1.
Cap badge
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A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearers nationality and/or organisation. Cap badges are a form of heraldry and their design generally incorporates highly symbolic devices. In the British Army each regiment and corps has its own cap badge and that of the Grenadier Guards is known as The Grenade Fired Proper The concept of regimental badges appears to have originated with the British Army. Plastic cap badges were introduced during the Second World War, when metals became strategic materials. Nowadays many cap badges in the British Army are made of a material called stay-brite, regimental cap badges are usually cast as one single piece but in a number of cases they may be cast in different pieces. The Royal Corps Of Signals also have a two part badge, the top being a brass crown and the bottom consisting of a silver flying body of Mercury above a brass world and the motto Certa Cito. A regiment or battalion may maintain variations of the cap badge for different ranks. These variations are usually in the material, size and stylization. Variations in cap badges are made for, Officers, usually three-dimensional in design with more expensive materials such as silver, enamel. Most officers beret badges are embroidered rather than metal or stay-brite, there are exceptions such as the Welsh Guards, where all ranks wear a cloth cap badge. Officers wearing an elaborate version to that of soldiers, made using gold thread and has a more three-dimensional design. All ranks of the Special Air Service wear an embroidered capbadge and all ranks of The Rifles, some regiments maintain a blackened or subdued version of their cap badges as shiny brass cap badges may attract the enemys attention on the battlefield. However, since the practice of British soldiers operating in theatre with regimental headdress has all but died out, the back badge is unique in the British Army and was awarded to the 28th Regiment of Foot for their actions at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. Additional items that reflect a regiments historical accomplishments, such as backing cloth and hackles, in Scottish regiments, for instance, it is a tradition for soldiers to wear their cap badges on a small square piece of their regimental tartans. Officer Cadets may wear a white backing behind their badges. For a period leading up to Remembrance Day artificial poppies are worn by people in the United Kingdom. When worn in uniform the plastic stem of the poppy is discarded, on forage caps the paper petals are fitted under the left hand chin strap button. In the Royal Marines, the cap badges of commissioned officers are split into two, the crown and lion atop, but separated from, the globe and laurels, the Canadian Forces utilize a variety of metal and cloth cap badges on their headdress
2.
Kingdom of England
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In the early 11th century the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, united by Æthelstan, became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway. The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown, from the accession of James I in 1603, the Stuart dynasty ruled England in personal union with Scotland and Ireland. Under the Stuarts, the kingdom plunged into war, which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy returned in 1660, but the Civil War had established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament and this concept became legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From this time the kingdom of England, as well as its state the United Kingdom. On 1 May 1707, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707, the Anglo-Saxons referred to themselves as the Engle or the Angelcynn, originally names of the Angles. They called their land Engla land, meaning land of the English, by Æthelweard Latinized Anglia, from an original Anglia vetus, the name Engla land became England by haplology during the Middle English period. The Latin name was Anglia or Anglorum terra, the Old French, by the 14th century, England was also used in reference to the entire island of Great Britain. The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum, Canute the Great, a Dane, was the first king to call himself King of England. In the Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with use of Rex Anglie. The Empress Matilda styled herself Domina Anglorum, from the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Anglie. In 1604 James VI and I, who had inherited the English throne the previous year, the English and Scottish parliaments, however, did not recognise this title until the Acts of Union of 1707. The kingdom of England emerged from the unification of the early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdoms known as the Heptarchy, East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex. The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between the English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general, the English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927 CE. During the Heptarchy, the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms might become acknowledged as Bretwalda, the decline of Mercia allowed Wessex to become more powerful. It absorbed the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex in 825, the kings of Wessex became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England during the 9th century. In 827, Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at Dore, in 886, Alfred the Great retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that all of the English people not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred, asser added that Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly
3.
Kingdom of Great Britain
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The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially Great Britain, was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800. It did not include Ireland, which remained a separate realm, the unitary state was governed by a single parliament and government that was based in Westminster. Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714, the early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. On 1 January 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, the name Britain descends from the Latin name for the island of Great Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons via the Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Edward IV of Englands daughter Cecily and James III of Scotlands son James. The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Acts of Union state that England and Scotland were to be United into one Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain. However, both the Acts and the Treaty also refer numerous times to the United Kingdom and the longer form, other publications refer to the country as the United Kingdom after 1707 as well. The websites of the UK parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the BBC, additionally, the term United Kingdom was found in informal use during the 18th century to describe the state. The new state created in 1707 included the island of Great Britain, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, both in existence from the 9th century, were separate states until 1707. However, they had come into a union in 1603. Each of the three kingdoms maintained its own parliament and laws and this disposition changed dramatically when the Acts of Union 1707 came into force, with a single unified Crown of Great Britain and a single unified parliament. Ireland remained formally separate, with its own parliament, until the Acts of Union 1800, legislative power was vested in the Parliament of Great Britain, which replaced both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In practice it was a continuation of the English parliament, sitting at the location in Westminster. Newly created peers in the Peerage of Great Britain were given the right to sit in the Lords. Despite the end of a parliament for Scotland, it retained its own laws. As a result of Poynings Law of 1495, the Parliament of Ireland was subordinate to the Parliament of England, the Act was repealed by the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782. The same year, the Irish constitution of 1782 produced a period of legislative freedom, the 18th century saw England, and after 1707 Great Britain, rise to become the worlds dominant colonial power, with France its main rival on the imperial stage
4.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
5.
British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
6.
Line infantry
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Line infantry is the type of infantry that composed the basis of European land armies from the middle of the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century. For both battle and parade drill it consisted of 2 to 4 ranks of soldiers drawn up side by side in rigid alignment. By extension, the term came to be applied to the regiments of the line as opposed to skirmishers, foot guards, militia. Line infantry mainly used three formations in its battles, the line, the square and the column, a line consisted of 2,3 or 4 ranks of soldiers. During the time period that line infantry were prevalent, the object was to cause the formation to rout, which was done by breaking it. The line was considered as the battle formation as it allowed for the largest deployment of firepower. Troops in skirmish formation, though able to cover and use initiative, were highly vulnerable to cavalry. Line infantry provided an anchor for skirmishers and cavalry to retreat to if threatened, against surrounding enemy cavalry, line infantry could swiftly adopt square formations to provide protection. Such squares were hollow, unlike the pikemen and old-style musketeers square, movement in line formation was very slow, and unless the battalion was superbly trained, a breakdown in cohesion was virtually assured, especially in any kind of uneven or wooded terrain. As a result, line was used as a stationary formation, with troops moving in column formations. Usually, columns would be adopted for movement and melee attacks, line infantry was trained in the manual of arms evolutions, the main objectives of which were fast deployment of a line, rapid shooting and manoeuvre. Line tactics required a strict discipline and simple movements, practiced to the point where they became second-nature, during training, the drill and corporal punishments were widely used. Line infantry quickly became the most common type of infantry in European countries, musketeers and grenadiers, formerly elite troops, gradually became part of the line infantry, switching to linear tactics. In the middle of the 17th century, the muskets of some line infantry were equipped with bayonets. Bayonets were attached to the muzzles of muskets and were used when line troops entered melee combat and they also helped to defend against cavalry. In many countries, the new fusils retained the name musket, both muskets and fusils were smoothbore, which lessened their accuracy and range, but made for faster loading, lesser amount of bore fouling and more robust, less complicated firearms. The bulk of the infantry had no protective equipment, as armor that could provide protection from musket fire were considered too expensive. Only the former elite troops could keep by tradition some elements of protection, for example, initially, soldiers equipped with firearms formed only a small part of the infantry branch of most armies, because of their vulnerability to hostile cavalry
7.
Fusilier
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Fusiliers is a name given to various kinds of soldiers, its meaning depends on the historical context. Flintlock small arms were first used militarily during the early 17th century, flintlocks, at the time, were more reliable and safer to use than matchlock muskets, which required a match to be lit near the breech before the weapon could be triggered. By contrast, flintlocks were fired by flint, by the time of the English Civil War, one flintlock musket, the snaphance, was in common use in Britain. The term fusiliers was first used officially by the French Army in 1670, the following year the Fusiliers du Roi, the first regiment composed primarily of soldiers with flintlocks, was formed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. At the time, artillery also required guards to maintain discipline amongst civilian draymen. During the 18th century, as became the main weapon used by infantry. The French Army no longer uses the term fusiliers, although a number of its infantry regiments descend from fusilier regiments, the term fusiliers is still used in the navy and air force. They are protection forces of riflemen assuring security and policing on land bases, the commandos are selected from their ranks. The commandos are special forces units and this subsequently became The Royal Fusiliers. The original purpose of unit was to act as escort to artillery guns. In 1865 a distinctive head-dress was authorised for British Army fusilier regiments, originally a sealskin cap for other ranks, this was replaced by a black raccoon skin cap of nine inches in height, according to the 1874 Dress Regulations. Attached to the types of fusilier headdress, including the modern beret, is the hackle. This is a short cut feather plume, the colour or colours of which varied according to the regiment, initially, the only regiment authorised to wear a plume or hackle were the 5th of Foot. The Fifth were designated Fusiliers in 1836, following the Second Boer War plumes were added to the headgear of all fusilier regiments in recognition of their service in South Africa. Due to the creation of the Irish Free State, the Royal Munster Fusilers, in 1935 the Northumberland Fusiliers was awarded the title Royal. Under the Defence Review of 1957 the number of regiments was reduced. The Royal Scots Fusiliers was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry on 20 January 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the new regiment wore the white hackle of the RSF, with a flaming grenade badge bearing the monogram of the HLI. Under the same review, the three English fusilier regiments were grouped as the Fusilier Brigade in 1958, while retaining their individual identities, a single cap badge was adopted
8.
Militia (United Kingdom)
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The Militia of the United Kingdom were the military reserve forces of the United Kingdom after the Union in 1801 of the former Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland. The militia was transformed into the Special Reserve by the Territorial, for the period before the creation of the United Kingdom, in the home countries and their colonies, see Militia. A separate voluntary Local Militia was created in 1808 before being disbanded in 1816 By 1813 the British Army was experiencing a shortage of manpower to maintain their battalions at full strength. Some consideration was given to recruiting foreign nationals, however on 4 November 1813 a bill was introduced to parliament to allow Militia volunteers to serve in Europe. In the event only three battalions were raised and these were sent to serve under Henry Bayly arriving in Bordeaux on 12 April 1814, although muster rolls were prepared as late as 1820, the element of compulsion was abandoned, and the militia was transformed into a volunteer force. It was intended to be seen as an alternative to the army, men would volunteer and undertake basic training for several months at an army depot. Thereafter, they would return to life, but report for regular periods of military training. In return, they would receive pay and a financial retainer. Of course, many saw the camp as the equivalent of a paid holiday. The militia thus appealed to agricultural labourers, colliers and the like, men in casual occupations, until 1861 the militia were an entirely infantry force, but in that year a number of county regiments were converted to artillery. In 1877 the militia of Anglesey and Monmouthshire were converted to engineers, typically, an English, Welsh or Scottish regiment would have two militia battalions and Irish regiments three. The militia must not be confused with the units created in a wave of enthusiasm in the second half of the nineteenth century. In contrast with the Volunteer Force, and the similar Yeomanry Cavalry, the militia was transformed into the Special Reserve by the military reforms of Haldane in the reforming post 1906 Liberal government. In 1908 the militia battalions were redesignated as reserve and a number were amalgamated or disbanded. Numbered Territorial Force battalions, ranking after the Special Reserve, were formed from the units at the same time. Altogether,101 infantry battalions,33 artillery regiments and two regiments of special reservists were formed. Upon mobilisation, the reserve units would be formed at the depot. The original militiamen soon disappeared, and the battalions became training units pure, the Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to Supplementary Reserve in 1924, though the units were effectively placed in suspended animation until disbanded in 1953
9.
