"Firing into the Brown" #98 - Siege of Portsmouth, Venner and stuff

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Quelle domage... they've shelled
the Guildhall...!

This was fun... 

Originally published in 1895 to support a parliamentary election campaign (in Portsmouth), "The Siege of Portsmouth" was a local newspaper serialised story describing a fictional "what if" attack on Portsmouth/South Coast by a Franco-Russian invasion. 

Apparently "invasion fiction" as a genre was a big thing at the turn of the 19th/20th Century (I had no idea). 

According to Wiki "..between 1871 and 1914 more than 60 works of fiction for adult readers describing various invasions of Great Britain were published" ("War of the Worlds" published in 1898 is probably the best known), and this story is another example. 

...happily it survived..😁 

It is unusual in its level of detail of the military engagements, but I strongly suspect that is to do with the setting (Portsmouth), and more specifically the forts and Dockyard - the story quite clearly has a political axe to grind with regard to inadequate spending on armaments and defence. 

It describes the heavy shelling of Portsmouth, Southsea and Eastney and the partial destruction of the Solent forts, and much local detail is included presumably to bring it home to the readership how they might be impacted if they didn't vote for the right man😁. I was fascinated to see that the French landing site for example is given as Emsworth, which is just down the road from where I live.. 

Can't help thinking that as a campaign setting/background for a wargame it's second to none.. 

It's available as a free PDF download if you fancy it.. be aware - it is jingoistic to the max as you would expect for late Victorian (😁)..  8/10

Download from here [clicky]

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When I was doing the unit history on Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot [clicky] back in the day I had cause to mention that their second Colonel, Samuel Venner, looked like he had an interesting background - so I thought I'd do a little digging..

He was a key leader in the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685 being part of Monmouth's Council of War. He apparently fought bravely at Bridport, where he was wounded in the stomach by a sniper (but in return shot & killed his assailant, one Edward Coker).

He later advised Monmouth to flee, though his counsel was rejected. 

Sent on a secret mission to London, he managed to avoid capture at Sedgemoor, and escaped to Holland joining William of Orange's army. Excluded from King James II's pardons, he remained in exile until the Glorious Revolution of 1688 secured his safety. 

His Colonelcy of Derring's (which seems to have been largely ornamental) was preceded by a spell as Colonel of a Regiment of Foot in Ireland during the Nine Years War, and then, slightly surprisingly, as governor of 'His Majesty's Hospital for Sick and Wounded Men in Ireland' (Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin)

...this is in Bridport Church..

It may have been that experience, that lead to his subsequent post as 'Intendant of Hospitals' in Flanders following the sacking of the previous incumbent for corruption (😏). William had issued orders for hospitals to be built, and Venner was in charge of there running..

Unfortunately, my reading would indicate [clicky] that Venner was as corrupt and unpleasant as the previous incumbent... 

.."once he was in post the avaricious side of his personality soon came to the fore and he quickly demonstrated a talent for emulating his predecessor's penchant for spending other people's money on improving his personal life-style and comfort"... 😁

..this gives us the reason as to why his Colonelcy of Dering's was so short - he lead them for a mere four years between 1691 and 1695 - as he was formally relieved of his Intendant post following the number of complaints. He was then charged with bribery and corruption involving regimental agents, was relieved of the command of his regiment, and finally, cashiered.

Not all of these guys from the past were spotless.. 😁

More Reading:

• Thomas Venner's Rising and his son Samuel Venner's Rebellion

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 Laters, as the young people are want to say...