SAHR Monthly Talk: Zack White on British military law in the Napoleonic era
Friday 14th July 2023
For the July instalment of SAHR's series of monthly talks, Dr Zack White presented a talk entitled 'The Battle to reform British military law in the Napoleonic era'
The event took place on Friday, July 14th 2023 at 7:00PM BST.
The recorded version of the talk can now be accessed on the Society's YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/ga2PkTTvBVI
Synopsis
As the struggle to wrest Europe from Napoleon’s control raged, the British army found itself embroiled in its own, internal, little known power struggle. Politicians, judges, army officers, Wellington, the Commander in Chief, the Duke of York and even the King, George III, all found themselves grappling with an insoluble problem: how should the army be disciplined? With as many visions for reform as there were stakeholders in the debate, what ensued was a cacophony of opinions, and haphazard efforts to influence the legal process, with the lack of cohesion leading to counterproductive results.
Based on his award winning PhD thesis (2022 Wellington Prize winner, 2022 SMH Coffman Prize Runner Up, 2023 Corvisier Prize Runner Up), this talk by Dr Zack White will offer a window into the at times vociferous debate and anarchy that ensued the implementation of poorly planned reforms. Drawing on Parliamentary debates, the letters of the Judge Advocate General’s Officer and the Duke of Wellington, court martial records, and army orders, it will highlight how military law was a system that was being pulled apart by competing ideologies and interests. That the military justice system was able to function in this environment is truly remarkable.
Speaker Biography
Dr Zack White is an award winning historian of the nineteenth-century British Army, podcaster and battlefield guide. Host of the Napoleonic Wars podcast, his PhD thesis examined military law in the British army between 1808-1818. He is also chair of the Napoleonic & Revolutionary War Graves Charity, and has featured on the UK TV documentary 48 Hours to Victory. His first edited collection ‘The Sword & the Spirit’ is available from Helion.