Army Reserve (United Kingdom)
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The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force and integrated element of the British Army. Most Volunteer infantry units had unique identities, but lost these in the reorganisation, only one infantry unit, the London Regiment, has maintained a separate identity. Reservists in the past also served as constables or bailiffs, even holding positions of civic duty as overseer of their parish, the more modern Yeomen of the 18th century were cavalry-based units, which were often used to suppress riots. Several units that are now part of the Army Reserve bear the title militia, after the Second World War, for example, the Army Reserve - or Territorial Army as it was known then - was not demobilised until 1947. All Army Reserve personnel have their jobs protected to a limited extent by law should they be compulsorily mobilised. There is, however, no protection against discrimination in employment for membership of the Army Reserve in the normal course of events. As part of the process, remaining units of militia were converted to the Special Reserve. The TF was formed on 1 April 1908 and contained fourteen infantry divisions and it had an overall strength of approximately 269,000. The individual units that made up each division or brigade were administered by County Associations, the other members of the association consisted of military members, representative members and co-opted members. Associations took over any property vested in the volunteers or yeomanry under their administration, each regiment or battalion had a Regular Army officer attached as full-time adjutant. In August 1914, after the outbreak of the First World War, territorial units were given the option of serving in France and, by 25 August, in excess of seventy battalions had volunteered. This question over the availability of territorial divisions for service was one of Lord Kitcheners motivations for raising the New Army separately. The first fully Territorial division to join the fighting on the Western Front was the 46th Division in March 1915, with divisions later serving in Gallipoli and elsewhere. As the war progressed, and casualties mounted, the character of territorial units was diluted by the inclusion of conscript. Following the Armistice all units of the Territorial Force were gradually disbanded, New recruiting started in early 1920, and the Territorial Force was reconstituted on 7 February 1920. On 1 October 1920, the Territorial Force was renamed the Territorial Army, the 1st Line divisions were reconstituted in that year. However, the composition of the divisions was altered, with a reduction in the number of infantry battalions required, there was also a reduced need for cavalry, and of the 55 yeomanry regiments, only the 14 most senior retained their horses. The remaining yeomanry were converted to artillery or armoured car units or disbanded, the amalgamation of 40 pairs of infantry battalions was announced in October 1921
10.
Volunteer Force
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The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, most of the regiments of the present Territorial Army Infantry, Artillery, Engineers and Signals units are directly descended from Volunteer Force units. During the Crimean War, the War Office had been forced to send militia, the situation had been complicated by the fact that both auxiliary forces were under the control of the Home Office until 1855. Tensions rose between the United Kingdom and France following the Orsini affair, an attempt on Emperor Napoleon III on 14 January 1858. It emerged that the assassin, Felice Orsini had travelled to England to have the bombs used in the attack manufactured in Birmingham. On 29 April 1859 war broke out between France and the Austrian Empire, and there were fears that Britain might be caught up in a wider European conflict. Volunteer corps were to be raised under the provisions of the Volunteer Act 1804, alfred Tennyson captured the spirit of the time by publishing his poem Riflemen Form in The Times on 9 May 1859. As a basis for the units, many communities had rifle clubs for the enjoyment of the sport of shooting, Corps were only to be formed on the recommendation of the county’s lord-lieutenant. The force was liable to be called out “in case of invasion, or of appearance of an enemy in force on the coast, or in case of rebellion arising in either of these emergencies. ”While under arms volunteers were subject to military law and were entitled to be billeted. Members were not permitted to quit the force during actual military service, members were to be returned as “effective” if they had attended eight days drill and exercise in four months, or 24 days within a year. The members of the corps were to provide their own arms and equipment, Volunteers were also permitted to choose the design of their uniforms, subject to the lord-lieutenant’s approval. Although volunteers were to pay for their own firearms, they were to be provided under the superintendence of the War Office, the number of officers and private men in each county and corps was to be settled by the war office, based on the lord-lieutenant’s recommendation. Originally corps were to consist of approximately 100 all ranks under the command of a captain, the purpose of the rifle corps was to harass the invading enemy’s flanks, while artillery corps were to man coastal guns and forts. Although not mentioned in the letter, engineer corps were also formed. Stretcher-bearers attached to the rifle corps subsequently formed volunteer medical detachments affiliated to the Army Medical Corps, in a handful of counties, units of light horse or mounted rifles were formed. Two volunteer units whose services had been accepted by Queen Victoria during the early 1850s became the two senior rifle corps of the new force and these were the 1st Rifle Volunteer Corps who became the 1st Devonshire Rifle Volunteers and the Victoria Rifles who became the 1st Middlesex Rifle Volunteers. An order of precedence was established for other counties, depending upon the date of establishment of the first corps in the county. The most senior artillery corps was the 1st Northumberland formed at Tynemouth on August 2,1859, some also compared the initiative, small unit tactics and marksmanship principles of rifle regiments of the Napoleonic Wars compared with the linear tactics of the standing army
11.
Wellington Barracks, Bury
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Wellington Barracks was a military installation on Bolton Road in Bury, Greater Manchester. The barracks were completed as part of the response to the Chartist riots in 1845, in 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the Cardwell Reforms and the barracks became the depot for the two battalions of the 20th Regiment. Following the Childers Reforms, the regiment evolved to become the Lancashire Fusiliers with its depot in the barracks in 1881, the Regiment amalgamated with several other regiments to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in 1968 and the barracks were demolished in 1969. The Regimental Headquarters were retained and used as a Regimental Museum until 2009 when the collection moved to Moss Street in Bury, the Regimental Headquarters was then converted into a business complex in 2013. The Lancashire Fusiliers War Memorial stood outside the entrance to the barracks until 2009, when it was moved to Gallipoli Gardens, next to the relocated regimental museum
12.
Gallipoli Campaign
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The peninsula forms the northern bank of the Dardanelles, a strait that provided a sea route to the Russian Empire, one of the Allied powers during the war. Intending to secure it, Russias allies Britain and France launched an attack followed by an amphibious landing on the peninsula. The naval attack was repelled and after eight months fighting, with casualties on both sides, the land campaign was abandoned and the invasion force was withdrawn to Egypt. The campaign was one of the greatest Ottoman victories during the war, in Turkey, it is regarded as a defining moment in the nations history, a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the Ottoman Empire crumbled. In 1908, a group of officers, known as the Young Turks. The new régime implemented a program of reform to modernise the political and economic system. An enthusiastic supporter, Germany provided significant investment, German diplomats subsequently found increasing influence, despite Britain previously being the predominant power in the region, while German officers assisted in training and re-equipping the army. Despite this support, the resources of the Ottoman Empire were depleted by the cost of the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. In December 1913, the Germans sent a mission to Constantinople. The geographical position of the Ottoman Empire meant that Russia and her allies France, during the Sarajevo Crisis in 1914, German diplomats offered Turkey an anti-Russian alliance and territorial gains in Caucasia, north-west Iran and Trans-Caspia. The pro-British faction in the Cabinet was isolated due to the British ambassador taking leave until 18 August, as the crisis deepened in Europe, Ottoman policy was to obtain a guarantee of territorial integrity and potential advantages, unaware that the British might enter a European war. This action strained diplomatic relations between the two empires and the German government offered SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau to the Ottoman navy as replacements, by allowing the German ships to enter the Dardanelles, the Ottomans confirmed their links to Germany. In September, the British naval mission to the Ottomans, which had established in 1912 under Admiral Arthur Limpus, was recalled due to increasing concern that Turkey would soon enter the war. Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon of the Imperial German Navy took over command of the Ottoman navy, the German naval presence and the success of German armies on all fronts, gave the pro-German faction in the Ottoman government enough influence to declare war on Russia. On 27 October, Goeben and Breslau, having been renamed Yavûz Sultân Selîm and Midilli, sortied into the Black Sea, bombarded the Russian port of Odessa and sank several Russian ships. The Ottomans refused an Allied demand that they expel the German missions and on 31 October 1914, Russia declared war on Turkey on 2 November. The next day, the British ambassador left Constantinople and a British naval squadron off the Dardanelles bombarded the outer defensive forts at Kum Kale, a shell hit a magazine, knocked the guns off their mounts and killed 86 soldiers. Fighting also began in Mesopotamia, following a British landing to occupy the oil facilities in the Persian Gulf, the Ottomans prepared to attack Egypt in early 1915, aiming to occupy the Suez Canal and cut the Mediterranean route to India and the Far East
13.
Battle of Minden
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The Battle of Minden—or Thonhausen—was a decisive engagement during the Seven Years War, fought on 1 August 1759. An Anglo-German army under the command of Field Marshal Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated a French army commanded by Marshal of France. Two years prior, the French had launched an invasion of Hanover and attempted to impose an unpopular treaty of peace upon the allied nations of Britain, Hanover. After a Prussian victory at Rossbach, and under pressure from Frederick the Great and William Pitt, in 1758, the Allies launched a counter-offensive against the French forces and drove them back across the Rhine. After failing to defeat the French before reinforcements swelled their retreating army, believing Ferdinands forces to be over-extended, Contades abandoned his strong positions around the Weser and advanced to meet the Allied forces in battle. The Allied line advanced in the wake of the cavalry attack, sending the French army reeling from the field. In Britain, the victory was considered to constitute the Annus Mirabilis of 1759, the western German-speaking states of Europe had been a major theatre of the Seven Years War since 1757, when the French had launched an invasion of Hanover. This culminated in a victory for the French at the Battle of Hastenbeck. The Prussian port of Emden was also recaptured, securing supply from Britain, in an attempt to defeat the French before their reinforcements arrived, Ferdinand decided to launch a fresh counter-offensive, and quit his winter quarters early. In April, however, Victor-François, Duke de Broglie and the French withstood Ferdinands attack at the Battle of Bergen, Ferdinand was forced to retreat northwards in the face of the now reinforced French army. Contades, senior of the two French marshals, resumed the advance, occupying a number of towns and cities including the fortress at Minden. Ferdinand was criticised for his failure to check the French offensive and his celebrated brother-in-law, Frederick the Great, is reported as having suggested that, since his loss at Bergen, Ferdinand had come to believe the French to be invincible. Irrespective of any presumed crisis of confidence, however, Ferdinand did ultimately decide to confront the French, Contades had taken up a strong defensive position along the Weser around Minden, where he had paused to regroup before he continued his advance. He initially resisted the opportunity to abandon this position to attack Ferdinand. Ferdinand instead formulated a plan that involved splitting his force into several groups to threaten Contades lines of supply, perceiving Ferdinands forces to be over-extended, Contades thought he saw a chance for the desired decisive victory. He ordered his men to abandon their defensive encampments and advance into positions on the plain west of Minden during the night of 31 July and early morning of 1 August. In 1759, the city of Minden, now the Innenstadt of modern Minden, was situated at the confluence of the Weser, which flows from south to north, and the Bastau. The French under the marshal, de Broglie, were stationed astride the Weser
14.
Battle of Inkerman
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The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of Britain, France and Ottoman Empire against the Imperial Russian Army. The battle broke the will of the Russian Army to defeat the allies in the field, the role of troops fighting mostly on their own initiative due to the foggy conditions during the battle has earned the engagement the name The Soldiers Battle. The allied armies of Britain, France, Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire had landed on the west coast of Crimea on 14 September 1854, intending to capture the Russian naval base at Sevastopol. The allied armies fought off and defeated the Russian Army at the Battle of Alma, instead, they resolved to march around the city, and put Sevastopol under siege. Toward this end the allies marched to the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula, however, before the siege of Sevastopol began, the Russian commander Prince Menshikov evacuated Sevastopol with the major portion of his field army, leaving only a garrison to defend the city. Balaclava revealed the weakness, their siege lines were so long they did not have sufficient troops to man them. Realising this, Menshikov launched an attack across the Tchernaya River on 4 November 1854, on 5 November 1854, the Russian 10th Division, under Lt. General F. I. Soymonov, launched an attack on the allied right flank atop Home Hill east from the Russian position on Shell Hill. The assault was made by two columns of 35,000 men and 134 field artillery guns of the Russian 10th Division, when combined with other Russian forces in the area, the Russian attacking force would form a formidable army of some 42,000 men. The initial Russian assault was to be received by the British Second Division dug in on Home Hill with only 2,700 men and 12 guns, both Russian columns moved in a flanking fashion east towards the British. They hoped to overwhelm this portion of the Allied army before reinforcements could arrive, the fog of the early morning hours aided the Russians by hiding their approach. Not all the Russian troops could fit on the narrow 300-meter-wide heights of Shell Hill, accordingly, General Soymonov had followed Prince Alexander Menshikovs directive and deployed some of his force around the Careenage Ravine. Thus, Soymonov could not effectively employ all of his troops in the attack, when dawn broke, Soymonov attacked the British positions on Home Hill with 6,300 men from the Kolyvansky, Ekaterinburg and Tomsky regiments. Soymonov also had a further 9,000 in reserve, the British had strong pickets and had ample warning of the Russian attack despite the early morning fog. The pickets, some of them at company strength, engaged the Russians as they moved to attack, the firing in the valley also gave warning to the rest of the Second Division, who rushed to their defensive positions. Pennefather did not know that he was facing a superior Russian force, thus he abandoned Evans plan of falling back to draw the Russians within range of the British field artillery which was hidden behind Home Hill. Instead, Pennefather ordered his 2,700 strong division to attack, when they did so, the Second Division faced some 15,300 Russian soldiers. Russian guns bombarded Home Hill, but there were no troops on the crest at this point, the Russians were forced into a bottleneck owing to the shape of the valley, and came out on the Second Divisions left flank
15.
