alternatehistory.com

24 September

The Duke of Cambridge's memo on Lessons From the American War arrives in Britain. Much discussion takes place at Horse Guards as a result - it is understood, however, that others (such as Pennefather) had some input.

Among the points addressed are:

1) Quick reaction forces are essential for dealing with wars in the colonies.
2) These forces should be concentrated in the United Kingdom as far as possible.
3) Mobilized militia is not an effective replacement for line infantry, but can be an effective supplement (i.e. a second line).
4) The muzzle loading rifle's advantages in range and accuracy are so great that any breech loading rifle which causes more than a small reduction in these properties should be rejected.
5) Breech loading artillery of the Armstrong type has some minor reliability issues relating to the vent piece, but is otherwise capable, powerful, long ranged and accurate.
6) The breech loading carbines lately adopted for cavalry should not be permitted to quash the spirit of the offensive.
7) Bayonet charges should be emphasized not as a replacement for fire but as an addition to fire.
8) The close order formation is no longer necessary except in the presence of skilled enemy cavalry or defending an embrasured position.
9) Better doctrine is required to direct the Armstrong guns of the artillery arm - their full range is hard to use on the battlefield. (Pennefather suggests use of short range telegraph, though major concerns are in place over how viable this actually is.)
10) The current army should not be reduced in size by more than 20,000 or so, and that only over the Duke's protests - a 10% reduction of the size of the army would result in a 25% reduction in the home force, thus significantly reducing the ability of the Army to deploy troops in a crisis. Indeed, an increase might be preferable.
11) Militia and volunteer movements at home are all very well, but they should be trained as close to the standard of regular infantry as possible. (There is a one-page diatribe on the capabilities of Canadian militia, though he does allow almost as an afterthought that they are at least better than what they were facing.)



A joke which does the rounds at Horse Guards is that the Duke's secretary has clearly removed most of the profanity and bad language. This joke is, in fact, correct - the Duke originally dictated two pages on the Battle of Moulin Rouge, for example, where his description of the Canadian militia included the terms "fools", "tin-eared to any proper instruction", "undisciplined half-trained sots" and "attempting so far as I can tell to shoot down the clouds so as to provide themselves better cover, were it not for how they missed even the sky". (It is often hard to tell from his scathing language that Moulin Rouge was actually a British victory.)