Stephen Manning, Bayonet to Barrage (Pen & Sword, 2020)
In Bayonet to Barrage, Stephen Manning analyses seven Victorian battles to demonstrate how changing technologies enabled the British to build the biggest empire in history. He selects crucial technological and tactical turning points to illustrate his argument and produce a fascinating survey of Victorian warfare.
The Battle of Sobroan in the Anglo-Sikh War of 1846 acts as the datum for his exploration. Here, the bayonet triumphed for the British, but at a fearful cost. Up close and personal was not the way forward against disciplined armies. The percussion rifled musket, specifically the Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle-Musket and Minie Rifle, featured in the Crimean War, decimating the Russian ranks and furnishing the Allies with the ability to involve snipers. The Enfield also proved its worth in the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and the American Civil War from 1862 to 1865. The Breech Loading Rifle, the Snider Rifle, followed and was used to great effect by the British against the Ashanti at Amoaful in 1874 and again in the Second Afghan War from 1878-1880. The Martini-Henry Rifle’s development overlapped the Snider and was used in various frontier wars, most notably against the Zulus in 1879. Manning makes it clear that rate of fire and accuracy were too much for technologically backward armies, but it was the psychological impact of these weapons as much as their killing power that did for the enemy.
Manning moves onto the Sudan campaigns of 1884-85 where Gardner machine-guns and the Martini-Henry inflicted more fearful damage. Indeed, Manning is keen to point out that despite the romanticised image of this war, the Mahdists did not come close to winning any battles. The British tactical deployment into squares helped achieve that victory. Then at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, British technological superiority led to slaughter with the Maxim machine-gun and Lee-Metford rifle to the fore. The British would not find it so easy against the South African Boers in 1900. The technological improvement required here was in the British artillery. Smokeless rifle ammunition helped the Boers defeat British assaults, requiring a radical British rethink and rapid development of artillery tactics in support of the infantry. This came to fruition at the attack on Pieter’s Hill in the relief of Ladysmith. Manning concludes with a chapter on ‘Lessons Forgotten’ in which he argues that the offensive spirit re-entered a battlefield where defence through firepower reigned.
In the space of just over 200 pages, Stephen Manning effortlessly traverses the military landscape of Queen Victoria’s reign. A book that begins with bayonets ends in artillery shells fired from miles away and the reader barely notices the transitions until they are complete. Manning achieves that by skilfully weaving technical details of weapons with engrossing battle narratives full of observations from the men that fought in them. Bayonet to Barrage is thus an excellent survey of the Victorian battlefield and should be enjoyed by anyone interested in Britain’s pursuit and maintenance of Empire through military success.
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