Regiment
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A regiment is a military unit. Their role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, in Medieval Europe, the term regiment denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted in one geographical area, by a leader who was often also the feudal lord of the soldiers. By the 17th century, a regiment was usually about a thousand personnel. In many armies, the first role has been assumed by independent battalions, battlegroups, task forces, brigades and other, similarly-sized operational units. By the beginning of the 18th century, regiments in most European continental armies had evolved into permanent units with distinctive titles and uniforms, when at full strength, an infantry regiment normally comprised two field battalions of about 800 men each or 8–10 companies. In some armies, an independent regiment with fewer companies was labelled a demi-regiment, a cavalry regiment numbered 600 to 900 troopers, making up a single entity. With the widespread adoption of conscription in European armies during the nineteenth century, the regimental system underwent modification. Prior to World War I, a regiment in the French, German, Russian. As far as possible, the battalions would be garrisoned in the same military district, so that the regiment could be mobilized. A cavalry regiment by contrast made up an entity of up to 1,000 troopers. Usually, the regiment is responsible for recruiting and administering all of a military career. Depending upon the country, regiments can be either combat units or administrative units or both and this is often contrasted to the continental system adopted by many armies. Generally, divisions are garrisoned together and share the same installations, thus, in divisional administration, soldiers and officers are transferred in and out of divisions as required. Some regiments recruited from specific areas, and usually incorporated the place name into the regimental name. In other cases, regiments would recruit from an age group within a nation. In other cases, new regiments were raised for new functions within an army, e. g. the Fusiliers, the Parachute Regiment, a key aspect of the regimental system is that the regiment or battalion is the fundamental tactical building block. This flows historically from the period, when battalions were widely dispersed and virtually autonomous. For example, a regiment might include different types of battalions of different origins, within the regimental system, soldiers, and usually officers, are always posted to a tactical unit of their own regiment whenever posted to field duty
16.
Second Boer War
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The Second Boer War, usually known as the Boer War and also at the time as the South African War, started on 11 October 1899 and ended on 31 May 1902. Great Britain defeated two Boer states in South Africa, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, Britain was aided by its Cape Colony, Colony of Natal and some native African allies. The British war effort was supported by volunteers from the British Empire, including Southern Africa, the Australian colonies, Canada, India. All other nations were neutral, but public opinion in them was largely hostile to Britain, inside Britain and its Empire there also was significant opposition to the Second Boer War. The British were overconfident and under-prepared, the Boers were very well armed and struck first, besieging Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking in early 1900, and winning important battles at Colenso, Magersfontein and Stormberg. Staggered, the British brought in numbers of soldiers and fought back. General Redvers Buller was replaced by Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener and they relieved the three besieged cities, and invaded the two Boer republics in late 1900. The onward marches of the British Army were so overwhelming that the Boers did not fight staged battles in defense of their homeland, the British quickly seized control of all of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, as the civilian leadership went into hiding or exile. In conventional terms, the war was over, Britain officially annexed the two countries in 1900, and called a khaki election to give the government another six years of power in London. However, the Boers refused to surrender and they reverted to guerrilla warfare under new generals Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, Christiaan de Wet and Koos de la Rey. Two more years of attacks and quick escapes followed. As guerrillas without uniforms, the Boer fighters easily blended into the farmlands, which provided hiding places, supplies, the British solution was to set up complex nets of block houses, strong points, and barbed wire fences, partitioning off the entire conquered territory. The civilian farmers were relocated into concentration camps, where very large proportions died of disease, especially the children, then the British mounted infantry units systematically tracked down the highly mobile Boer guerrilla units. The battles at this stage were small operations with few combat casualties The war ended in surrender, the British successfully won over the Boer leaders, who now gave full support to the new political system. Both former republics were incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910, the conflict is commonly referred to as simply the Boer War, since the First Boer War is much less well known. Boer was the term for Afrikaans-speaking white South Africans descended from the Dutch East India Companys original settlers at the Cape of Good Hope. It is officially called the South African War and it is known as the Anglo-Boer War among some South Africans. In Afrikaans it may be called the Anglo-Boereoorlog, Tweede Boereoorlog, in South Africa it is officially called the South African War
17.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
18.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
19.
Fusilier Brigade
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The Fusilier Brigade was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1958 to 1968. The Brigade combined the depots of the English infantry regiments designated as fusiliers, the Brigade was created as part of the 1957 Defence White Paper announced in July 1957. The grenade was a common to all fusilier regiments, while the other elements were each taken from the cap badges of the three regiments. The regiments were distinguished by a feather hackle worn behind the badge in some forms of head dress, red and white, white. From 1960 the Fusilier Brigade was based at St Georges Barracks in Sutton Coldfield, a new button was designed for the Brigade in 1963, bearing the ancient antelope badge of the Royal Warwickshires within The Garter. On 23 April 1968, all four regiments were amalgamated into the single large regiment, the RRF continues to wear the Fusilier Brigade badges and buttons, with the red over white hackle of the Northumberland Fusiliers. On 1 July 1968 the Fusilier Brigade was united with the Home Counties Brigade and East Anglian Brigades, to form the Queens Division
20.
Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
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The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment adopted the title Northumberland Fusiliers when regimental numbers were abolished under the Childers Reforms of 1881, the regiment was originally part of the Dutch service and known as the Irish Regiment, or Viscount Clares Regiment, under the command of Daniel OBrien, 3rd Viscount Clare. In the following year the colonelcy passed to John Fenwick and the Irish designation was discontinued, the regiment was transferred to the British Service on 5 June 1685, establishing its order of precedence as the 5th Regiment of the Line. Like most other regiments, it was known by the names of the colonels who commanded it at the time until it became the 5th Regiment of Foot in 1751. The regiment took part in the Irish campaign of 1690–1691, and was present at the Battle of the Boyne, the Second Siege of Athlone, in 1692 the unit sailed for Flanders where they were to remain for five years. In 1695 they were part of the forces that recaptured Namur. With the ending of the war by the Treaty of Ryswick they returned to England in 1697, the regiment spent the years 1707–1713 in Spain. They were one of four English regiments who fought an action with their Portuguese allies at Campo Maior in 1709. During the Anglo-Spanish War of 1727, the regiment formed part of the garrison of Gibraltar which withheld the Spanish during the four-month-long siege. On 1 July 1751 a royal warrant provided that in future regiments would not be known by their colonels names, accordingly, Lieutenant-General Irvines Regiment was redesignated as the 5th Regiment of Foot. The next major conflict in which the 5th foot was involved was the Seven Years War, the regiment took part in the Raid on Cherbourg in 1758, the Battle of Warburg in 1760, the Battle of Kirch Denkern in 1761 and the Battle of Wilhelmsthal in 1762. The 5th left Monkstown, Ireland on 7 May 1774, for Boston and their presence was necessary because of strong civil unrest in the area. Arriving in July,1774 the 5th camped near the town, on 19 April 1775, the Light Infantry and Grenadier Companies participated in the march to Concord, and the resulting fighting at Lexington, Concord, and the march back to Boston. Casualties were five men killed, three officers and 15 men wounded, and one man captured, on 17 June 1775, after being under siege by American forces for two months, the regiment participated in the attack on the fortifications at Breeds Hill. After spending two months on board ship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the 5th sailed to New York to participate in the effort to capture the city from the Americans. They took part in the Battle of Long Island and the Battle of White Plains, the capture of Fort Washington, New York and they then spent the winter of 1776-1777 quartered near New York City and were involved in skirmishes with the American forces. They were then part of Howes campaign to capture Philadelphia, being engaged in the Battle of Brandywine Creek, on the retreat through New Jersey, on 28 June 1778, the regiment was involved in the fighting at Monmouth Court House. While in New York, the 5th participated in raids and skirmishes, including a raid on Little Egg Harbor
21.
Royal Warwickshire Regiment
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The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War. On 1 May 1963, the regiment was re-titled, for the time, as the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers. The regiment traces its origins to the 17th century, in the Netherlands in 1674, the government retained two regiments of English troops, two of Scots and one Irish. In 1685, when James II requested their services during the Duke of Monmouths rebellion, after Monmouths defeat, they returned to the Netherlands. However, when William III became king of England in 1688, they accompanied him, the 6th was nicknamed the Dutch Guards by William. Service in Ireland followed and the regiment was present at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, campaigning in Flanders during 1692-1695 followed, with the Battle of Steenkerque in August 1692 and the Siege of Namur in July 1695, which was the 6ths first battle honour. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the 6th was in Spain and Portugal fighting the armies of Spain, the regiment fought at Barcelona in 1706 and suffered heavy casualties at Almanza in 1707. In 1710, the 6th played a part in the victory of Almenar and won undying fame at Saragossa. The regiments next conflict was the Jacobite rising of 1745, the 6th was sent to secure the highland forts between Inverness and Fort William. Two companies were with the army under General Sir John Cope at the Battle of Prestonpans. The 6th also defended Fort William, beating off every attack as all the highland forts surrendered. The regiment went to Gibraltar in 1753 before moving on to the West Indies on garrison duty in 1772. On the outbreak of the American War of Independence, detachments from the 6th arrived in New York in 1776 and saw action, but were of insufficient strength and were sent home. When, as an aid to recruiting, territorial links of infantry regiments were first established in 1782, the 1st Battalion went from Gibraltar to the Iberian Peninsula and was at Roliça and Vimeiro in 1808. The battalion took part in the Corunna, losing 400 men during the march, the men were then shipped to UK before taking part in the Walcheren Campaign before returning to the Peninsula in 1812. The regiment was present at Vitoria in 1813 and heavily engaged at the action at Roncesvalles. The regiment was held in reserve at the Nive and was heavily engaged at Orthez in 1814
22.
Royal Fusiliers
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The Royal Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881, the Royal Fusiliers Monument, a memorial dedicated to the Royal Fusiliers who died during the First World War, stands on Holborn in the City of London. Throughout its long existence, the regiment served in wars and conflicts, including the Second Boer War, the First World War. It was formed as a regiment in 1685 by George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth. Most regiments were equipped with matchlock muskets at the time, and this was because their task was to be an escort for the artillery, for which matchlocks would have carried the risk of igniting the open-topped barrels of gunpowder. The regiment went to Holland in February 1689 for service in the Nine Years War and fought at the Battle of Walcourt in August 1689 before returning home in 1690. It embarked for Flanders later that year and fought at the Battle of Steenkerque in August 1692 and the Battle of Landen in July 1693 and the Siege of Namur in summer 1695 before returning home. The regiment took part in an expedition captured the town of Rota in Spain in spring 1702. The regiment became the 7th Regiment of Foot in 1751, although a variety of spellings of the word fusilier persisted until the 1780s, the Royal Fusiliers was sent to Canada in April 1773. The regiment was broken up into detachments that served at Montreal, Quebec, Fort Chambly, in the face of the American invasion of Canada in 1775/76, most of the regiment was forced to surrender. The 80 man garrison of Fort Chambly attempted to resist a 400-man Rebel force and this is where the regiment lost its first set of colours. Captain Owens company of the 7th, along with a handful of recruits, the men taken prisoner during the defence of Canada were exchanged in British held New York City in late 1776. Here, the regiment was rebuilt and garrisoned New York and New Jersey, in October 1777, the 7th participated in the successful assaults on Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery. In December 1777, the regiment reinforced the garrison of Philadelphia, during the British evacuation back to New York City, the regiment participated in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. The 7th participated in Tryons raid in July 1779, in April 1780, the Royal Fusiliers took part in the capture of Charleston. Once Charleston fell, the regiment helped garrison the city, the Royal Fusiliers was in the first line during the battle, Tarleton was defeated and the regiments colours were lost in the heat of the battle. A contingent from the regiment fought through North Carolina participating in the Battle of Guilford Court House in March 1781, the regiment returned to England in 1783. The regiment embarked for Holland and saw action at the Battle of Copenhagen in August 1807 during the Gunboat War and it was then sent to the West Indies and took part in the capture of Martinique in 1809
23.
