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Distant Battle: A Restrospect Of Empire
Distant Battle: A Restrospect Of Empire
Distant Battle: A Restrospect Of Empire
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Distant Battle: A Restrospect Of Empire

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The story of the achievements of the Empire pioneers has been obscured in recent years by the attention given to continual changes in emergent countries. But the origins of the British Empire, the motives, determination and sheer courage of the early settlers, is a story of which any nation would be proud. Many of the settlements started off peacefully, but troubles usually followed soon enough. There was fighting with other nations similarly bent on colonial expansion - such as the French in India and Canada; some of the settlers who had left England because of religious persecution proved to be equally intolerant once they had become established overseas, and inevitably there were disputes over trading concessions. There were also constant battles both against diseases - and battle is not entirely a misnomer for this - and against warlike peoples such as the Mahrattas and the Ashantis, professional fighting men who wished to carry on fighting and did not welcome British attempts to instil law and order. If the Pax Britannica was to remain something more than a pipe dream, it had to be backed up by force of arms. The driving force behind the growth of the British Empire was also varied in essence - it stemmed from the urge to explore, from commercial advantage, a desire for religious freedom, missionary zeal and often from a genuine desire to better the native population - an oddly paternal streak which revealed itself in many of the British soldiers who had been sent out to the colonies in a more strictly military role. Ironically, this very benevolence often itself led to trouble but was also later acknowledged with lasting affection. It is not merely the famous historical figures but a host of people with no special qualities or advantages who built the British empire. This book describes many of the achievements of that vast and almost unknown civilian army which went out, faced or conquered dangers and problems which in their day were as bizarre as space exploration seems at the present time.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 3, 2014
ISBN9781859595190
Distant Battle: A Restrospect Of Empire

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    Distant Battle - Phillip Warner

    Distant Battle by Philip Warner

    A RETROSPECT OF EMPIRE

    Index of Contents

    Introduction

    Chapter 1 – The Origins of Empire

    Chapter 2 – The First Settlements

    Chapter 3 – The Virginia Company and Other Settlements

    Chapter 4 – Events after the Restoration

    Chapter 5 – Domestic Scenes

    Chapter 6 – A Long War and a Long Peace

    Chapter 7 – The War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War

    Chapter 8 – The Loss of America

    Chapter 9 – Britain on the Defensive

    Chapter 10 – From Disaster to Victory

    Chapter 11 – The Durham Report and Dominion Status

    Chapter 12 – Australia and New Zealand

    Chapter 13 – Africa

    Chapter 14 – India and Beyond

    Chapter 15 – In Retrospect

    Picture Gallery

    Philip Warner – A Short Biography

    Philip Warner – A Concise Bibliography

    Introduction

    There are, it seems, a diversity of views about the British Empire. There are those who feel that it was a shameful episode because all empires must ipso facto be bad, there are also those who believe that because it was a product of capitalist overseas expansion its faults must be stressed and any incidental virtues ignored. There are some who feel it was a great experiment in constitutional development even if its democratic aspects became a little diminished after it became the Commonwealth. There are even those who believe that the experience of British rule over a long period will eventually prove to be an underlying guiding influence towards harmonious democratic progress. One may sympathise with these ideas and perhaps agree with many of them. This book however treats all these attitudes as subordinate to the main theme. The British Empire was a magnificent story of enterprise, courage, endeavour, and endurance. It was essentially British, for its pioneers came from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and courage and leadership was not a prerogative of the aristocracy but shown throughout the whole population. The British Empire ceased to exist in the 1940s. The concept of Commonwealth had succeeded — as was natural and desirable — but the Commonwealth seems to have some difficulty in establishing an ethos. Today, however, there are many parts of the world where there is a tradition of good order and justice which was bequeathed by the British. However, it is also sadly true to say that there are also parts of the world where the local inhabitants feel they have been betrayed by Britain, as indeed they have. The bitter aspects of the British Empire are not those typical misdeeds of former centuries, so gloatingly described by Britain’s enemies, within and without, but the betrayed friends, the loyal supporters who were left in the lurch by shoddy British politicians. The greatest fault of the British Empire was that it frittered away its assets. Having become the Commonwealth it should have tried to expand its membership to become a true united nations. It might seem to have been an impossible task but it is always easier to build on established foundations than on untested ground.

