

@@redcoathistory I'm looking forward to it! Absolutely, 'The Road to Kabul' by Brian Robson is an excellent book covering the build up to the conflict, the duration and the aftermath. It's a fantastic book full of detail and an easy read. It'll give you a good depth of knowledge on the conflict. I'd also fully recommend 'Brigade Commander Afghanistan' which is the journal of Brigadier-General Henry Francis Brooke, he commanded the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the Kandahar Field Force. It's a great account of life in Afghanistan for a British officer at the time and the thought process of the decisions that had to be made at Brigade level. Another book thats very easy to read along and full of interesting little tidbits, plenty of opportunities for the odd accent too. It also includes in the end some statements from other soldiers, newspaper articles and letters, mostly regarding Henry's death (spoiler alert). I'll leave it at that but those I would argue are two must reads!

I'd recommend the memoirs of General Bobs titled _Forty-one years in India: from subaltern to commander-in-chief_ Although to be fair the section on the second Afghan war is only the second most interesting part of the book. There is so much in there about the complete chaos that was 1857 that is incredibly gripping, and the reason I initially picked it up.

Nah. Marksmanship thru genetics? Racist bullshit never wins war. Lol.

That and the thousands of firearms that modern Boers still have. No need for genetics - they can practice. I shoot in South Africa and most of the guys I train with are Afrikaans speakers.

The Boers were trained to shoot from an early age. They would have all shot game and practise makes perfect. They would also have been better at making best use of the terrain to seek out the best firing and fighting positions. They were also fighting on home land and on their terms. We were fighting experts and it is no wonder they outfought us on many occasions.

​@@dacorum8053also the Boers were considered to be early adaptors of modern tactics as we know them for the first half of the twentieth century. Fire and movement, marksmanship skill, etc. Weirdly it was probably fighting them that put the British army in good shape for WW1 and WW2 in terms of the professionalism and marksmanship of the individual soldier. Kipling even wrote a poem about how as bad as the Boer wars were, even the one we won, it was a lesson that needed to be learnt.

No not genetics. When I did my national service as an infantryman in the SADF in the early 1970's I was shocked to find Afrikaans speakers who were worse shots than me. And , in the beginning at least , I was a pretty shabby shot myself. And then it dawned on me after a while that all of these bad shots were all "stadsjapies" - city boys like me. The farmers sons were all outstanding shots because they had the best teachers in the world --- their fathers. And their fathers in turn had the best teachers in the world -- their fathers. In the days of the Boer War ammo was expensive so they were taught to make each shot count -- whether the target was an Nyala or an enemy.

Will have to bow to your superior knowledge of that, Sir. I am afraid the only sport I follow is the sweet science.

That one really did look bad in the newspapers and upset civilians at their breakfast.

But weren't Scots-Irish protestant and made up a huge part of the British army?

​​​@@redcoathistorythe Scots most definitely did. They did much of the heavy work of conquest for the crown. The Scots-Irish were Scots emigres, often unwillingly so, from Scotland to Ireland and then many hence emigrated to the then Colonies. The ones that stayed are generally now known as the Ulster Irish...Northern Ireland. I doubt any Ulsterman calls himself Scots-Irish, though you'd have to ask them. A large portion of the Scots-Irish settled in the Carolinas and eventually the Appalachians to move beyond the power of the Crown or any other authority. Scots-Irish see themselves as distinct from Scottish, not in affection for the Irish label, but as our own distinct identity and culture. Many Scottish Americans were Loyalists (Tories) and after our war for independence became Scottish-Canadians...unwelcome here. As a historical footnote, it was primarily Scots-Irish militia that slaughtered Scottish-American Tories on King's Mountain in 1780. So yeah, we are "Scottish" but more than anything we are the quintessential Americans. We are also often referred to as "The Other Irish" by some to differentiate us from Irish immigrants.

Thanks! Will do - appreciate the support!

Ironic because the British empire was globalist.

You mean people from the places Britain conquered have come to Britain to share in the resources taken from their country?

@@Etaoinshrdlu69 yes, we began as a united kingdom with an empire in place. we were never a nation before that kek

It was the Americans in the WW2 who took everything from us in the name of freedom. Hitler gave them the excuse to take all our trading routes from us to secure their participation. It's the unspoken and untought history. The Americans were jealous of us Brits for a long time as we were better than them. Five great losses, but the 6th loss, which I've mentioned, is the greatest! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧

Loss of identity? Yiu must be pretty insecure m8 - I know perfectly well who I am ^^

Glad you like them!

Cheers mate...I was a civvie cameraman working with the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I remember Vietnam, and Afghanistan. You Americans are useless at war.

Oh yeah, when Mexico tried to win back unlawfully occupied Texas when American settlers refused to honour their agreement.

I was just thinking that it's actually quite rare to glorify defeats. Brits and Commonwealth do it, Americans do it. Not really sure who else.