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
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The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is an Infantry Regiment of the British Army, part of the Queens Division. There are also a number of independent Reservist Fusilier sub-units based across England, whilst the Fusiliers traditionally recruited in specific counties, today as an English regiment the Fusiliers recruit nationally. All battalions have also deployed to Northern Ireland on Operation Banner multiple times. In 2003 First Fusiliers Battlegroup were at the forefront of the Coalition Invasion of Iraq, over the next decade the Regiment carried out multiple operational tours of Iraq. In 2006 elements of the former Second Fusiliers were deployed to Afghanistan to support the International Security Assistance Force. Deployed to the town of Now Zad they rapidly found themselves fighting off a sustained Taliban attack that lasted for 107 days - the longest siege of British troops since World War II. Over the following elements of the Regiment deployed on several occasions to Afghanistan. Most recently the whole of First Fusiliers deployed to Nahri Saraj District, Afghanistan in 2013, the Regiment received a reserve battalion, the 5th Battalion RRF, through the redesignation of Tyne-Tees Regiment, on 1 April 2006. In September 2014 the Second Fusiliers amalgamated with the First under Army 2020, First Fusiliers are an Armoured Infantry Battalion based on Salisbury Plain in Tidworth Camp, Wiltshire. Equipped with the Warrior IFV, the Battalion is part of the Reactive Force of the Army and are held at high readiness as part of the Armys armoured war fighting reserve. In 2016 the First Fusiliers were the Armys Lead Armoured Battle Group, the Battalion is highly experienced with multiple deployments in the last two decades to Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. Many Second Fusiliers soldiers with further experiences also joined the First Fusiliers on the merger, more recently the First Fusiliers have deployed around the world on exercise in places as diverse as Brunei, Kenya, the Baltic States and Canada. The First Fusiliers also regularly work in support of the powers in the UK. In 2013 large elements of the First Fusiliers were deployed to Wraysbury, the First Fusiliers won the Army Boxing Championships in 2016, beating 2 PARA in the final. The Fifth Fusiliers are a Reserve Battalion within the British Army centred on the North East of England, as a Fusilier regiment the Fusiliers wear a hackle – the red-over-white hackle of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. This distinction was originally a white plume which His Majestys Fifth Regiment of Foot had taken from the dress of fallen French troops at St. Lucia in December 1778. The combined Victoria Crosses of the Fusiliers and its ancestor regiments total fifty five, the regiments traditional mascot is an Indian Blackbuck Antelope called Bobby, inherited from the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers. However Indian Blackbuck Antelopes are now protected under animal welfare rules, as a substitute the Regiment uses an Otterhound called George, who holds the rank of Fusilier and attends all the major parades which the Regiment is involved in
24.
Torbay
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Torbay /tɔːrˈbeɪ/ is a borough in Devon, England, administered by the unitary authority of Torbay Council. It consists of 62.87 square kilometres of land, spanning the towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, Torbay is roughly equidistant from the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. That the Torbay area has been inhabited since Paleolithic times is shown by human bones, a maxilla fragment known as Kents Cavern 4 may be the oldest example of a modern human in Europe, dating back to 37, 000–40,000 years ago. Roman soldiers are known to have visited Torquay during the period when Britain was a part of the Roman Empire, leaving offerings at a rock formation in Kents Cavern. Both Brixham and Paignton appear in the Domesday Book of 1086 and Paignton was given the status of a borough having a market, the first major building in Torquay was Torre Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery founded in 1196. William Prince of Orange landed in Brixham on 5 November 1688, during the Glorious Revolution, the historic part of Paignton is inland, the low-lying coastal fringe was originally salt marsh. Paignton remained a fishing village until the early 19th century. The second phase in the expansion of the area began when Torre railway station was opened in December 1848. The railway was extended to Torquay Seafront station in 1858, Paignton in 1859, as a result of its expansion, Torquay was granted borough status in 1872, and 1902 saw its first marketing campaign to summer tourists. Torbay Golf & Country Club opened in 1933, the club and course closed in the mid 1950s. Tor Bay hosted the events for the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. The County Borough became the Borough of Torbay under local government reorganisation in 1974 and it was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1998 making it responsible for its own affairs. The area is represented nationally at the House of Commons by two MPs, Brixham and part of Paignton fall within the Totnes constituency, with Conservative Sarah Wollaston elected. Torbay is in the South West England constituency of the European Parliament, together with the rest of South West England, until May 2011, Torbay Council had been headed by the first directly elected mayor in the South West region. Conservative candidate Nicholas Bye who won in October 2005, under a system which was later described as a total failure with Bye receiving votes from fewer than 7% of the electorate. However, running as an independent he was defeated in the May 2011 election by Gordon Oliver who stood as a Conservative, for local elections the district is divided into 15 wards. The Council elects 36 councillors in elections every four years. Since the Torbay Council election,2015, the council has a Conservative majority, the composition as of 9 May 2015, There are three main towns around the marine inlet of Tor Bay, Torquay in the north, Paignton in the centre, and Brixham in the south
25.
Colonel
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Colonel is a senior military officer rank below the general officer ranks. However, in small military forces, such as those of Iceland or the Vatican. It is also used in police forces and paramilitary organizations. Historically, in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of a regiment in an army, the rank of colonel is typically above the rank of lieutenant colonel. The rank above colonel is typically called brigadier, brigade general or brigadier general, equivalent naval ranks may be called captain or ship-of-the-line captain. In the Commonwealth air force rank system, the equivalent rank is group captain, the word colonel derives from the same root as the word column and means of a column, and, by implication, commander of a column. The word colonel is therefore linked to the column in a similar way that brigadier is linked to brigade. By the end of the medieval period, a group of companies was referred to as a column of an army. Since the word is believed to derive from sixteenth-century Italian, it was presumably first used by Italian city states in that century. The first use of colonel as a rank in an army was in the French National Legions created by King Francis I by his decree of 1534. Building on the reforms of Louis XIIs decree of 1509. Each colonel commanded a legion with a strength of six thousand men. With the shift from primarily mercenary to primarily national armies in the course of the seventeenth century, the Spanish equivalent rank of coronel was used by the Spanish tercios in the 16th and 17th centuries. Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, nicknamed the Great Captain, divided his armies in coronelías or colonelcies, however, the Spanish word probably derives from a different origin, in that it appears to designate an officer of the crown, rather than an officer of the column. This makes the Spanish word coronel probably cognate with the English word coroner and this regiment, or governance, was to some extent embodied in a contract and set of written rules, also referred to as the colonels regiment or standing regulation. By extension, the group of companies subject to a colonels regiment came to be referred to as his regiment as well, the position, however, was primarily contractual and it became progressively more of a functionless sinecure. By the late 19th century, colonel was a military rank though still held typically by an officer in command of a regiment or equivalent unit. As European military influence expanded throughout the world, the rank of colonel became adopted by every nation
26.
Glorious Revolution
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The crisis facing the king came to a head in 1688, with the birth of the kings son, James Francis Edward Stuart, on 10 June. This changed the line of succession by displacing the heiress presumptive with young James Francis Edward as heir apparent. The establishment of a Roman Catholic dynasty in the kingdoms now seemed likely, stadtholder William, the de facto head of state of the Dutch United Provinces, feared a Catholic Anglo–French alliance and had already been planning a military intervention in England. After consolidating political and financial support, William crossed the North Sea and English Channel with an invasion fleet in November 1688. After only two minor clashes between the two opposing armies in England, and anti-Catholic riots in several towns, Jamess regime collapsed, however, this was followed by the protracted Williamite War in Ireland and Dundees rising in Scotland. In Englands distant American colonies, the led to the collapse of the Dominion of New England. By threatening to withdraw his troops, William in February 1689 convinced a newly chosen Convention Parliament to make him, the Revolution permanently ended any chance of Catholicism becoming re-established in England. The Revolution led to limited tolerance for Nonconformist Protestants, although it would be some time before they had political rights. Internationally, the Revolution was related to the War of the Grand Alliance on mainland Europe and it has been seen as the last successful invasion of England. It ended all attempts by England in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century to subdue the Dutch Republic by military force, the expression Glorious Revolution was first used by John Hampden in late 1689, and is an expression that is still used by the British Parliament. The Glorious Revolution is also termed the Bloodless Revolution, albeit inaccurately. Jamess greatest political problem was his Catholicism, which left him alienated from both parties in England. The low church Whigs had failed in their attempt to pass the Exclusion Bill to exclude James from the throne between 1679 and 1681, and Jamess supporters were the high church Anglican Tories. In Scotland, his supporters in the Parliament of Scotland stepped up attempts to force the Covenanters to renounce their faith, when James inherited the English throne in 1685, he had much support in the Loyal Parliament, which was composed mostly of Tories. His Catholicism was of concern to many, but the fact that he had no son, Jamess attempt to relax the Penal Laws alienated his natural supporters, however, because the Tories viewed this as tantamount to disestablishment of the Church of England. The majority of Irish people backed James II for this reason, by allying himself with the Catholics, Dissenters, and Nonconformists, James hoped to build a coalition that would advance Catholic emancipation. In May 1686, James decided to obtain from the English courts of the law a ruling that affirmed his power to dispense with Acts of Parliament. He dismissed judges who disagreed with him on this matter as well as the Solicitor General Heneage Finch, eleven out of the twelve judges ruled in favour of dispensing power
27.
William III of England
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It is a coincidence that his regnal number was the same for both Orange and England. As King of Scotland, he is known as William II and he is informally known by sections of the population in Northern Ireland and Scotland as King Billy. William inherited the principality of Orange from his father, William II and his mother Mary, Princess Royal, was the daughter of King Charles I of England. In 1677, he married his fifteen-year-old first cousin, Mary, a Protestant, William participated in several wars against the powerful Catholic king of France, Louis XIV, in coalition with Protestant and Catholic powers in Europe. Many Protestants heralded him as a champion of their faith, in 1685, his Catholic father-in-law, James, Duke of York, became king of England, Ireland and Scotland. Jamess reign was unpopular with the Protestant majority in Britain, William, supported by a group of influential British political and religious leaders, invaded England in what became known as the Glorious Revolution. On 5 November 1688, he landed at the southern English port of Brixham, James was deposed and William and Mary became joint sovereigns in his place. They reigned together until her death on 28 December 1694, after which William ruled as sole monarch, Williams reputation as a staunch Protestant enabled him to take the British crowns when many were fearful of a revival of Catholicism under James. Williams victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is still commemorated by the Orange Order and his reign in Britain marked the beginning of the transition from the personal rule of the Stuarts to the more Parliament-centred rule of the House of Hanover. William III was born in The Hague in the Dutch Republic on 4 November 1650, baptised William Henry, he was the only child of stadtholder William II, Prince of Orange, and Mary, Princess Royal. Mary was the eldest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland, eight days before William was born, his father died of smallpox, thus William was the Sovereign Prince of Orange from the moment of his birth. Immediately, a conflict ensued between his mother the Princess Royal and William IIs mother, Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, over the name to be given to the infant. Mary wanted to name him Charles after her brother, but her mother-in-law insisted on giving him the name William or Willem to bolster his prospects of becoming stadtholder. William II had appointed his wife as his sons guardian in his will, however, Williams mother showed little personal interest in her son, sometimes being absent for years, and had always deliberately kept herself apart from Dutch society. Williams education was first laid in the hands of several Dutch governesses, some of English descent, including Walburg Howard, from April 1656, the prince received daily instruction in the Reformed religion from the Calvinist preacher Cornelis Trigland, a follower of the Contra-Remonstrant theologian Gisbertus Voetius. The ideal education for William was described in Discours sur la nourriture de S. H. Monseigneur le Prince dOrange, in these lessons, the prince was taught that he was predestined to become an instrument of Divine Providence, fulfilling the historical destiny of the House of Orange. From early 1659, William spent seven years at the University of Leiden for a formal education, under the guidance of ethics professor Hendrik Bornius. While residing in the Prinsenhof at Delft, William had a personal retinue including Hans Willem Bentinck, and a new governor, Frederick Nassau de Zuylenstein
28.
