Beschreibung:

ARCHIVE OF A VICTORIAN MILITARY FAMILY: THE WARDELLS Including an Original Letter from the Camp at Rorke’s Drift, 1879 The Wardells have been described as a typical military family of their time. William Henry Wardell senior (1799-1881) was a major in several regiments, including the Royal Canadian Rifles, and fought in various exotic campaigns (siege of Java – where he lost his right arm – Malay pirates, American and French wars). He was twice married. By his first wife he had two sons. The elder, William Henry Wardell junior (1838-1903) became a major-general, was an instructor at Woolwich Academy, and wrote military textbooks. The younger, George Vaughan Wardell (1840-1879) was a captain in the 24th South Welsh Borderers and was killed with all his company at the battle of Isandlwana. By his second wife the Major had a son and a daughter (Marianne). The son, John Charles Wardell (1846-1882), became a captain in the Royal Marines and was killed at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir. The Wardell papers contain letters of domestic interest, details of campaigns in Burma, South Africa and the Great War, and many notes on the family history and the wars in which they fought. FAMILY LETTERS 1851-1871 The Wardell letters of this period show the close bonds that existed within families behind the military façade. Parents were frequently separated from their children as campaigning took them to distant parts of the burgeoning Empire. The Wardell boys, still young in the earlier letters, write of small matters such as pet rabbits, loneliness, and fondness for their siblings. They and their sister Marianne (“Polly”) receive lengthy messages of affection or admonition from their parents and also from their Aunt Georgie. Between 1864 and 1871 George Vaughan Wardell writes, mainly to his parents but also to his brothers, a series of fourteen letters detailing among other matters his experiences in faraway postings such as Mauritius, Rangoon, Madras and Malta. A small but revealing collection of intimate material. GEORGE VAUGHAN WARDELL AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WARS 1876-1879 A further sixteen letters written by George Vaughan Wardell to his parents and brothers recount his experiences at Saint Helena and then in South Africa at King William’s Town in the region then known as British Kaffraria. He fought with distinction in the Xhosa Wars of 1877-1879. However, now aged 38 and having been a serving soldier for most of his life, he longs to retire from active service but can hardly do so on a captain’s pension with a wife and six daughters to support. His final letter is written from the camp at Rorke’s Drift on 10 January 1879, the eve of the fatal British advance into Zululand. At Isandlwana on 22 January the British force of about 1,800 men was attacked by some 20,000 Zulu warriors. Despite a vast disadvantage in weapons technology (iron spears and cowhide shields versus breech-loading rifles, two field guns and a rocket battery), the numerically superior Zulu force inflicted a crushing defeat on the poorly led and badly deployed British, killing over 1,300 troops including all those out on the forward firing line. Captain Wardell and all his company fell in the last stand near Black’s Kopje. The catastrophic British defeat was somewhat offset on the following day by the much smaller engagement at Rorke’s Drift, where the garrison of 150 men narrowly beat off a Zulu force of some 3,000. Captain Wardell’s letter The battles of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift have been subjected to much attention at all levels, from the films Zulu Dawn and Zulu to Ian Knight’s recent masterly work Zulu Rising, so it is amazing that fresh material should turn up at this stage. Wardell’s letter to his parents, written just prior to the crossing of the river Buffalo into Zululand “to bring that great and sable potentate Cetchwayo to his bearings”, gives details for the arrangements for the advance as seen from his perspective. He is supremely confident