Featured battle : The Monongahela

Part of The French and Indian War

Date : 09 July 1755

2 British regular regiments and colonial volunteers under Maj.Gen Braddock advanced through the lands of the Ohio basin to attack the French outpost of Fort Duquesne where the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers met. On the 9th, they were ambushed and routed by a smaller force of French and Indians who used skirmishing in the dense forrest and aimed firing from cover, whereas the British stuck to their rigid, and easily targeted, lines with volley fire. More than half of Braddock's force, including himself, were killed. The rest fled in panic back the way they had come. A young volunteer colonel, George Washington, who was among the survivors led the remains back to Virginia.

The Men of Wellington's Light Division

Gareth Glover and Robert Burnham
The vast majority of this book consists of letters written by officers of the 43rd Light Infantry to their families and friends back home. The authors have done a splendid job in searching out these previously unpublished accounts of the lives of these men. The reader gets a fascinating insight into what mattered to the men. The range of their concerns/interests is enormous but food, money, clothing, billeting and promotion get regular mention. There isn’t a great deal of detail about the actions they were part of perhaps this is avoided to spare the recipients although the wounding and death of fellow officers and men is often reported. One particular poignant letter from Ensign John Brumwell where, after having the officers on each side of him killed, he writes ‘I am beginning to think the ball is not yet cast that is intended for me.’ The next letter his parents received was to tell them of his death.
This book contains a wealth of information, written without the ‘benefit’ of hindsight, which will enrich our understanding of life in Wellington’s army. We highly recommend it as a jolly good read.

Frontline Books, 2022