The 5 worst British defeats of the Victorian era?

the Army doesn't like more than one disaster in a day looks bad in the newspapers and upset civilians at their breakfast the British army those famous Red Coats alongside the cavalrymen The green-clad Riflemen the engineers the artillery they became surprisingly Adept at fighting small Wars of Empire during the Victorian era we fought war after war and we beat enemies across the globe but it wasn't all oneway traffic yep I know it's painful but there were quite a few defeats for the British Army today we're looking at five times the British army were defeated during the Victorian era you might be able to guess some of these defeats in advance some are pretty obvious some might surprise you what do you think we will consider as the worst now's your [Music] time crushing military defeats obviously gain a lot of attention in fact we Brits do seem to enjoy celebrating our glorious defeats almost as much as our victories but as Dennis Jud wrote the fumblings and failings of Victorian military history do not of course outweigh the success since for every majuba Hill there were any number of omom and alundis yet it is the disasters which reveal British military inadequacies in their starkest light So today we're going to countd down from 5 to one the worst British defeats of the Victorian era this list has been created by myself and my good friend Dr Chris Bryce there's a link for his books below it is of course only our opinion you may have other ideas so do comment let us know coming in at number five is the Battle of my wand fought in Afghanistan in July 1880 now this might be the first surprise and you perhaps don't know much about it so let me try and fill you in the Battle of May wand was part of what is generally called the second Anglo Afghan war the battle took place on the 27th of July 18180 near the village of maywand to the west of Kandahar and not too far from hm a place well known by British soldiers of the modern era in fact I've been shot out there myself this is my footage you're looking at now now the background to this battle is damned complicated so let me try my best to explain in July 1880 abor Raman became the new ruler of Afghanistan but with Kandahar under the rule of another man Sher Ali Khan meanwhile yet another chap iub Khan ruler of herat wanted to extend his rule to include Kandahar very Game of Thrones all of this isn't it Sher Ali Khan asked those stand-up chaps the British for support and Major General James Primrose commanding British forces at Kandahar dispatched a force of about 2,600 men under Brigadier General George burough to support him on the 3rd of July 1880 the column set out from Kandahar although small in number they were supposed to be supported by 6,000 British equipped Afghan troops supposedly loyal to Sher Ali khah but as it happened most of them deserted to the enemy not a good St Burrow's infantry consisted of the 66 later the bark she regiment equipped with Martini Henry's and two regiments of Bombay native infantry the first grenadiers and the 30th AKA Jacobs rifles both equipped with sniders so all those British troops did have breach loading weapons there were two Cavalry regiments the third Bombay light Cavalry with 260 Sabers and the third synor 200 Sabers the artillery consisted of 6 n pounder rifled muzzle loaders of the Royal Horse artillery along with six smooth ball guns previously captured from the Afghans and crewed by men of the 66 a task I'm sure those infantrymen did not relish facing them was an Afghan Force who yep was considerably larger exact numbers are hard to come by but it's estimated there were probably around 25,000 of them including around 10,000 regular Cavalry and infantry and 36 guns the rest of the force were mainly local tribes people but as we know from our own recent Wars those Lads are tough Lads and they don't mind a scrap now on the face of it you'd look at the two forces and think the odds were very much against the British as they were outnumbered almost 10 to one but in terms of Technology discipline and Firepower you have to say that the British did have the advantage actually although some Afghan troops did have the more modern Snider most of them had old-fashioned muzzle loading muskets also Burrow's 69 Pounders should have outgunned any Afghan ordinance therefore it seems that the British Victory should have been on the cards let's face it these British infantrymen were used to be an outnumber that was nothing new to them in fact I think they kind of liked it the British advanced in baking heat over a flat desert light landscape with shimmering stones and dry water courses but what general burough didn't realize is that he was marching his men into a trap whilst he believed the enemy to be at my wand the Afghans had in fact worked their way undetected around the northern slopes of some hills that Overlook the plane the first he knew of the enemy presence was when his Cavalry was engaged by skirmishers barose quickly moved his men into formation but he had already been outmaneuvered and put in a bad position he was now out fought on a tactical level the Afghan Cavalry made a Fed attack and Retreat on Burrow's right from burrow fell for the Gambit and depleted his already small Force yet further by detaching two guns of the horse artillery in a squadron of Cavalry in Pursuit he Then followed this up by ordering the rest of his Force to advance in line to support the Cavalry while this did follow the Tactical doctrine of