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Somme Battle Stories

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War & Military
Chapter: 20 | Listen: 2

Stories of World War I warfare, published in 1916 in the midst of the war. (That’s why names of persons and units are literally “blanked” out.) Alec John Dawson (1872 – 1951), generally known as A. J. Dawson (pseudonyms Major Dawson, Howard Kerr, Nicholas Freydon) was an English author, traveller and novelist. During World War I he attained the rank of Major, and was awarded the MBE and Croix de Guerre in recognition of his work as a military propagandist, a work the listener may want to keep in mind. (Terminology note: “Boche” means the Germans, singular or plural; “Blighty” means hospitalization in England; “The Push” means fighting in the Somme offensive.) The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme, German: Schlacht an der Somme), also known as the Somme Offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on either side of the River Somme in France. The battle was one of the largest of World War I, in which more than 1,000,000 men were wounded or killed, making it one of humanity’s bloodiest battles…. 1 July 1916 was also the worst day in the history of British Army, which had c. 60,000 casualties,… The British Army on the Somme was a mixture of the remains of the pre-war regular army, Territorial Force and the Kitchener Army which was composed of Pals battalions, […]

History of the Four Georges in Four Volumes, Volume 2

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War & Military
Chapter: 22 | Listen: 4

Justin McCarthy (1830-1912), liberal member of Parliament and historian. He brings the great 18th Century personalities to life: Walpole and Swift, Bolingbroke and Mary Wortley Montagu, the Old Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and the four King Georges. This second volume brings us the terrible death of Queen Caroline, Swift and Stella, the Jacobite rising of 1745, the Wesleyan Movement, Clive’s victories, and the struggle for Canada. – Summary by Pamela Nagami [chương_files]

Who Burnt Columbia?

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War & Military
Chapter: 6 | Listen: 3

This LibriVox reading consists of selections from depositions in a lawsuit brought after the end of the American Civil War by some businessmen of the former Confederacy. This reading focuses on the sworn statements of General William Tecumseh Sherman who commanded the Carolinas campaign and General Oliver O. Howard who was one of Sherman’s subordinate commanders. The subject is the still-controversial burning of Columbia, capital of South Carolina, toward the end of the Civil War. “Official Depositions of Wm, Tecumseh Sherman, “General of the Army of the United States,” and Gen. O.O. Howard, U.S.A., For The Defence; and Extracts From Some Of The Depositions For The Claimants, Filed in Certain Claims vs. United States, Pending Before “The Mixed Commission on British and American Claims,” in Washington, D.C.” (Book subtitle) The Carolinas Campaign was the final campaign in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. In January 1865, Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman advanced north from Savannah, Georgia, through the Carolinas, with the intention of linking up with Union forces in Virginia…. [After conquering Atlanta, Sherman] persuaded Grant that he should march north through the Carolinas… destroying everything of military value along the way, similar to his march to the sea through Georgia. Sherman was particularly interested in targeting South Carolina, the first state to secede from the Union, for the effect it would have on Southern morale…. On February 17, Columbia surrendered to Sherman… Union forces were overwhelmed by throngs of liberated Federal prisoners and emancipated African Americans. […]

History of Company B 307th Infantry

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War & Military
Chapter: 3 | Listen: 2

The history of Company B, 307 Infantry’s participation in The First World War. A part of the 77th Division it trained at Camp Upton, New York before leaving for France. – Summary by Bill 2147 [chương_files]

Pitt

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War & Military
Chapter: 22 | Listen: 2

Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, liberal prime minister (1894-1895), wrote this short biography of William Pitt, the Younger (1759-1806), the controversial young prime minister who led Great Britain during the terrible trial of the Napoleonic Wars. Lord Rosebery writes: “From the dead eighteenth century his figure still faces us with a majesty of loneliness and courage. There may have been men both abler and greater than he, though it is not easy to cite them; but in all history there is no more patriotic spirit, none more intrepid, and none more pure.” (Pamela Nagami) [chương_files]

German Deserter’s War Experience

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War & Military
Chapter: 25 | Listen:

The author of this 1917 narrative, who escaped from Germany and military service after 14 months of fighting in France, did not wish to have his name made public, fearing reprisals against his relatives. The vivid description of the life of a common German soldier during “The Great War” aroused much interest when it was published in the United States in serial form. Here was a warrior against his will, a hater of militarism for whom there was no romance in war, but only butchery and brutality, grime and vermin, inhuman toil and degradation. His story also contains the first German description of the retreat of the Teutonic armies after the battle of the Marne. – From the Translator’s Preface – Summary by Lee Smalley [chương_files]

Henry Wirz, Commander of Andersonville Confederate Prison: Trial and Execution

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War & Military
Chapter: 17 | Listen:

Henry Wirz (November 25, 1823 – November 10, 1865) was the only Confederate soldier tried after the end of the American Civi War. He was tried, convicted, and executed, not for being a Confederate soldier, but for conspiracy and murder relating to his command of Camp Sumter, the infamous Confederate prisoner-of-war prison at Andersonville, Georgia. Wirz encouraged and commanded barbaric and murderous policies and actions in the prison. This Librivox recording is excerpts from the 850 page summary of the trial written by the Army Judge Advocate (prosecutor) for, and at the command of, The Congressional House Of Representatives, 40th Congress, Second Session, Ex, Doc. No 23. This recording omits the 614 pages of testimony by very numerous witnesses, both Federal and Confederate. What is recorded conveys the substance of the witnesses’ testimony. For a prisoner’s view of life in the prison camp see LibriVox recording Andersonville Diary, Escape And List Of The Dead by John L. RANSOM. – Summary by Wikipedia and david wales [chương_files]

A.E.F.: With General Pershing and the American Forces

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War & Military
Chapter: 21 | Listen:

In 1917, the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) arrived in Europe to fight alongside the French and British allied forces. American journalist Heywood Broun followed the AEF and reported on their experiences. He published these sketches in book form in 1918. This project is part of the ongoing commemoration by LibriVox volunteers of the centenary of World War I. (Summary by MaryAnn) [chương_files]

Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783

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War & Military
Chapter: 30 | Listen: 4

The Influence of Sea Power Upon History: 1660–1783 is a history of naval warfare written in 1890 by Alfred Thayer Mahan. It details the role of sea power during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and discusses the various factors needed to support and achieve sea power, with emphasis on having the largest and most powerful fleet. Scholars consider it the single most influential book in naval strategy. – Summary by Wikipedia [chương_files]

Reign of Queen Anne, Volume I

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War & Military
Chapter: 20 | Listen: 2

Anne Stuart (1665-1714), Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, succeeded William III to the throne in 1702. She was the daughter of the deposed Catholic king, James II, but was of the Anglican faith. Liberal, Irish member of Parliament, Justin McCarthy, writing in 1902, creates in sparkling, uncluttered prose a panoramic canvas of Anne and her times. In the first of the two volumes, the brilliant commander, the Duke of Marlborough, defeats the French and Bavarians at the Battle of Blenheim, while the flagship of the admiral of the fleet, Sir Cloudesley Shovell, strikes the rocks near the Isles of Scilly and is lost with all eight hundred hands. We are at street level in rowdy London with its aristocratic bully boys, the Mohocks, its coffee houses, and its theaters. We meet the great Tories, Harley and Bolingbroke, and encounter the satiric spirit who haunts it all, Jonathan Swift. (Pamela Nagami) [chương_files]