Battle of the Boyne
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The battle took place across the River Boyne near the town of Drogheda in the east of Ireland, and resulted in a victory for William. This turned the tide in Jamess failed attempt to regain the British crown, the battle took place on 1 July 1690O. S. Williams forces defeated Jamess army, which consisted mostly of raw recruits, although the Williamite War in Ireland continued until October 1691, James fled to France after the Boyne, never to return. The symbolic importance of this battle has made it one of the battles in the history of the British Isles. Its commemoration today is principally by the Protestant Orange Institution, which records the first commemorative parades as having held in 1791. It is regarded as a moment in the struggle between Irish Protestant and Catholic interests. The previous year William had sent the Duke of Schomberg to take charge of the Irish campaign and he was a 75-year-old professional soldier who had accompanied William during the Glorious Revolution. Under his command, affairs had remained static and very little had been accomplished, William, dissatisfied with the state of affairs in Ireland, decided to take charge in person. In an Irish context, the war was a sectarian and ethnic conflict, for the Jacobites, the war was fought for Irish sovereignty, religious tolerance for Catholicism, and land ownership. The Catholic upper classes had lost almost all their lands after Cromwells conquest, as well as the right to public office, practice their religion. They saw the Catholic King James as a means of redressing these grievances, to these ends, under Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel, they had raised an army to restore James after the Glorious Revolution. By 1690, they controlled all of Ireland except for the province of Ulster, most of James IIs troops at the Boyne were Irish Catholics, however, there were also Scots-Irish Presbyterians fighting for James II. Conversely, for the Williamites, the war was about maintaining Protestant, in particular, they dreaded a repeat of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, which had been marked by widespread killing. For these reasons, Protestants fought en masse for William of Orange, Jamess supporters controlled much of Ireland and the Irish Parliament. James also enjoyed the support of his cousin, Louis XIV, Louis sent 6,000 French troops to Ireland to support the Irish Jacobites. William was already Stadtholder of the Netherlands and was able to call on Dutch, James was a seasoned officer who had proven his bravery when fighting for his brother – King Charles II – in Europe, notably at the Battle of the Dunes. William, although a seasoned commander, was one of historys great generals and had yet to win a major battle. Many of his battles ended in stalemates, prompting at least one historian to argue that William lacked an ability to manage armies in the thick of conflict
29.
Battle of Aughrim
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The Battle of Aughrim was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the Jacobites and the forces of William III on 12 July 1691, near the village of Aughrim, the battle was one of the more bloody recorded fought on Irish soil – over 7,000 people were killed. It meant the end of Jacobitism in Ireland, although the city of Limerick held out until the autumn of 1691. The Jacobite position in the summer of 1691 was a defensive one, from this position, the Jacobites hoped to receive military aid from Louis XIV of France via the port towns and eventually be in a position to re-take the rest of Ireland. Godert de Ginkell, the Williamites Dutch general, had breached this line of defence by crossing the Shannon at Athlone - taking the town after a bloody siege. Ginkel marched through Ballinasloe, on the road towards Limerick and Galway. Both armies were about 20,000 men strong, the soldiers of St Ruth’s army were mostly Irish Catholic, while Ginkels were English, Scottish, Danish, Dutch and French Huguenot and Irish Protestants. The Jacobite position at Aughrim was quite strong, St Ruth had drawn up his infantry along the crest of a ridge known as Kilcommadan Hill. The left of the position was bounded by a bog, through there was only one causeway, overlooked by Aughrim village. On the other, open, flank, St Ruth placed his best infantry under his second-in-command, the chevalier de Tessé, the battle started with Ginkel trying to assault the open flank of the Jacobite position with cavalry and infantry. This attack ground to a halt after determined Jacobite counter-attacks and the Williamites halted, the French Huguenot forces committed here found themselves in low ground exposed to Jacobite fire and took a great number of casualties. Contemporaneous accounts speak of the grass being slippery with blood, to this day, this area on the south flank of the battle is known locally as the Bloody Hollow. In the centre, the Williamite infantry under Hugh Mackay tried a frontal assault on the Jacobite infantry on Kilcommadan Hill. The Williamite troops, mainly English and Scots, had to each line of trenches. The Williamite infantry attempted three assaults, the first of which penetrated furthest, eventually, the final Williamite assault was driven back with heavy losses by cavalry and pursued into the bog, where more of them were killed or drowned. In the rout, the pursuing Jacobites manage to spike a battery of Williamite guns and this left Ginkel with only one option, to try to force a way through the causeway on the Jacobite left. This should have been a position, with the attackers concentrated into a narrow lane. However, the Irish troops there were short on ammunition, Mackay directed this fourth assault, consisting mainly of cavalry, in two groups - one along the causeway and one parallel to the south
30.
War of the Spanish Succession
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The War of the Spanish Succession was a major European conflict of the early 18th century, triggered by the death in 1700 of the last Habsburg King of Spain, the infirm and childless Charles II. Charles II had ruled over a vast global empire, and the question of who would succeed him had long troubled the governments of Europe, the English, the Dutch and the Austrians formally declared war in May 1702. By 1708, the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy had secured victory in the Spanish Netherlands and in Italy, France faced invasion and ruin, but Allied unity broke first. With the Grand Alliance defeated in Spain and with its casualties mounting and aims diverging, French and British ministers prepared the groundwork for a peace conference, and in 1712 Britain ceased combat operations. The Dutch, Austrians, and German states fought on to strengthen their own negotiating position, the Treaty of Utrecht and the Treaty of Rastatt partitioned the Spanish empire between the major and minor powers. The European balance of power was assured, in the late 1690s the declining health of King Charles II of Spain brought to a head the problem of his succession, a problem which had underlain much of European diplomacy for several decades. The empire was in decline, but remained the largest of the European overseas empires, unlike the French crown, the Spanish crowns could all be inherited by, or through, a female in default of a male line. The next in line after Charles II, therefore, were his two sisters, Maria Theresa, the elder, and Margaret Theresa, the younger, Maria Theresa had married Louis XIV in 1660 and by him she had a son, Louis, Dauphin of France. The testament of her father, Philip IV, reiterated this waiver and bequeathed the reversion of the whole of the Spanish dominions to his younger daughter, Margaret Theresa. However the French, using in part the excuse that the dowry promised Maria Theresa was never paid, nor was it clear whether a princess could waive the rights of her unborn children. Leopold I married Margaret Theresa in 1666, at her death in 1673 she left one living heir, Maria Antonia, who in 1685 married Max Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. Shortly before her death in 1692, she gave birth to a son, if he chose, Louis XIV could attempt to assert his will on Spain by force of arms, but the Nine Years War had been an immense drain on Frances resources. To seek a solution and gain support, Louis XIV turned to his long-standing rival William of Orange. England and the Dutch Republic had their own commercial, strategic and political interests within the Spanish empire, however, the Maritime Powers were in a weakened state and both had reduced their forces at the conclusion of the Nine Years War. Louis XIV and William III, therefore, sought to solve the problem of the Spanish inheritance through negotiation, based on the principle of partition, to take effect after the death of Charles II. However, the bulk of the empire – most of peninsular Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, Sardinia, the Spanish Empire was now divided between the three surviving candidates. By this new treaty Archduke Charles would receive most of Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, Sardinia, and the overseas empire. For Leopold I, however, control of Spain and its empire was less important than Italy
31.
Battle of Vigo Bay
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The Battle of Vigo Bay, also known as the Battle of Rande was a naval engagement fought on 23 October 1702 during the opening years of the War of the Spanish Succession. The engagement followed an Anglo-Dutch attempt to capture the Spanish port of Cádiz in September in an effort to secure a base in the Iberian Peninsula. From this station the Allies had hoped to conduct operations in the western Mediterranean Sea, Philips van Almonde convinced Rooke to attack the treasure ships, despite the lateness of the year and the fact that the vessels were protected by French ships-of-the-line. Yet because most of the treasure had been off-loaded before the attack, nevertheless, the victory was a welcome boost to Allied morale and had helped persuade the Portuguese King, Peter II, to abandon his earlier treaty with the French, and join the Grand Alliance. The accession of the Bourbon Philip V to the Spanish throne in 1700 had aroused opposition in Spain. In the Spanish American empire, however, officials and colonists resisted French attempts to take over their trade. The first French squadron sailed in April 1701 under the Marquis de Coëtlogon, but the Spanish governors would not even him to buy victuals. Nevertheless, the weakness of the Spanish navy left the government in Madrid little choice, every effort was made to ensure that the bullion was landed in Spain rather than France, from where it might never return. The naval campaign of 1702 was therefore played out in two distant theatres of America and Spain, linked together by the trail of the Spanish treasure ships across the Atlantic. The American theatre became a scene long remembered in popular English tradition following Admiral Benbows running battle in August off Santa Marta, however, the Royal Navys main effort was not off the Spanish Main, but off the Spanish coasts in Europe. It was hoped that this strategy would encourage Portugal to join the Allies, open the Strait of Gibraltar, and secure English naval power in the Mediterranean. Their allies, the Austrians, were clamouring for a naval presence in the Mediterranean to assist them in achieving their own primary ambitions – the capture of Spains provinces in Italy. To meet these ends, the Anglo-Dutch fleets would first need to seize a port in the Iberian Peninsula from which their ships could operate. The Allies, therefore, resolved upon an expedition, led by Admiral George Rooke, to capture the southern Spanish port of Cádiz, on 11 June 1702, the Spanish silver fleet from New Spain left Veracruz under escort of a French squadron commanded by Admiral Château-Renault. The Spanish vessels were commanded by Manuel de Velasco in his armed galleon, the whole convoy arrived at Havana on 7 July, before striking out across the Atlantic on the 24th. It was clear, therefore, a new harbour would be needed, valesco considered the small port of Los Pasajes, but Château-Renault favoured Brest or La Rochelle, or even Lisbon. A compromise was put forward, and on 23 September the Franco-Spanish fleet entered Vigo Bay in Galicia, there was, however, considerable delay in unloading the cargo. The whole administrative apparatus normally present at unloading, was in Seville and Cádiz, when the unloading eventually began, it was found that means of transporting the goods were lacking
32.