the time in India I.E always attack attack it actually was a really bad decision he left the relative protection of a ruined Fort and Village that he had occupied and exposed his Force to enemy fire the undulating ground as he Advanced as well also meant he couldn't really fire upon the enemy properly and his own troops were terribly exposed to Afghan fire from all sides by advancing he was also negating the superiority of his nine Pounders and moving then to within range of the enemy guns which outnumbered them a bad mistake you can see where this is going it's not looking good it was now that iub Khan Unleashed his Cavalry and those fortical gazy tribesmen charged forward barough attempted to counter the attack by sending parties to clear the enemy from the hills something he should have done sooner but they would beat him back it now became a retreat almost a route units became detached and separated the British and Indians put up a gallon Defense Firing until the ammunition ran out and then engaging in hand-to-hand combat until overwhelmed 100 men of the 66 made a determined stand in a Walled Garden and were attacked by virtually the entire enemy Force imagine 100 men versus 20,000 that makes rocks drift almost seem like Child's Play okay bit of an exaggeration but you know what I'm saying they defended their position until there were only 11 of them left then in a final Act of defiance they fixed bayet and charged the enemy wiped out to a man the British lost over 1300 officers and Men along with all of their guns and over 2,000 horses and transport animals so those losses were bad but there were worse losses during the era in terms of casualties so why are we including my wand but simply because it's a defeat that shouldn't have happened bough while acting with great personal bravery throughout the entire battle was out thought and out fought he was basically outgeneraled from start to finish he wasted all of his opportunities and his Superior artillery there was much agitation about the defeat both in Parliament and the press my wand was considered a major embarrassment and defeat for the British army for many years to come okay number four on our list what is it I hear you say well it's The Charge of the Light Brigade it had to be on the list really didn't it I mean my Lord there's even a film about it will you execute Lord Regan's orders my lord it's the example of military Inc combatant that most readily Springs to mind even with people who don't study military history this is worse than The Charge of the Light Brigade but it also captured the imagination as a piece of heroism as well as stupidity Tennyson's famous poem The Charge of the Light Brigade of course there's not to reason why there's but to do and die into the valley of death Road the 600 most of you probably already know the story but let's just briefly fill you in we're in the Crimea War of the 1850s and at the Battle of balac clav on the 25th of October 1854 the British staff observed that the Russians are attempting to remove their horse artillery seeing an opportunity to prevent this and possibly take the guns an order is dictated for the Light Brigade of Cavalry to charge let's face it this was exactly the sort of task light Cavalry exists for the order is reported to have read Lord Raglin Wishes the Cavalry to advance rapidly to the front followed the enemy and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns troop horse artillery May accompany French Cavalry is on your left immediate this was given to Captain Lewis Nolan's take to Lord Lucan commanding the Cavalry division exactly what happened to bring about the kilam chain of events is debated and we'll never know for sure the order was a bit vague to say the least and from his position Lord Lucan could not see the guns withd drawing and was unclear exactly what guns were being referred to attack sir attack what attack where the supposedly excitable nature of Captain Nolan didn't really help either and it's reported he waved an arm vaguely in the direction of the Russian guns when asked which the order referred to so Lucan made the terrible mistake of ordering his men to attack the guns that he could see which were not only manned but supported by infantry even Lord cardigan commanding the Light Brigade hardly the most intelligent of officers is said to have questioned the order but despite having questions the attack went ahead between 600 and 670 men of the Light Brigade charged at the wrong guns they were shot to Pieces but remarkably some lucky and brave men made it through the enemy line only to find out they were then hopelessly outnumbered the official returns gave 156 dead or missing and 122 wounded giving total casualties of 278 almost equally as important for a Cavalry unit they lost almost 500 horses meaning they were destroyed as a fighting force given that they just charged a strong defensive position it's actually surprising more men weren't killed the charge was both an example of discipline and heroism whilst at the same time an example of incompetence and Military stupidity perhaps it was summed up best by French General Pierre BOS mag de y I don't speak French but hopefully those subtitles helped if you're listening to the podcast I said it's magnificent but it's not war it's Madness like others on this list the charge wasn't the worst in terms of casualties but it makes the list because of the lasting impact it had upon the Army society and our cultural memory number three this is a battle very close