>be British >fight in irrelevant backwater theater of the Napoleonic Wars >only opponents are severely outnumbered, under-supplied and demoralized second rate soldiers from the French Army >have ample support from Spanish guerrillas >run away from Napoleon at almost every turn >only victories gained are by outnumbering the enemy >get kicked out of the Peninsular several times >eventually win after almost 6 years, and only because of the fuck up in the 1812 Invasion of Russia
Why did the British Army do so terribly in the Napoleonic Wars, especially compared to their Navy?
The British Army for a long period of time was really nothing special in terms of the European ground armies of the time and even in the next century. It was the normiest of all normie armies of the period.
Their colonial forces however were pretty competent, funnily enough, in comparison towards the army at home.
Levi Taylor
>The expression “scum of the earth” uttered by Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, has become etched in history as a great commander's miserable opinion of his men. In a letter to Henry, Third Earl Bathurst, from Huarte Spain, on 2 July, 1813, Wellington wrote, “we have in the service the scum of the Earth as common soldiers.”
>His opinion did not change with time. On 4 November, 1813, he declared in a conversation with Philip Henry, Fifth Earl Stanhope, “I don't mean to say that there is no difference in the composition or therefore the feeling of the French army and ours. The French system of conscription brings together a fair sample of all classes; ours is composed of the scum of the Earth—the mere scum of the Earth. It is only wonderful that we should be able to make so much out of them afterward. The English soldiers are fellows who have enlisted for drink—that is the plain fact—they have all enlisted for drink.”
Xavier Martin
>Buying officer ranks.
Hunter Cox
far out. British slags basically throw theirselves at you the very moment they realize you're not British, that's how much class roachboys have.
Hudson Campbell
Why not? For example, Lord Wellington does not approve of the use of umbrellas during the enemy's firing, and will not allow the gentlemen's sons to make themselves ridiculous in the eyes of the army. And that goes for you too!
Jayden Hughes
The British Army is often composed the lower and under class of British society which is the complete opposite of their colonial forces, which is why historically the British Army was tiny in comparison and they relied heavily on colonial forces to fight their wars for them on the continent.
Jeremiah Sullivan
...
Dominic Morales
>Be British >Attack a heavily outnumbered enemy >Get extremely asshurt when you take massive casualties >Eventually overcome outnumbered defenders >Chimpout >Rape their women and children >Loot their houses and stores >Shoot your commanding officers for telling you to stop being a chimp >Massacre shittons of civilians because you sucked shit at fighting
Are Anglos even White? Irish are far more civilized than them.
>"On entering the town, the victorious British and Portuguese troops quickly discovered plentiful supplies of brandy and wine in the shops and houses, with many soon becoming part of a "reeling, riotous mob""
>"Drunken and enraged at the heavy losses they had suffered, the troops ran amok, pillaging and burning the city and killing an unknown number of inhabitants according to some sources"
>"Some British officers tried to stop the looting but were either ignored or threatened by the drunken soldiers,[12] or turned a blind eye or added to the plight"
>"[the assailants] committed the biggest atrocities, such as killing and injuring many inhabitants and also raping most of the women".[16] The burning started that very night on some houses, according to local witnesses. Local Domingo de Echave gave evidence echoing an English soldier's words pointing to flames coming out of a house: "See that house ablaze? Mind you, tomorrow all like this."[11] The city kept burning yet for seven days, by which time only a handful of buildings survived. The rest of it burned to the ground—600 houses, city hall and record office included."
Leo Ortiz
>It was the normiest of all normie armies of the period. The fuck is that even supposed to mean?
Chase Russell
Mediocre.
Justin Powell
>theirselves
Fuck off back to your bog Padraig, and stop pretending that your wee dirties are any better, and that ours are any worse. Dirty is as dirty does.
Carson Walker
The entire campaign was to drain Napoleon and tie up resources. The entire peninsula war was one massive headache for the little guy.
But I guess modern frogs wouldn't understand much about war.
Kevin Evans
We'll see whose laughing when brexit finishes up billy boy.
Joseph Wright
Nobody in Britain cared about the army.
Robert Allen
Just more /int/ shitposting, don't get your knickers in a twist.
Austin Butler
That's just how people tend to behave after a sorely-won battle. Modern discipline would have culled most of it by the time this battle happened, but such cases are still bound to happen, even today.
Sebastian Collins
You also forget their many failed invasions of the Low Countries
The reason is pretty simple: Britain focused on their navy, and as a result their army was fucking garbage Not that it mattered much since Britain never fought wars alone but always alongside countries with proper armies (Prussia, Russia, Austria...)
Eli Clark
>Their colonial forces however were pretty competent, funnily enough, in comparison towards the army at home.
The fact they mostly fought spear-wielding nignogs explains why they seemed (it being the key word) so competent
Thomas Thompson
>Eventually overcome outnumbered defenders >>Chimpout >Rape their women and children >Loot their houses and stores
That would be kind of understandable, but it's not even what happened The people they raped and massacred weren't even affiliated with the defenders (who were French occupiers), they were Spanish civilians the Brits were supposed to liberate from the French Really mind-bogging
Brayden Wright
>The fact they mostly fought spear-wielding nignogs explains why they seemed (it being the key word) so competent
That makes sense until you start asking why nobody else was so successful.
Jaxon Thomas
Are you serious? Britain was the only big country to really focus on conquering the third world during most of the 19th century
Spain had been killed by Napoleon, Prussia/Germany, Austria and Russia were too busy in Europe to try anything outside, and France was also pretty busy in Europe for most of the century and only turned to the outside late, thus taking the leftovers of what Britain hadn't taken
It really wasn't about capabilities as much as it was about interest
Nathan Sullivan
Lurk more please.
Or at least go read up on Veeky Forums vernacular.