Battle of Dettingen
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The Battle of Dettingen took place on 27 June 1743 at Dettingen on the River Main, Germany, during the War of the Austrian Succession. The British forces, in alliance with those of Hanover and Hesse, George II commanded his troops in the battle, and this marked the last time a British monarch personally led his troops on the field. The battle straddled the river about 18 miles east of Frankfurt, with guns on the Hessian bank, the village of Dettingen is today the town of Karlstein am Main, in the extreme northwest of Bavaria. The British force of 17,000 men under John Dalrymple, here it joined the Pragmatic Army, some 50,000 strong at the start of the campaign, also containing 16,000 Hanoverians with the balance made up of Austrians, Hessians and Dutch. The army remained inactive until January 1743, when King George II ordered Dalrymple to march into Germany, leaving the Hessians. The internal divisions in the Dutch Republic delayed their army of 20,000 so that it too late to participate in the campaign. On 17 June the army set up camp between Kleinostheim and Aschaffenburg, George, accompanied by 25 squadrons of British and Hanoverian cavalry, arrived there on 19 June and took up overall command. This was the result of skillful maneuvering and harassment by a French army of some 45,000 led by Noailles, Noailles had also lined the south bank of the Main with artillery that could fire without interference on the Pragmatic armys left flank. Meanwhile, about 12,000 French troops marched north on Aschaffenburg, thickly wooded hills to the Pragmatic Armys right flank prevented the allies from turning Gramonts position. Some six hours passed with the British, Austrians and Hanoverians trying to form an advance in this confined position, at one point, George IIs horse ran off with him, it was halted by Ensign Cyrus Trapaud, who received a promotion as a reward. James Wolfe wrote that the Pragmatic first line of infantry consisted of nine regiments of British foot, four or five Austrian regiments, the French infantry followed and they too had initial success, throwing back several British regiments of foot. However, the charge forced the French artillery to stop firing and, with the attack spent and the French out of their defenses, the allies counter-attacked. The French line collapsed with the Allies driving Gramonts force across, as a consequence, the road to Hanau was opened, which allowed the Allies to continue their retreat and re-supply. With the French defeat at Dettingen, the Duc de Noailles missed the best opportunity to win the war at a stroke for the French. Had the French prevailed, the Pragmatic Army would have had to surrender or starve, during the battle, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Andrew Agnew of Lochnaw warned his regiment The Royal Scots Fusiliers not to fire until they could see the whites of their een. A noted wit, Sir Andrew is also quoted as addressing his regiment thus, Lads, better kill them afore they kill you. And to George II after the battle, who had chided him for letting a French cavalry charge break into his regiments position, Ay, please Your Majesty, in memory of this victory, Handel composed his Dettingen Te Deum and Dettingen Anthem. The two parties had agreed before the battle that the sick and wounded who fell into the hands of the enemy would be cared for, when the allies retreated they left behind most of their wounded, and the French respected the agreement, a precursor of the Geneva Convention
33.
Battle of Fontenoy
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The battle was one of the most important in the war and considered the masterpiece of Saxe, serving France, Louis XV, and his son, the Dauphin, were present at the battle. Saxe went on the offensive in April 1745 with a large French army and his initial aim was to take control of the upper Scheldt basin and thereby gain access to the heart of the Austrian Netherlands. To these ends, he first besieged the fortress of Tournai, in order to relieve Tournai, the allies first decided to attack Saxes position – a naturally strong feature, hinged on the village of Fontenoy and further strengthened by defensive works. Despite devastating flanking fire the allied column, made up of British and Hanoverian infantry, only when Saxe concentrated all available infantry, cavalry, and artillery was the column forced to yield. The allies retreated in order, conducting a fighting withdrawal. The battle had shown, however, the strength of a defensive force relying on firepower, casualties were high on both sides, but the French had gained the field, and Tournai fell shortly after the battle. This success was followed by an advance against the less organised and outnumbered allied army, Ghent, Oudenarde, Bruges. By the years end, the Saxon-born Saxe had completed the conquest of much of the Austrian Netherlands, the battle had established French superiority in force and high command. In 1744, France went over to the offensive in the Low Countries. King Louis XV and the Duke of Noailles scored early successes with the capture of the fortresses of western Flanders, Menin, Ypres. Opposing Saxe was the Pragmatic Army, the bulk of which was made up of British and Hanoverian troops under General George Wade, much had been expected of the allies in 1744 but the timidity of their generals had produced nothing against a numerically inferior enemy. Although Wade eventually advanced towards Lille, he did more than bicker with the Austrians about the cost of moving his siege train from Antwerp. Saxe was able to maintain his position at Courtrai and along the lines of the Lys, elsewhere, the Pragmatic Allies had scored considerable success in late 1744. A joint Austro-Saxon force under Charles of Lorraine and Count Traun drove Frederick IIs Prussian army from Bohemia, further success followed with the death in January 1745 of the French puppet emperor, Charles VII. Joseph sued for peace and gave his support for the candidacy of Maria Theresas husband, Francis Stephen, with Bavaria out of the war the Austrians could now try to win back Silesia from Frederick II. Likewise, Bavarian repudiation of its French ties meant France was freed of its German involvement, and could now concentrate on its own efforts in Italy. As early as December 1744, Saxe had prepared plans for an offensive in the Low Countries. The trio of generals was completed by Prince Waldeck, commander of the Dutch contingent in theatre and they hoped to gain the initiative by the establishment of forward magazines and an early opening of the campaign season
34.
Battle of Culloden
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The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745 and part of a religious civil war in Britain. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart were decisively defeated by loyalist troops commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, queen Anne died in 1714, with no living children, she was the last monarch of the House of Stuart. The conflict was the last pitched battle fought on British soil, Charles Stuarts Jacobite army consisted largely of Catholics and Episcopalians, mainly Scots but with a small detachment of Englishmen from the Manchester Regiment. The Jacobites were supported and supplied by the Kingdom of France from Irish, between 1,500 and 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded in the brief battle. Government losses were lighter with 50 dead and 259 wounded although recent geophysical studies on the government burial pit suggest the figure for deaths to be nearer 300. Charles Edward Stuart, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Young Pretender and he successfully raised forces, mainly of Scottish Highland clansmen, and slipped past the Hanoverian stationed in Scotland and defeated a force of militiamen at the Battle of Prestonpans. The British government recalled forces from the war with France in Flanders to deal with the rebellion, after a lengthy wait, Charles persuaded his generals that English Jacobites would stage an uprising in support of his cause. He was convinced that France would launch an invasion of England as well and his army of around 5,000 invaded England on 8 November 1745. They advanced through Carlisle and Manchester to Derby and a position where they appeared to threaten London, the Jacobites met only token resistance. There was, however, little support from English Jacobites, the armies of Field Marshal George Wade and of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, were approaching. In addition to the militia, London was defended by nearly 6,000 infantry,700 horse and 33 artillery pieces, the Jacobite general, Lord George Murray, and the Council of War insisted on returning to join their growing force in Scotland. On 6 December 1745, they withdrew, with Charles Edward Stuart leaving command to Murray, on the long march back to Scotland, the Highland Army wore out its boots and demanded all the boots and shoes of the townspeople of Dumfries as well as money and hospitality. The Jacobites reached Glasgow on 25 December, there they reprovisioned, having threatened to sack the city, and were joined by a few thousand additional men. They then defeated the forces of General Henry Hawley at the Battle of Falkirk Muir, the Duke of Cumberland arrived in Edinburgh on 30 January to take over command of the government army from General Hawley. He then marched north along the coast, with the army being supplied by sea, six weeks were spent at Aberdeen training. The Kings forces continued to pressure Charles and he retired north, losing men and failing to take Stirling Castle or Fort William. But he invested Fort Augustus and Fort George in Inverness-shire in early April, Charles then took command again, and insisted on fighting a defensive action. Hugh Rose of Kilravock entertained Charles Edward Stuart and the Duke of Cumberland respectively on 14 and 15 April 1746, Charles manners and deportment were described by his host as most engaging
35.
Jacobite rising of 1745
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The Jacobite rising of 1745 was the attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for the exiled House of Stuart. The rising occurred during the War of the Austrian Succession when most of the British Army was on the European continent, the march south began with an initial victory at Prestonpans near Edinburgh. The Jacobite army, now in bold spirits, marched onwards to Carlisle, the Battle of Culloden ended with the final defeat of the Jacobite cause, and with Charles Edward Stuart fleeing with a price on his head, before finally sailing to France. The Glorious Revolution of 1688–89 resulted in the Roman Catholic Stuart king, James II of England and VII of Scotland, James daughter and her husband, who was also Jamess nephew, ascended the British throne as joint sovereigns William and Mary. In 1690 Presbyterianism was established as the religion of Scotland. The Act of Settlement 1701 settled the succession of the English throne on the Protestant House of Hanover, the Scottish Act of Security 1704 required that Queen Annes successor be Protestant, and the Act of Union 1707 applied the Act of Settlement to Scotland. With the death of Queen Anne in 1714, the Elector of Hanover, George I, James IIs son, James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, attempted to gain the British throne in 1715 but failed to do so. The accession of George I ushered in the Whig supremacy, with the Tories deprived of all political power, George II succeeded his father in 1727. In February 1742 Sir Robert Walpole resigned as Prime Minister after nearly 21 years, thereafter, the Whig Henry Pelham was Prime Minister until 1754. In 1743 war broke out between Britain and France, as part of the larger War of the Austrian Succession and it was signed by the Duke of Beaufort, Lord Barrymore, Lord Orrery, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Sir John Hynde Cotton and Sir Robert Abdy. Amelot replied that the French government would need proof of English support for Jacobitism before it could act. The Tory leaders had requested 10,000 French soldiers and arms for 10,000 of the officers on half pay and unemployed soldiers. The French were to land in Maldon in Essex, a section of coast not patrolled by the Royal Navy, obviating a crossing of the River Thames and counting on support from Jacobite sentiment there. They advised that Maurice of Saxony should command the French army because he was known to most of them and was a Protestant. A parallel expeditionary force for a Scottish landing under the command of Lord Marischal was requested as well, James Butler, Louis XVs Master of Horse, toured England ostensibly for purchasing bloodstock but in reality to gauge the health of Jacobitism in England. Before he left for England the French king briefed him personally to assure the Tory leaders that all of their demands would be met and he reported back that they showed great zeal for a revolution. John Sample, a spy for Walpole, told the Duke of Newcastle that plans for a French invasion had been orchestrated by Wynn, Butler returned to France in October and had an audience with Louis XV, who said he was satisfied. The next month Amelot told Sempill officially that Louis XV was resolved to restore the House of Stuart, the Declaration of King James was signed by James Francis Edward Stuart on 23 December 1743 and was to be published in the event of a successful French landing
36.
Seven Years' War
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The Seven Years War was a war fought between 1754 and 1763, the main conflict occurring in the seven-year period from 1756 to 1763. It involved every European great power of the time except the Ottoman Empire and spanned five continents, affecting Europe, the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines. The conflict split Europe into two coalitions, led by the Kingdom of Great Britain on one side and the Kingdom of France on the other. Meanwhile, in India, the Mughal Empire, with the support of the French, faced with this sudden turn of events, Britain aligned herself with Prussia, in a series of political manoeuvres known as the Diplomatic Revolution. Conflict between Great Britain and France broke out in 1754–1756 when the British attacked disputed French positions in North America, meanwhile, rising power Prussia was struggling with Austria for dominance within and outside the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe. In 1756, the major powers switched partners, realizing that war was imminent, Prussia preemptively struck Saxony and quickly overran it. The result caused uproar across Europe, because of Austrias alliance with France to recapture Silesia, which had been lost in a previous war, Prussia formed an alliance with Britain. Reluctantly, by following the diet, most of the states of the empire joined Austrias cause. The Anglo-Prussian alliance was joined by smaller German states, Sweden, seeking to re-gain Pomerania joined the coalition, seeing its chance when virtually all of Europe opposed Prussia. Spain, bound by the Pacte de Famille, intervened on behalf of France, the Russian Empire was originally aligned with Austria, fearing Prussias ambition on the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but switched sides upon the succession of Tsar Peter III in 1762. Naples, Sicily, and Savoy, although sided with the Franco-Spanish alliance, like Sweden, Russia concluded a separate peace with Prussia. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris between France, Spain and Great Britain and the Treaty of Hubertusburg between Saxony, Austria and Prussia, in 1763. The Native American tribes were excluded from the settlement, a subsequent conflict, Prussia emerged as a new European great power. Although Austria failed to retrieve the territory of Silesia from Prussia its military prowess was noted by the other powers. The involvement of Portugal, Spain and Sweden did not return them to their status as great powers. France was deprived of many of its colonies and had saddled itself with heavy war debts that its inefficient financial system could barely handle. Spain lost Florida but gained French Louisiana and regained control of its colonies, e. g. Cuba and the Philippines, France and Spain avenged their defeat in 1778 when the American Revolutionary War broke out, with hopes of destroying Britains dominance once and for all. The Seven Years War was perhaps the first true world war, having taken place almost 160 years before World War I and it was characterized in Europe by sieges and the arson of towns as well as open battles with heavy losses
37.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
38.