With the exception of all those Nam movies. No you never do it. 😅

He’s not glorifying the defeats. Listen to the adjectives he uses while giving description. Maybe pay attention for once.

Very true Sir.

Even if they resort to underhand tactics like putting the women and children in concentration camps!

Or the next war- French, Dutch, Marathas, Americans, Afghans, Boers, Asante all won the first war.

Almost.

Thanks for the visit

Totally true,the ultimate defeat!😢

The Great War in Europe was the catalyst that changed Britain from a lending nation to one of a debter country. The rot had begun. Most of Britain's debt was held by American banks. The Great War debt was only repaid in 1960.

Still on going, rich in England taking it down, for group hubris, and greed! Tories, brexit on benefits the wealthy and banks laundering Russian and Chinese, Arab monies?

Britain entered the war to stop Poland being over run by a totalitarian state... and in the end it was over run by a totalitarian state, so in that sense it was certainly a failure.

"later invasion and colonisation" I cannot fathom how you find the often brutal occupation of the East India Company and other British colonial rule to be comparable to immigration into this country, where a tiny amount of the population gets blamed for all its ills. How can you be interested in history yet incapable of realising just how incorrect you are?

Very well said mate with pride and passion 🇬🇧

This explains the “moral victory” in the ashes last year. Let’s call it a shared delusion?

Now sharia for England

Well said! But as a loyal Welshman whose grandad was in the South Wales Borderers, I’d prefer to say “British”. Let’s leave it to the yanks to confuse Britain with England. Duw achub y Brenin = God save the King

@@paulus4222 well said sir , god bless the Welsh, my great relation was in the queen's dragon guards at Waterloo , he was well famous and the officers toast him and his survivors each year in the officers mess . He has a goblet given by his comrades on his retirement which is in the guards museum Cardiff castle .

Many thanks for you comment sir. But no need to salute me, I have spent a lot of time in the world's frontlines but I am an observer rather than a participant.

Hi Jan - I'll be honest I had to look that up as I know very little about the maori Wars. Hope to do more on them in the future - any good books you'd recommend?

@@redcoathistory No, unfortunately not as it is a topic I would like to know more about.

I'm a kiwi- Kete books nz has a couple of good ones on the fights in Tauranga.... from memory it was Pukehinahina

Yeah the British Army got a good thrashing at Gate Pa, but they did follow that up with a victory at Te Ranga several weeks later.

Many thanks for the feedback...The truth is that I am still experimenting and trying to find a style that works. If i was to focus on one "look" which would you say fits the content best?

Thanks, John.

Thankyou, Sir. Any other battles you'd like to see my tackle in the future?

And the Sesotho, the BaPedi and everyone else. Basically don't pick a scrap in SA.

Glad you enjoyed it

Many thanks for your feedback...valid points well worth considering. I would need to watch the entire film of Charge of the Light Brigade again to comment as it has been a long time since I watched it all. I am hoping to cover Britain's disastrous campaigns in South America during the Napoleonic wars eventually...Any good sources from the Spanish side?

Modern weaponry vs old style tactics will do that, very similar for the Germans in 1914 and the Americans in 1917

The Minie ball was a real game changer.

I'm not positive, but weren't the Russians armed with smoothbore muskets? That would account for the (relatively) low rate of injury/death.

The charge of the light brigade was not as bad as is generally believed. If they had something to spike the guns with it might've been merely ill advised instead of monumentally stupid.

@@amh9494 And the rifled barrel

@@bevinboulder5039 one goes with the other of course, but the rifled barrel was already around with such guns as the baker rifle. It wasn't feasible for widespread adoption before the Minie ball though, all that wrapping the ball etc would have complicated the loading drill and lowered the fire rate too much.

Thanks Bill - Glad you like them!

Thanks a lot - I didn't know about Booby. Will look him up.

@@redcoathistory I think he belonged to one of the Sergeants. I think there was one Lieutenant and an NCO and 9 rankers with "the last eleven" but I may have that wrong. I always thought that icy hilltop at Gandamak must have been an awful last moment for those who were there. The 66th Berks got amalgamated with the 49th (Cardwell reforms) 1880-ish to become the Berkshire Regt. They were made Royal Berks shortly after, I think because of their performance at Tofrek ("MacNeil's Zariba") about 1884 after General Gordon met his end at Khartoum in the Sudan. There's a movie (pretty good one I'd say) about that bit as well...

Thanks very much, Sir. Im glad you enjoyed it. I'm always up for a brew - just let me know.

Glad you enjoyed it

Many thanks sir. Though Singapore is irrelevant to a video about the Victorian era 👍🏼🙏

Very good, Sir. I will strive to do better next time.

Amazing life story!

What a great story thanks .

@@mickharrison9004 Mr. Aschenbach take a pheasant on the wing, while he war driving a farm tractor.