    But this book is not about what might have been, or an apologia, it is a straightforward account of what was, and a proud account at that. It is a story -of courage and enthusiasm, of mistakes and their retrieval, a chronicle in fact of the actions of men who were proud to be British and not afraid to say so.

    Chapter 1

    The Origins of Empire

    It is a truism that it is difficult for one generation to understand another. However, it is not impossible if effort and good intentions are applied. Equally it is not easy for twentieth century man to visualize the motivation of the early colonisers. Nevertheless there are close parallels with today, and the attitudes of our distant forebears and ourselves are not so different as is sometimes alleged. Indeed many of the problems are substantially unchanged.

    Englishmen went abroad in the sixteenth century to explore and to settle, because they were adventurers. Some were, of course, discontented with life at home, but however intolerable life may be in one setting a man will not set out on a long perilous voyage to change his whole manner of life unless he has a courageous and adventurous spirit. The British were not, of course, alone in showing this characteristic. The Portuguese, the Dutch and the French were full of it too. Inevitably, when their interests clashed overseas there would be violent conflict; it was inherent in the spirit of the times.

    However, it must not be assumed, as it so often is, that overseas trading and sea voyaging suddenly began in sixteenth century Europe. There was, of course, an enormous expansion of manufacture and trade in Tudor and Stuart times but it was an expansion not an innovation. Overseas trade of one sort or another had been in existence since Roman times, although it had often been little more than a trickle of tin and lead exports from Cornish mines and a limited import of French wine. The import of wine, of course, increased enormously after the Norman conquest and still more after Henry II had married Eleanor of Aquitaine. There was quite a substantial trade at times in other commodities. Salt fish had been imported in considerable quantities before the Conquest, and this trade was continued afterwards. As the market for fish grew, English ships took part in the fishing themselves. However English trade was of little significance until the special quality of English wool was recognised abroad. At first English cloth was despised by the Italians and Flemings, but gradually its value came to be recognized and it became highly prized. But by the time Englishmen realised they had an important commodity to sell most of world trade had fallen into the control of foreign merchants.

    The merchants who dominated northern European trade in the Middle Ages were known as the Hanse. The Cologne Hanse controlled the Rhine and held trading privileges in England up till the thirteenth century; the Flemish Hanse controlled the trade from north eastern France; and the Baltic Hanse, who were mainly German, controlled the North Sea trade, including that along the northern shores towards Russia. This last group, which ultimately became the Hanseatic League and the strongest group, had substantial trading concessions in many English cities. Once in a powerful and privileged position they took every opportunity to see that no one grew up to rival them; needless to say this did not make the emergence of English sea power easy.

    Nevertheless, from small beginnings English traders and English ships gradually became a force to be reckoned with. The process began in the thirteenth century when certain English traders banded together in a group which they called Merchants of the Staple. They traded in hides, tin and lead, but their main merchandise was wool. At this time, because the particular properties of English wool were now recognized abroad there was a considerable demand for it. The government, then as now, needing money and looking for sources of revenue, imposed a tax on wool exports. The tax was, of course, passed on to the consumer in the price. Soon the Crown recognized the advantage of dealing with a single organisation rather than with a host of merchants and the Staple was given monopoly rights. The Staple chartered its own ships but was not entirely happy with the arrangement owing to the inevitable losses at sea from piracy and other reasons. For a time home shipping was discontinued, and foreigners fetched and carried in their own ships. Eventually this was clearly seen to be an unsatisfactory policy and it ceased when Edward III established the Staple in his newly conquered territory at Calais. Here the Staple remained till Calais was lost in January 1558, in the reign of Queen Mary. To some extent the loss was due to the fact that the Staplers had neglected to repair the fortifications of the town, a duty for which they were responsible. In its heyday the wool Staple was a useful source of revenue to the English crown, for half-dressed English wool was exported in substantial quantities to the cities of Flanders, where it was made up into cloth.