to my heart one we've discussed at length on this channel the Battle of isand Juana 1879 in South Africa now it won't be a surprise that this has made the list but perhaps you're wondering why it's not higher up in the same way that The Charge of the Light Brigade captured the imagination is sandana is often considered one of the worst defeats of the period and of course is still well remembered because there's a movie about it [Music] isan Guana was of course a shocking defeat but I think what made it worse for the British is that it was against what they would have described as a native enemy the Zulus were viewed as an uncivilized and technically backwards people while they did have firearms they still preferred their traditional weapons they had no artillery and no Cavalry and yet they were an excellent body of light infantry with tactical and strategic abilities that shouldn't have been underestimated and yeah I think it's fair to say that the racial Prejudice of the time the British really underestimate them the British commander was Lord chelsford his decision to split his force was unsound in many respects but understandable as he was trying to seek out the main body of the Zulu Army and bring them to battle the problem was that he wanted the battle fought on his terms he forgot that the Zulu's got a say and when and how the battle happened having left a large force in the camp at isand Lana including the majority of the first Battalion 24th Regiment of foot plus ordering Colonel danford's Horsemen to join the camp Chelmsford would have assumed it was perfectly secure but as we know it wasn't had they taken up a proper defensive position at the foot of the mountain maybe even prepared sangers in advance or even formed a large Square such as they would later do at aundi things might have been different like at my wand the British were tactically and strategically beaten official British casualties were over 1300 and there were very few survivors I have done videos about the survivors accounts though so check those out on my Zulu War playlist the shock of the defeat echoed around the world it was a decisive defeat suffered by a modern Army against a native force it was an embarrassing and crushing blow to British Prestige it also showed the neighboring BS that the British could be beaten a change that was to have repercussions across the region for decades Ro's drift of course restored some of the British pride and lundi showed what might have been had chelsford not underestimated his enemy lessons were learned from is sandana but at a heavy price okay we're nearly there we're at number two on our list and this one is the retreat from cabul Chris Bry and I were unsure what to call this actually the original thought was the final stand at gamac but in reality it's the entire Retreat from cabal in January 1842 that final Last Stand was the culmination of a humiliating and catastrophic defeat for the British army for those of you who don't know we're talking about a war that's commonly known as the first Anglo Afghan war the aim of the conflict had been to replace the king of Afghanistan with sha shua who was more agreeable to the British as a border territory to British India Afghanistan was also always viewed as something of a threat to the peace and security of British India the Brits had invaded in late 1838 and for about 2 years things had gone quite well families had come to join their soldiers who were based in carbal and the camps weren't particularly heavily defended cantonement were open people could come and go but towards the end of 18 41 things began to change at that time the British Indian Garrison consisted of four infantry battalions one Regiment of Cavalry along with some irregular horse two batteries of artillery and three companies of sappers on the 2nd of November 1841 the British political agent Alexander Burns was killed I've made an entire film about the fascinating life of Alexander Burns so if you want more info on him please watch that an angry mob soon now turned into a broader Uprising against the British presence in Afghanistan over the next few weeks the outnumbered Brits in Kabul tried to negotiate a way out at one of the negotiations William mcnorton the British Envoy was murdered the British had no choice but to swallow their pride abandon caral and Retreat towards British India on the 2nd of January 1842 they set off but it was a terribly cold winter with deep snow the Afghans immediately began to attack alongside the 4,500 British and Indian troops were numerous women and children with a large on Entourage of camp followers it was a cumbersome force to move in any form of orderly withdrawal along narrow mountain passes they were under almost constant attack at one point a small Detachment held off the Enemy at the hord Kabul pass and gave the fugitives a chance to put some distance between them and the Afghans but despite this bravery soon the force got whittel away on the 13th of January a final stand was made at gandamak by 20 officers and 45 soldiers of the 44th East Essex regiment at the top of the hill they formed a defensive position when they ran out of ammunition they fought off attacks with sword and ban it until finally overwhelmed only one man from the entire column that had set out from carbal finally made it to safety just think about that for a moment only one man from thousands crazy isn't it he wasn't the only survivor of the retreat many were taken prisoner but he was the only European to escape many