Cavalry
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Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the most mobile of the combat arms, an individual soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations such as cavalryman, horseman, dragoon or trooper. The designation of cavalry was not usually given to any military forces that used animals, such as camels. Cavalry had the advantage of improved mobility, and a man fighting from horseback also had the advantages of greater height, speed, another element of horse mounted warfare is the psychological impact a mounted soldier can inflict on an opponent. In Europe cavalry became increasingly armoured, and eventually became known for the mounted knights, in the period between the World Wars, many cavalry units were converted into motorized infantry and mechanized infantry units, or reformed as tank troops. Most cavalry units that are horse-mounted in modern armies serve in purely ceremonial roles, modern usage of the term generally refers to specialist units equipped with tanks or aircraft. The shock role, traditionally filled by heavy cavalry, is filled by units with the armored designation. Before the Iron Age, the role of cavalry on the battlefield was largely performed by light chariots, the chariot originated with the Sintashta-Petrovka culture in Central Asia and spread by nomadic or semi-nomadic Indo-Iranians. The power of mobility given by mounted units was recognized early on, Cavalry techniques were an innovation of equestrian nomads of the Central Asian and Iranian steppe and pastoralist tribes such as the Persian Parthians and Sarmatians. The photograph above left shows Assyrian cavalry from reliefs of 865–860 BC, at this time, the men had no spurs, saddles, saddle cloths, or stirrups. Fighting from the back of a horse was more difficult than mere riding. The cavalry acted in pairs, the reins of the archer were controlled by his neighbours hand. Even at this time, cavalry used swords, shields. The sculpture implies two types of cavalry, but this might be a simplification by the artist, Later images of Assyrian cavalry show saddle cloths as primitive saddles, allowing each archer to control his own horse. As early as 490 BC a breed of horses was bred in the Nisaean plain in Media to carry men with increasing amounts of armour. However, chariots remained in use for purposes such as carrying the victorious general in a Roman triumph. The southern Britons met Julius Caesar with chariots in 55 and 54 BC, the last mention of chariot use in battle was by the Caledonians at the Mons Graupius, in 84 AD. During the classical Greek period cavalry were usually limited to citizens who could afford expensive war-horses
39.
American Revolutionary War
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From about 1765 the American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented a culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the authority which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. On December 16,1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, these became known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees, British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec, on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4. Sir William Howe began a British counterattack, focussing on recapturing New York City, Howe outmaneuvered and defeated Washington, leaving American confidence at a low ebb. Washington captured a Hessian force at Trenton and drove the British out of New Jersey, in 1777 the British sent a new army under John Burgoyne to move south from Canada and to isolate the New England colonies. However, instead of assisting Burgoyne, Howe took his army on a campaign against the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Burgoyne outran his supplies, was surrounded and surrendered at Saratoga in October 1777, the British defeat in the Saratoga Campaign had drastic consequences. Giving up on the North, the British decided to salvage their former colonies in the South, British forces under Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis seized Georgia and South Carolina, capturing an American army at Charleston, South Carolina. British strategy depended upon an uprising of large numbers of armed Loyalists, in 1779 Spain joined the war as an ally of France under the Pacte de Famille, intending to capture Gibraltar and British colonies in the Caribbean. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, in 1781, after the British and their allies had suffered two decisive defeats at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, Cornwallis retreated to Virginia, intending on evacuation. A decisive French naval victory in September deprived the British of an escape route, a joint Franco-American army led by Count Rochambeau and Washington, laid siege to the British forces at Yorktown. With no sign of relief and the situation untenable, Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781, Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tory majority in Parliament, but the defeat at Yorktown gave the Whigs the upper hand
40.
Quebec
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Quebec is the second-most populous province of Canada and the only one to have a predominantly French-speaking population, with French as the sole provincial official language. Quebec is Canadas largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division and it also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Quebec is Canadas second-most populous province, after Ontario, most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital. Approximately half of Quebec residents live in the Greater Montreal Area, the Nord-du-Québec region, occupying the northern half of the province, is sparsely populated and inhabited primarily by Aboriginal peoples. Even in central Quebec at comparatively southerly latitudes winters are severe in inland areas, Quebec independence debates have played a large role in the politics of the province. Parti Québécois governments held referendums on sovereignty in 1980 and 1995, in 2006, the House of Commons of Canada passed a symbolic motion recognizing the Québécois as a nation within a united Canada. These many industries have all contributed to helping Quebec become an economically influential province within Canada, early variations in the spelling of the name included Québecq and Kébec. French explorer Samuel de Champlain chose the name Québec in 1608 for the colonial outpost he would use as the seat for the French colony of New France. The province is sometimes referred to as La belle province, the Province of Quebec was founded in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 after the Treaty of Paris formally transferred the French colony of Canada to Britain after the Seven Years War. The proclamation restricted the province to an area along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, the Treaty of Versailles ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. After the Constitutional Act of 1791, the territory was divided between Lower Canada and Upper Canada, with each being granted an elected legislative assembly, in 1840, these become Canada East and Canada West after the British Parliament unified Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada. This territory was redivided into the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario at Confederation in 1867, each became one of the first four provinces. In 1898, the Canadian Parliament passed the first Quebec Boundary Extension Act that expanded the provincial boundaries northward to include the lands of the aboriginal peoples. This was followed by the addition of the District of Ungava through the Quebec Boundaries Extension Act of 1912 that added the northernmost lands of the Inuit to create the modern Province of Quebec. In 1927, the border between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador was established by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Located in the part of Canada, and part of Central Canada. Its topography is very different from one region to another due to the composition of the ground, the climate. The Saint Lawrence Lowland and the Canadian Shield are the two main regions, and are radically different
41.
John Burgoyne
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General John Burgoyne was a British army officer, politician and dramatist. He first saw action during the Seven Years War when he participated in several battles, John Burgoyne is best known for his role in the American Revolutionary War. He designed a scheme and was appointed to command a force moving south from Canada to split away New England and end the rebellion. Burgoyne advanced from Canada but his slow movement allowed the Americans to concentrate their forces, instead of coming to his aid according to the overall plan, the British Army in New York City moved south to capture Philadelphia. Surrounded, Burgoyne fought two battles near Saratoga to break out. Trapped by superior American forces, with no relief in sight and his surrender, says historian Edmund Morgan, was a great turning point of the war, because it won for Americans the foreign assistance which was the last element needed for victory. He and his officers returned to England, the men became prisoners of war. Burgoyne came under criticism when he returned to London. Burgoyne was also an accomplished playwright known for his works such as The Maid of the Oaks and The Heiress and he served as a member of the House of Commons for a number of years, sitting for the seats of Midhurst and Preston. John Burgoyne was born in Sutton, Bedfordshire, location of the Burgoyne baronets family home Sutton Manor and his mother, Anna Maria Burgoyne, was the daughter of a wealthy Hackney merchant. His father was supposedly an army officer, Captain John Burgoyne, although there were rumours that he might be the son of Lord Bingley. When Bingley died in 1731 his will specified that Burgoyne was to inherit his estate if his daughters had no male issue. From the age of ten Burgoyne attended the prestigious Westminster School, Burgoyne was athletic and outgoing and enjoyed life at the school where he made numerous important friends, in particular Lord James Strange. In August 1737 Burgoyne purchased a commission in the Horse Guards and they were stationed in London and his duties were light, allowing him to cut a figure in high society. He soon acquired the nickname Gentleman Johnny and became known for his stylish uniforms. In 1741 Burgoyne sold his commission, possibly to settle gambling debts, the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession led to an expansion in the size of the British army. In April 1745 Burgoyne joined the newly raised 1st Royal Dragoons as a cornet, in April 1745 he was promoted to lieutenant. In 1747 Burgoyne managed to scrape the money together to purchase a captaincy, the end of the war in 1748 cut off any prospect of further active service
42.
Battles of Saratoga
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The Battles of Saratoga marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. Burgoyne fought two battles to break out. They took place eighteen days apart on the ground,9 miles south of Saratoga. Trapped by superior American forces, and with no relief in sight, Burgoyne retreated to Saratoga and his surrender, says historian Edmund Morgan, was a great turning point of the war because it won for Americans the foreign assistance which was the last element needed for victory. Burgoynes strategy to divide New England from the colonies had started well. He won a tactical victory over General Horatio Gates and the Continental Army in the September 19 Battle of Freemans Farm at the cost of significant casualties. His gains were erased when he attacked the Americans in the October 7 Battle of Bemis Heights. Burgoyne was therefore compelled to retreat, and his army was surrounded by the much larger American force at Saratoga and this battle also resulted in Spain joining France in the war against Britain. The first battle, on September 19, began when Burgoyne moved some of his troops in an attempt to flank the entrenched American position on Bemis Heights, Benedict Arnold, anticipating the maneuver, placed significant forces in his way. While Burgoyne did gain control of Freemans Farm, it came at the cost of significant casualties, skirmishing continued in the days following the battle, while Burgoyne waited in the hope that reinforcements would arrive from New York City. Militia forces continued to arrive, swelling the size of the American army, disputes within the American camp led Gates to strip Arnold of his command. Burgoyne attacked Bemis Heights again on October 7 after it became apparent he would not receive relieving aid in time, when the American Revolutionary War approached the two-year point, the British changed their plans. Giving up on the rebellious New England colonies, they decided to split the Thirteen Colonies and isolate New England from what the British believed to be the more loyal middle, the British command devised a grand plan to divide the colonies via a three-way pincer movement in 1777. The northern pincer was to proceed southward from Montreal, and the three forces were to meet in the vicinity of Albany, New York, severing New England from the other colonies. In June 1777 British General John Burgoyne, known as Gentleman Johnny for his manners, after his early capture of Fort Ticonderoga, his campaign had become bogged down in difficulties. Elements of the army had reached the upper Hudson as early as the end of July, one attempt to alleviate these difficulties failed when nearly 1,000 men were killed or captured at the August 16 Battle of Bennington. Furthermore, news reached Burgoyne on August 28 that St. Legers expedition down the Mohawk River valley had turned back after the failed Siege of Fort Stanwix. Faced with the need to reach defensible winter quarters, which would require either retreat back to Ticonderoga or advance to Albany, consequent to this decision he made two further crucial decisions
43.
Lancashire Fusiliers
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By a commission dated 20 November 1688 the regiment was formed in Torbay, Devon under Sir Richard Peyton as Peytons Regiment of Foot. The regiment served in the Glorious Revolution under King William III and at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, during the War of the Spanish Succession, it aided in the capture of Spanish galleons at Battle of Vigo Bay in 1702. The regiment distinguished itself at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743 and it also served at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746 during the Jacobite rising of 1745. In 1751, the regiment became the 20th Regiment of Foot, during the Seven Years War the regiment earned honour at the Battle of Minden on 1 August 1759, when, as an infantry formation, they stood up to and broke a French cavalry charge. During the American Revolutionary War the regiment was sent to Quebec in April 1776, serving under General John Burgoyne for the remainder of the Canadian campaign, they later surrendered along with General Burgoyne at Saratoga. The 20th Regiment of Foot was designated the 20th Regiment of Foot in 1782 and it next departed for Egypt in spring 1801 and saw action at the Battle of Alexandria in March 1801 during the French Revolutionary Wars. After moving to Calabria it took part in the Battle of Maida in July 1806 during the War of the Third Coalition, the regiment embarked for Portugal in 1808 for service in the Peninsular War. It saw action at the Battle of Vimeiro in August 1808, the regiment returned to the Peninsula and fought at the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813, where it formed part of the backbone of the Duke of Wellingtons forces. During the Crimean War, the regiment took part in the Battle of Alma in September 1854, the 2nd Battalion was raised in 1858. Under the reforms the regiment became The Lancashire Fusiliers on 1 July 1881 and this formed the 3rd and 4th Battalions of the Lancashire Fusiliers. In addition, Rifle Volunteer Corps were attached to their local regiments, in 1883 the 8th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers became the 1st Volunteer Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, and the 12th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers became the 2nd Volunteer Battalion. In 1886 the 56th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers was transferred from the Manchester Regiment to become the 3rd Volunteer Battalion, in common with other regiments recruited from populous urban areas, the Lancashire Fusiliers raised two further regular battalions, the 3rd in 1898, and the 4th in 1900. This necessitated adjustments to the numbers of the Militia battalions, which became the 5th and 6th battalions, however, the 3rd and 4th Regular battalions were disbanded in 1906. In 1898 the 2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers took part in Kitcheners campaign to reconquer the Sudan, during the Second Boer War, the 2nd Battalion saw action at the Battle of Spion Kop in January 1900 and the Relief of Ladysmith in February 1900. The 6th Battalion also served in the war, leaving for South Africa with 650 men on 10 February 1900, all three Volunteer Battalions also found service companies of volunteers who served alongside the Regulars, and gained the battle honour South Afrca 1900–1902 for their battalions. Under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, the Militia were redesignated Special Reserve, with the wartime role of Home Defence. The Lancashire Fusiliers militia became 3rd Battalion and 4th Battalion, both based at Bury, the volunteers now became the Territorial Force, with battalions numbered in sequence after the militia. These four battalions formed the Lancashire Fusiliers Brigade, in the East Lancashire Division of the TF, the 1st Battalion, which was based in Karachi in the early months of the war, returned to the United Kingdom in January 1915
44.