    But English trade was not restricted to wool only. Soon English merchants in English ships were carrying finished cloth north to the Baltic ports, and south to Portugal and Spain. The northern trade was by no means to the liking of the Hanseatic League but it could hardly object without putting its own privileged position in England in jeopardy. In consequence it turned a blind eye on Baltic pirates — provided they only preyed on rival English ships. Nor was this the only area where pirates gave trouble, for they were also active around Norway, and even further south, but in the long run the experience seems to have proved an advantage to the English. If in order to trade you have to fight for your life, or slip past enemies, or take advantage of adverse weather conditions, you begin to build up a tradition of seamanship that can serve you well in the future. However, the English seamen were not always either lucky or successful. And the development of a navy under a series of kings and governments who rate it as of little importance is a slow business.

    But, in the fifteenth century, it was growing clear that England was becoming a commercial and naval power, small, but one to be reckoned with. Other trading companies, such as the ‘London Merchant Adventurers’ were given royal approval. But official sanction avails little if your government is weak — as the English government was in the mid-fifteenth century. It is interesting to note that the fishery dispute with Denmark and Iceland, so familiar today, was also the cause of much bitterness between the countries involved. Any ship which ventured into those rich fishing waters, and many did, was likely to do as much fighting as fishing.

    ‘The price of peace is eternal vigilance’ — the price of trade might be said to be much the same. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries if the English did not actively further their trade it soon diminished and fell to competition. This was particularly obvious in the fifteenth century when England was torn apart by civil war. In 1474 when Edward IV had to pay for the help which had assisted him to gain the throne it seemed as if English trade was extinguished forever, and foreign ships would sail unchallenged by English competitors. No one would have guessed that within a century England would have a navy which would be capable of defeating that of the most powerful country in the world.

    But the change did not occur quickly or easily. The fault with the English fleet in the Middle Ages was not so much that it had been neglected as that it had never been properly developed. Its competitors had enjoyed advantages and had made full use of them. Some of their assets derived from geographical position. Until the seas were opened up by shipping and navigation England was merely on the fringe of the trading world. The great trade routes were through central Europe and around the Mediterranean. Countries around the Mediterranean considered quite rightly that they were on the main central highway of the world. Not surprisingly Italy, with its strategic trade position, could dominate the world through its banking, trading and shipping. And it was not only their geographical position which favoured them. They were full of drive and commercial enterprise.

    A forecaster of Britain’s economic and military future in the early sixteenth century would undoubtedly have taken a gloomy view. There was very little on which to base an optimistic prediction. Economically, as we have seen in the above brief sketch, progress had been slow and hard, and there was no certainty that the present rate of growth could be maintained. The country was off the world’s main trade routes, and lacking in both the money and experience needed to counter this disadvantage. Militarily, the situation did not look encouraging either. After a long exhausting series of wars with France, ending in defeat, England had plunged into a murderous civil war, which had caused considerable disruption over some thirty years. It seemed that any moments of English greatness belonged to the past, to the conquests of Edward I, Edward II and Henry V; little could be hoped for from that parsimonious Welshman Henry VII. In hindsight we see it somewhat differently. The wars of the Middle Ages, and the amalgamation of peoples which resulted from them, seem to have built up a sturdy independent character which would be noted in the future for its indomitable persistence. The Wars of the Roses had cleared the country of its more turbulent elements, for the great baronial families had killed each other off or so reduced each other’s power that it was a relatively easy task for Henry VII to establish a strong government. And for commerce to prosper a country needs unity and stability. Henry VII was a shrewder and better king than he is often given credit for being. In many ways his ideas were modern. He believed that the government should take an active part in commercial and industrial affairs; he did not believe that trading and manufacturing would grow fast enough if left alone. On the contrary he believed they should be stimulated by government action and, where necessary, government initiative should be taken. The obvious needs — to him — were a strong and extensive fleet, a full treasury, and positive action against foreign competition. The name given to his policy was Mercantilism. It remained an active force till the end of the nineteenth century, after which it was swept away by liberal and free-trade ideas. But in the twentieth century Henry VII could easily pick out people and countries who share his ideas.