Indians and their families were captured and made slaves and some of the whites who had been taken prisoner were later released the retreat from carbal had a profound Prof found effect on British prestige in the subcontinent it was the first defeat of the British of the modern era it had a lasting effect on British thinking and also and this is very important the way Indians started to think about them it showed British leaders weren't infallible and that they often made mistakes this indirectly would lead to Wars both against the siks who now felt they you know they had the measure of the British and of course the Indian Mutiny of 1857 because those seys had realized that the British didn't always have their best interests at heart more importantly even it also started a long period of interference in Afghan Affairs necessitating future conflicts and interventions something that of course we still know about today okay pot Pickers we've reached the top spot what do you think it is it's the Battle of majuba hill during that transval Rebellion the first Anglo bore War I intend to seize the crest of the majuba under cover of Darkness and from there m on attack maber is another battle that we've covered at length here on red coat history but it's a fascinating and disastrous one in fact you could go further than just listing majuba you could say the entire first B war of 1880 to 1881 all of it was a disaster and we never won a battle I've done an entire documentary on it so do check that out the final battle of the war was majuba Hill which came on the 27th of February 1881 the night before the British had climbed the hill to secure it a force of around 400 infantry without any artillery support reached the summit and seemed to be in an unassailable position with the bore enemy down below them but the position wasn't quite as strong as its elevation suggested there was dead ground that allowed the BS Avenues of approach the British soldiers didn't have the right entrenching tools to dig trenches the men were far too spread out and the units were mixed up and intermingled this had an impact on command and control of course and out soon they discovered the incredible accuracy of the B Marksman they were picked off and then forced back down the mountain while the two sides were fairly evenly matched in numbers probably about 400 each the casualties were very unequal the British had 92 killed of whom five were officers 131 wounded of whom eight were officers and 57 taken prisoner there were two missing 71% of British officers were either killed wounded or captured the figure for Rank and fire was 46% I think that shows two things one of course what we already know know which is that British officers have always been incredibly Brave and willing to put themselves In Harm's Way But secondly just how good those B marksmen were especially at picking out officers at distance command and control had been destroyed and the battle was disjointed but what about the bore casualties one killed six wounded one of whom died later of his wounds the British commander George pomoy collee lost both his life and his reputation that day but it's worth remembering that he had been considered one of the Army's brightest upand cominging officers he was a man had been first in his year at Sandhurst and then graduated from Staff College top of his year having taken only 10 months to complete what normally took two years perhaps he should have stayed to finish his course because he might have learned a bit more about irregular and asymmetric Warfare all right I'm being harsh I'm joking majuba was by any standards of course a crushing defeat British military history is full of examples where early engagements are lost but the war is won majuba marked a low point in British military history as that didn't happen the battle forced the British to for peace it stung the British Army and the Cry of avenge majuba was a rallying call during the second Anglo B War 18 years later and this is perhaps why this battle is so important because it made the second Anglo bore War almost inevitable the bors believe that they could now assert power and that they had the measure of the British they didn't therefore greatly fear another conflict it also left a certain section of the British political and Military establishment spoiling for another crack at the BS it was considered a mark of Shame shame against the reputation of the British army indeed although the British did initially learn an important lesson about their poor musketry or Marksmanship after the battle the lessons were soon forgotten so that by the time the second angler B war came along it had been concluded that the problem had purely been poor leadership and execution of plans rather than faulty tactics and Doctrine in 1899 those lessons needed to be learned all over again but that's a story for another day and one I can't wait to cover special thanks again to Dr Chris Bryce I'll be back with another episode next week please comment like subscribe and share this episode with anybody you think might be interested let's help this channel to grow let's get British military history back up there as something people are interested in and want to study

Channel: Redcoat History

Views: 326,945

Keywords: military history, British army, redcoats, tactics, battlefield guide, history, documentary, history documentary, British military history

Id: rXxY8VNnFY8

Length: 20min 41sec (1241 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 01 2024