Holland
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Holland is a region and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. The name Holland is also used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th century, Holland proper was a political region within the Holy Roman Empire as a county ruled by the Counts of Holland. By the 17th century, Holland had risen to become a maritime and economic power, the name Holland first appeared in sources in 866 for the region around Haarlem, and by 1064 was being used as the name of the entire county. By this time, the inhabitants of Holland were referring to themselves as Hollanders, Holland is derived from the Middle Dutch term holtland. This spelling variation remained in use until around the 14th century, a popular folk etymology holds that Holland is derived from hol land and was inspired by the low-lying geography of Holland. The proper name of the area in both Dutch and English is Holland, Holland is a part of the Netherlands. Holland is informally used in English and other languages, including sometimes the Dutch language itself, the people of Holland are referred to as Hollanders in both Dutch and English. Today this refers specifically to people from the current provinces of North Holland, strictly speaking, the term Hollanders does not refer to people from the other provinces in the Netherlands, but colloquially Hollanders is sometimes used in this wider sense. In Dutch, the Dutch word Hollands is the form for Holland. In English, Dutch refers to the Netherlands as a whole, the word Hollandish is no longer in common use. Hollandic is the name give to the dialect spoken in Holland, and is occasionally also used by historians. Initially, Holland was a corner of the Holy Roman Empire. Gradually, its importance increased until it began to have a decisive. Until the start of the 12th century, the inhabitants of the area that became Holland were known as Frisians, the area was initially part of Frisia. At the end of the 9th century, West-Frisia became a county in the Holy Roman Empire. The first Count known about with certainty was Dirk I, who ruled from 896 to 931 and he was succeeded by a long line of counts in the House of Holland. When John I, count of Holland, died childless in 1299, by the time of William V the count of Holland was also the count of Hainaut and Zealand
45.
Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland
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The campaign had two strategic objectives, to neutralize the Batavian fleet and to promote an uprising by followers of the former stadtholder William V against the Batavian government. The invasion was opposed by a combined Franco-Batavian army of equal strength. Tactically, the Anglo-Russian forces were initially, defeating the defenders in the battles of Callantsoog and the Krabbendam. Following a defeat at Castricum, the Duke of York, the British supreme commander, however, the expedition partly succeeded in its first objective, capturing a significant proportion of the Batavian fleet. The Dutch Republic, again ruled by the Orangists, had been a member of the First Coalition that opposed the revolutionary French Republic after 1792, the Dutch Republic was overthrown, the stadtholder fled the country to London, and the Batavian Republic was proclaimed. Despite the conquest of the old Republic in 1795, the war had not ended, the Netherlands had just changed sides and now fully participated in the continuing conflagration, France did not need its army so much as its naval resources, in which France itself was deficient. In 1796, under the new alliance, the Dutch started a programme of naval construction, manning the new ships was a problem, because the officer corps of the old navy was staunchly Orangist. People like the Hero of Doggerbank Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen honourably withheld their services, the new navy was therefore officered by people like Jan Willem de Winter, who were of the correct political hue, but had only limited experience. This directly led to the debacles of the surrender at Saldanha Bay in 1796, at Camperdown the Batavian navy behaved creditably, but this did not lessen the material losses, and the Republic had to start its naval construction programme all over again. This programme soon brought the Batavian navy up to sufficient strength that Great Britain had to worry about its contribution to a threatened French invasion of England or Ireland. The First Coalition broke up in 1797, but Britain soon found a new ally in Emperor Paul I of Russia, the British, especially the Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, were eager to maintain this momentum by attacking at other extremes of the French empire. An added incentive was that a campaign against the Dutch had been a condition of the agreement with the Russians of 28 December 1798. In that agreement, Emperor Paul I had placed 45,000 Russian troops at the disposal of the Coalition in return for British subsidies. In return, Britain promised to pay a subsidy of ₤88,000, Great Britain would itself furnish 13,000 troops and supply most of the transport and naval-escort vessels. From the outset, the joint expedition that was now planned should not be a military affair. Pitt assumed that, like the Italian and Swiss populations, the Dutch would enthusiastically support the invasion against the French, the British forces were assembled in the vicinity of Canterbury under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby. They were mostly made up of volunteers from the militia who had recently been permitted to join regular regiments, while a British transport fleet under Admiral Home Riggs Popham sailed to Reval to collect the Russian contingent, the mustering of the British troops progressed smoothly. The question was where this amphibious landing could best take place, several locations on the Dutch coast were considered
46.
Battle of Krabbendam
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The British division had established a bridgehead in the extreme north of the North-Holland peninsula after the Battle of Callantsoog. Brune tried to dislodge them before they could be reinforced by further Anglo-Russian forces and this enabled the British and their Russian allies to land their expeditionary force and to break out of the bridgehead during the Battle of Bergen. This left the Zijpe polder open to the British, the Zijpe polder formed a natural redoubt, because of its high southern dike which had a deep circular drainage canal running along it, which acted as a kind of moat. The dike was high enough to afford a view a way across all avenues of approach. Abercromby took advantage from these properties of the terrain, by erecting artillery positions. His dispositions were anchored on the right on the dike which runs parallel with the sea dike at Petten. Then they ran east along the dike of the Zijpe polder, with reinforcements at the villages of Krabbendam, Eenigenburg, and Sint Maarten, the villages in front of this line, like Schagen were occupied as outposts. Meanwhile, the French and Batavians had frantically been bringing up reinforcements, a French division under General Dominique Vandamme was brought up via Haarlem and occupied a line between Alkmaar and the sea. Brune directed Daendels to come forward to Oudkarspel and Sint Pancras and he was then reinforced with the 7th Demi-brigade of Daendels division. By September 9 the forces under General Brune had therefore reached a numerical superiority of about 25,000 troops over about 23,000 for General Abercromby. As it was known that soon strong Russian and British reinforcements would be landed, Brune decided to attack on the 10th, while he still had this advantage. The main role would be performed by the French division of Vandamme, the plan can therefore be characterised as an attempt at single envelopment. Because of the haste to get the attack underway, the preparations were apparently sloppy on the part of Brunes staff and this could only have happened because a proper reconnaissance apparently had not been performed. As a consequence, Daendels was forced to take a more easterly route and concentrate on the objective of the village of Sint Maarten. Dumonceaus right-hand column, under General Bonhomme, then attacked Daendels original objective, the attempt to storm the British defenses at this point was, however, frustrated by the circular canal in front of the dike and the well-aimed fire of the defenders. A second attempt failed and Bonhomme remained in his position until both he and Daendels retreated that evening after the retreat of the Franco-Batavian left wing at the same time. However, Bonhommes attack should have supported the column under Colonel Bruce that had Krabbendam as its objective. Bruce was supposed to advance from Alkmaar, but was delayed appreciably because a number of farmers carts going to market blocked the city gate he was trying to use to march his column out
47.
Battle of Alkmaar (1799)
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For the 16th century siege, see Siege of Alkmaar. Though the battle ended in a draw, the Anglo-Russians were in a position at the end of the battle that favored them slightly in a strategic sense. This prompted Brune to order a strategic withdrawal the next day to a line between Monnickendam in the East and Castricum in the West, there the final battle of the campaign would take place on 6 October. Torrential rains made the roads impassable, the defenders profited from this lull in the campaign by completing their inundations in the low-lying eastern part of the North-Holland peninsula. These soon made their defenses in that part of the country impregnable, as a consequence a repeat of the thrusts by Sir Ralph Abercromby toward Hoorn, and general Pulteney toward Oudkarspel along the Langedijk had become pointless. The Langedijk was now an island in a big lake that could easily be defended by the 1st Batavian Division of General Herman Willem Daendels. The delay had the advantage for the force, however. The Duke of York, aware that French reinforcements from Belgium were on the way, the attack was to be made on 30 September, but it turned out that the roads were still very bad, the soldiers sunk to their knees into the mud. The attack was then advanced to 1 October, but again had to be postponed, Coote and Chatham were to support the Russians in their attack on Bergen and to maintain contact with Abercromby. These dispositions make clear that the main thrust of the attack again was towards the village of Bergen, other than the first battle of Bergen this time the attack would be concentrated on a much narrower front, between Schoorl and the North Sea. As Abercromby was supposed to advance along the beach to a point beyond the left flank of the French, the first stages of the battle went according to the British plan. To allow all columns to advance at the time the start time had to be delayed till low tide to allow general Abercrombys column to make use of the beach. Soon Coote and Chatham drove the French outposts from the villages of Camp and Groet, essens central column then advanced cautiously. Meanwhile, Burrard and Sedmoratzky drove the French and Batavian troops out of the villages of Schoorl, here the Russians halted and limited themselves to shelling Koedijk and Bergen with their artillery for the remainder of the day. Meanwhile, the French left wing had fallen back on the village of Bergen and this was a strong position and York realized they had to be removed from it to secure success. He therefore ordered Chatham to bring up his brigade from the plain and they managed to push the French back and forced them to give up their position in the heights near Bergen. The French noted the Russian hesitation and at this time launched a counterattack from Bergen in two columns under generals Gouvion and Boudet. These attacks were countered by the British Reserve in cooperation with Cootes brigade
48.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
49.
Battle of Alexandria
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The British position on the night of 20 March extended across the isthmus, the right wing resting upon the ruins of Nicopolis and the sea, the left on the lake of Abukir and the Alexandria canal. In the second line were two brigades and the cavalry. On 21 March, the troops were under arms at 3 a. m. and at 3,30 a. m. the French attacked, the French army now moved forward with great rapidity in their usual formation of columns. The brunt of the attack fell upon Moores command, and in particular upon the 28th Regiment of Foot, the British repulsed the first shock but a French column penetrated in the dark between two British regiments. A confused fight ensued in the ruins, in which the 42nd Black Watch captured a colour, other regiments that assisted in the overthrow of the French column were the 23rd, 40th and 58th. In a second attack the cavalry inflicted severe losses on the 42nd. Sir Ralph Abercromby was here engaged in conflict with some French dragoons. About half-past eight the combat began to wane, and the last shots were fired at ten, the 42nd, twice charged by cavalry, had but 13 men wounded by the sabre. The forces engaged on this day were approximately 14,000 British to about 9,000 French, losses for the British were,1,468 killed, wounded and missing, including Abercromby, Moore and three other generals wounded. The French on the hand had 1,160 killed and 3,000 wounded. The British advanced upon Alexandria and laid siege to it, the French garrison surrendered on 2 September 1801. French campaign in Egypt and Syria
Kingdom of England (1688–1707)
Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800)
United Kingdom (1801–1968)
British Army
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