    Henry had won the English throne by an unexpected victory in 1485. Once in power he lost no time in applying his commercial principles. The country was in a sorry state, with a weak fleet and decayed ports, so he immediately gave Crown subsidies to build new ships and drafted a Navigation Act which would ensure that they would have profitable use. The Act decreed that Bordeaux wine and certain French dyes could only be imported in English ships manned by English crews. Soon afterwards he was able to use this growing commercial power to prevent the Flemings from harbouring and supporting his political enemies; he achieved it by temporarily withdrawing English merchants from Antwerp. And as the country stabilized and trade increased it seemed to many as if the man in Westminster really knew best. However, as will be seen further on, government backing was only a small part of the expansion of Britain; the majority came from private enterprise.

    Henry was only too ready to encourage private enterprise. He showed this when disputes arose between the powerful Merchants Adventurers and lesser fry. The latter complained that the mighty company was charging large fees for trading rights; Henry intervened and fixed a modest upper limit. A little later he had to give a ruling on a dispute between the Merchants Adventurers and the Merchants of the Staple; it was resolved by the tactful decision that the former had a monopoly in cloth exports, and the latter in wool, but there was no reason why an exporter should not be a member of both companies.

    All this was good, sound, cautious policy. It was a dangerous world, as Henry well knew; he had gained his throne against considerable odds and there was a strong likelihood that he could be toppled off it by some equally well-planned and lucky scheme. He did not therefore wish to create more enemies than he had already. Even so, he knew that it is often safer to do something than to do nothing. And even for anyone as unromantic as Henry VII the reports of the distant voyages of Columbus, Cabot, and the Bristol merchants could not fail to make the blood quicken. He therefore embarked on a policy of limited risk to make inroads in the monopolies of the Hanseatic League and the Italian traders in the Mediterranean.

    For two centuries the Hanseatic League had dominated northern trade, and enjoyed privileges in most of the countries it traded with. These foreign merchants — known in England as ‘the Easterlings’ — were by no means popular in those countries which often, though unwillingly, acted as their hosts. Occasionally there were riots against their trading centres. When disturbances occurred against the Easterlings in Henry’s reign the rioters were admonished but very lightly punished. Doubtless it was hoped that the Easterlings would wish to withdraw and forsake their privileges. They did not show any immediate readiness to do so but these intimidating actions take time to show full effects. He made rather more impact on the League by treaties; one of these was with Denmark which now ceased to interfere with British ships using the Iceland fishery, another was with Riga to obtain special privileges. Commercial relations with Portugal were improved, although of course in future years the two countries would be bitter rivals in yet undiscovered territories. Some improvements in the position of English traders in the Mediterranean was achieved as a result of hard bargaining. By the end of his reign (in 1509) Henry had effected vital though small improvements in the position of English traders; and although the British Empire is usually said to have begun in the reign of Elizabeth it would perhaps be fairer to say that the vital political and commercial decisions which made it possible were taken in the reign of Henry VII, half a century earlier.

    Henry VIII, often criticized for being a headstrong and extravagant king, at least had the acumen to continue most of his father’s commercial agreements, or to encourage suitable substitutes if the original arrangements became no longer practical. He also encouraged shipbuilding, although this was probably more for reasons of vanity than far-sightedness. However, as often happens, a source of action undertaken for not particularly laudable reasons can sometimes produce unexpected benefits. It was so in this instance. Henry’s bulky and powerful ships, originally more suited for war than trading voyages, proved the ideal vessels in the Mediterranean and other coastal areas where the seas were now much less orderly than they had been earlier in the century. Henry, and his successors, were quick to realize that in the new pattern of world trade which was emerging, ships which could undertake long voyages, and defend themselves against all comers, were likely to be of the greatest value.

    The fact that ships could now make long voyages, and return safely, was due to the remarkable abilities of one man in particular, Prince Henry of Portugal. Prince Henry, aptly known as ‘the Navigator’ had built a palace at Cape St Vincent in 1419 so that he could look at the sea and ponder on its conquest. When he died in 1460 his discoveries in the field of the art of navigation had made long voyages a science rather than a matter of luck, and his encouragement had started Portuguese sailors on journeys which would later make them perhaps the greatest of all pioneering seafaring nations. In 1487 Bartholomew Diaz rounded the Cape of Good Hope — a terrifying experience, for the waters of the Atlantic meet the waters of the Pacific just outside the harbour — and in 1497 Vasco da Gama pressed on to Natal — named because he reached it on Christmas Day, Dies Natalis — and from there to India which he reached in May 1498.

    But before Vasco da Gama reached India, another new and immensely exciting discovery had been announced. This was Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America in 1492. In fact Columbus never reached the mainland on his four different voyages but died with the firm belief that the West Indies were the East Indies and that he had reached the far side of a continent on the opposite side of the world to Europe. Christopher Columbus, incidentally, was an Italian, although many Englishmen firmly believe that he was English by birth and upbringing. Unfortunately for Britain he was backed by the King of Spain and therefore the first country to make use of his discoveries was Spain. Later the full effect of this was seen when the seas around the western coast of America became known as the ‘Spanish Main’. It is interesting to recall that Columbus had previously applied for help to Portugal and Britain. Portugal was not prepared to entertain a rival explorer, and Henry VIII delayed too long in making up his mind about it.

    These were not the only important voyages of discovery at this time. The west coast of Africa was already prospected as far as the Cunene River, in what is now the southernmost part of Angola. It was all immensely exciting, rather as if the astronauts of today had found a series of new planets, inhabited by savage but reasonably docile beings, who could easily be colonized.

    Needless to say Portugal and Spain did not regard these new territories with the eye of a philanthropist but promptly claimed them for commercial reasons, and went to considerable trouble to make their rights exclusive. In this they were aided by the Pope, Alexander VI, who issued Papal Bulls defining the spheres of interest of the two countries. The definition was a fairly arbitrary one: the world was divided by a line running north to south one hundred leagues west of the Azores; the lands to the west of the line were to be Spanish and the ones to the east to be Portuguese. After a Portuguese ship had reached Brazil in 1500 Brazil was found to lie east of the dividing line, which is as much a comment on the state of geographical knowledge as of politics. Needless to say, Britain, France and Holland, who had heard of the discoveries with envious interest were not going to be bound in any way by the Papal pronouncement, nor deterred by the fact that Portugal and Spain would treat all foreign ships in ‘their’ areas as pirates, and deal with them appropriately.

    However, the task of newcomers trying to break into areas claimed by the Portuguese and Spaniards would by no means be easy. The Portuguese explorers and traders had acquired a reputation for immense courage and hardiness in their new-found territories. Their strength and physical prowess alone gained them valuable concessions. It was unlikely that men who had earned this reputation would submit to interloping by late-comers. Nor were the Spaniards any less fearsome, although their particular strength lay in the thoroughness with which they organized the exploitation of their newly acquired empire.

    However, trade to Spaniards and Portuguese, meant one thing — the acquisition of precious stones and metals. The Portuguese at first appeared the most successful, with gold and pearls, but were soon completely outdistanced by the Spaniards who forced their way to Mexico, Peru and Chile. The Spanish conquest of these territories is, of course, a saga of heroism, greed, endurance and cruelty. Not only did they plunder all the gold and silver they could find, they made the wretched inhabitants dig up more and then transport it on long painful journeys to the ports. There it was loaded on to galleons and carried to Spain, usually in some sort of protective convoy. It was a masterpiece of organization but, once the treasure was on board ship, presented an almost irresistible temptation for pirate and privateer. The fact that the introduction of huge amounts of precious metal into a country ultimately ruins its economy rather than increases its wealth was well beyond the concept of government or adventurer at this time; not that either would have been very likely to have cared much even if they had known. But, as we know from our own lengthy experience of inflation it is production and not currency which makes a country wealthy, and the plunder of India which went to Portugal, and the gold of America which went to Spain, eventually helped to ruin their economies.

    But all that was long away. For the moment it seemed as if the known world would now be ruled by two nations, and nothing could stop them becoming yearly more powerful. However, unheeded by the claimants of the new world, other vital discoveries had already taken place. One of these was the achievement of John Cabot, an Italian with the same birthplace as Columbus — Genoa. Cabot was an adventurous explorer and trader who appeared in Bristol in 1496. He must have been an interesting character, romantic, practical, a visionary and a trader. Had he settled down he might have been a commercial success in a small way; instead he preferred to obtain crown backing and to set off at great risk on ventures on which he might find a fortune or nothing, and might perhaps lose his own life. Henry VII granted him a monopoly in whatever unknown lands he might discover. It was a broad and generous concession but unfortunately it was not backed with anything like the finances which would make the expedition profitable, or even safe. In a single ship, the Matthew, so small that it would only take 18 men, Cabot crossed three thousand miles of unknown sea and discovered what to all intents and purposes was Canada; exactly where he landed is not known and it may have been Nova Scotia, or perhaps Labrador, or possibly Newfoundland. He himself thought it was the west coast of China. No matter where it was exactly, no one — least of all Cabot — had the slightest doubt of the immense importance of the discovery. When they returned Henry gave Cabot a reward of £10, and put him on a pension of £20 a year for life. A great fuss was made of him in Bristol, and the Spanish Ambassador pointed out with some asperity to Henry that this previously undiscovered territory belonged by legal Papal right to Spain. The stem diplomatic warning did not deter Cabot from setting out on another expedition but, alas for hopes, he discovered that they were on a barren, inhospitable coast, in which there was not a jewel or precious metal to be found. The sea, he noted, was so full of fish it was impossible not to catch them in large quantities, but what was the use of a fishing ground three thousand miles away? It was all immensely disappointing and Cabot returned to Bristol to enjoy his pension for one year only; after that he seems to have died in unknown circumstances.

    However, disheartened though John Cabot undoubtedly was, he had made a remarkable voyage and discovery. Soon others were following the way he had pioneered. Even the fishing grounds were soon being exploited as being scarcely more difficult than those of Iceland and much more productive. Many of those who sailed that dangerous and arduous route were hoping to find a way round the barren coast — through the fabulous north-west passage — and so to the known riches of China and India. They were a mixed lot, and even included Portuguese and Italians sailing from Bristol. On one occasion an expedition captured some Eskimos and brought them back to exhibit like wild animals. Faced with such a series of setbacks and disappointments, it might have been thought that these wild ventures would have been abandoned, or at least modified in their aims. But underlying all these speculative ideas was a strong vein of knowledge. When Constantinople had fallen to the Turks in 1492 its scholastic treasures had been dispersed to the west, and men re-learnt from the writings of the ancient world that the earth was round, not flat, that there were enormously rich and fascinating countries on the far side of the globe, and whatever the risks of exploration they would certainly be surpassed by the rewards. The practical knowledge was not, however, on a par with the theoretical, and one merchant believed that the simplest and quickest route to the east would be t<\ sail straight over the North Pole. Thwarted by ice and weather, the north western explorers got lost, died, fought rival expeditions and eventually probed south where clashes with Spanish and Portuguese were inevitable. One of the most able of these early voyagers was William Hawkins, a Plymouth man. Not very much detail is known of Hawkins’s activities, doubtless because he did not wish it to be, but we know that in 1530 he sailed to Brazil at least three times himself, and organised a series of other voyages to that area. How he avoided clashing with the Portuguese is somewhat of a mystery, but it may have been that they were not very active in the vast area they had claimed as their property. Hawkins, who was a shrewd, and doubtless completely unscrupulous, business man ran a brisk trade in ivory, spices and, probably, slaves. He had a fleet of privateers and was once imprisoned in Britain — but not for long — for piratical activities.

    Hawkins died in 1554 — four years before England lost

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