CIC 481

Past Issues
CIC 480
CIC 479
CIC 478
CIC 477
CIC 476
CIC 475
CIC 474
CIC 473
CIC 472
CIC 471
CIC 470
CIC 469
CIC 468
CIC 467
CIC 466
CIC 465
CIC 464
CIC 463
CIC 462
CIC 461
CIC 460
CIC 459
CIC 458
CIC 457
CIC 456
CIC 455
CIC 454
CIC 453
CIC 452
CIC 451
CIC 450
CIC 449
CIC 448
CIC 447
CIC 446
CIC 445
CIC 444
CIC 443
CIC 442
CIC 441
CIC 440
CIC 439
CIC 438
CIC 437
CIC 436
CIC 435
CIC 434
CIC 433
CIC 432
CIC 431
CIC 430
CIC 429
CIC 428
CIC 427
CIC 426
CIC 425
CIC 424
CIC 423
CIC 422
CIC 421
CIC 420
CIC 419
CIC 418
CIC 417
CIC 416
CIC 415
CIC 414
CIC 413
CIC 412
CIC 411
CIC 410
CIC 409
CIC 408
CIC 407
CIC 406
CIC 405
CIC 404
CIC 403
CIC 402
CIC 401
CIC 400
CIC 399
CIC 398
CIC 397
CIC 396
CIC 395
CIC 394
CIC 393
CIC 392
CIC 391
CIC 390
CIC 389
CIC 388
CIC 387
CIC 386
CIC 385
CIC 384
CIC 383
CIC 382
CIC 381
CIC 380
CIC 379
CIC 378
CIC 377
CIC 375
CIC 374
CIC 373
CIC 372
CIC 371
CIC 370
CIC 369
CIC 368
CIC 367
CIC 366
CIC 365
CIC 364
CIC 363
CIC 362
CIC 361
CIC 360
CIC 359
CIC 358
CIC 357
CIC 356
CIC 355
CIC 354
CIC 353
CIC 352
CIC 351
CIC 350
CIC 349
CIC 348
CIC 347
CIC 346
CIC 345
CIC 344
CIC 343
CIC 342
CIC 341
CIC 340
CIC 339
CIC 338
CIC 337
CIC 336
CIC 335
CIC 334
CIC 333
CIC 332
CIC 331
CIC 330
CIC 329
CIC 328
CIC 327
CIC 326
CIC 325
CIC 324
CIC 323
CIC 322
CIC 321
CIC 320
CIC 319
CIC 318
CIC 317
CIC 316
CIC 315
CIC 314
CIC 313
CIC 312
CIC 311
CIC 310
CIC 309
CIC 308
CIC 307
CIC 306
CIC 305
CIC 304
CIC 303
CIC 302
CIC 301
CIC 300
CIC 299
CIC 298
CIC 297
CIC 296
CIC 295
CIC 294
CIC 293
CIC 292
CIC 291
CIC 290
CIC 289
CIC 288
CIC 287
CIC 286
CIC 285
CIC 284
CIC 283
CIC 282
CIC 281
CIC 280
CIC 279
CIC 278
CIC 277
CIC 276
CIC 275
CIC 274
CIC 273
CIC 272
CIC 271
CIC 270
CIC 269
CIC 268
CIC 267
CIC 266
CIC 265
CIC 264
CIC 263
CIC 262
CIC 261
CIC 260
CIC 259
CIC 258
CIC 257
CIC 256
CIC 255
CIC 254
CIC 253
CIC 252
CIC 251
CIC 250
CIC 249
CIC 248
CIC 247
CIC 246
CIC 245
CIC 244
CIC 243
CIC 242
CIC 241
CIC 240
CIC 239
CIC 238
CIC 237
CIC 236
CIC 235
CIC 234
CIC 233
CIC 232
CIC 231
CIC 230
CIC 229
CIC 228
CIC 227
CIC 226
CIC 225
CIC 224
CIC 223
CIC 222
CIC 221
CIC 220
CIC 219
CIC 218
CIC 217
CIC 216
CIC 215
CIC 214
CIC 213
CIC 212
CIC 211
CIC 210
CIC 209
CIC 208
CIC 207
CIC 206
CIC 205
CIC 204
CIC 203
CIC 202
CIC 201
CIC 200
CIC 199
CIC 198
CIC 197
CIC 196
CIC 195
CIC 194
CIC 193
CIC 192
CIC 191
CIC 190
CIC 189
CIC 188
CIC 187
CIC 186
CIC 185
CIC 184
CIC 183
CIC 182
CIC 181
CIC 180
CIC 179
CIC 178
CIC 177
CIC 176
CIC 175
CIC 174
CIC 173
CIC 172
CIC 171
CIC 170
CIC 169
CIC 168
CIC 167
CIC 166
CIC 165
CIC 164
CIC 163
CIC 162
CIC 161
CIC 160
CIC 159
CIC 158
CIC 157
CIC 156
CIC 155
CIC 154
CIC 153
CIC 152
CIC 151
CIC 150
CIC 149
CIC 148
CIC 147
CIC 146
CIC 145
CIC 144
CIC 143
CIC 142
CIC 141
CIC 140
CIC 139
CIC 138
CIC 137
CIC 136
CIC 135
CIC 134
CIC 133
CIC 132
CIC 131
CIC 130
CIC 129
CIC 128
CIC 127
CIC 126
CIC 125
CIC 124
CIC 123
CIC 122
CIC 121
CIC 120
CIC 119
CIC 118
CIC 117
CIC 116
CIC 115
CIC 114
CIC 113
CIC 112
CIC 111
CIC 110
CIC 109
CIC 108
CIC 107
CIC 106
CIC 105
CIC 104
CIC 103
CIC 102
CIC 101
CIC 100
CIC 99
CIC 98
CIC 97
CIC 96
CIC 95
CIC 94
CIC 93
CIC 92
CIC 91
CIC 90
CIC 89
CIC 88
CIC 87
CIC 86
CIC 85
CIC 84
CIC 83
CIC 82
CIC 81
CIC 80
CIC 79
CIC 78
CIC 77
CIC 76
CIC 75
CIC 74
CIC 73
CIC 72
CIC 71
CIC 70
CIC 69
CIC 68
CIC 67
CIC 66
CIC 65
CIC 64
CIC 63
CIC 62
CIC 61
CIC 60
CIC 59
CIC 58
CIC 57
CIC 56
CIC 55
CIC 54
CIC 53
CIC 52
CIC 51
CIC 50
CIC 49
CIC 48
CIC 47
CIC 46
CIC 45
CIC 44
CIC 43
CIC 42
CIC 41
CIC 40
CIC 39
CIC 38
CIC 37
CIC 36
CIC 35
CIC 34
CIC 33
CIC 32
CIC 31
CIC 30
CIC 29
CIC 28
CIC 27
CIC 26
CIC 25
CIC 24
CIC 23
CIC 22
CIC 21
CIC 20
CIC 19
CIC 18
CIC 17
CIC 16
CIC 15
CIC 14
CIC 13
CIC 12
CIC 11
CIC 10
CIC 9
CIC 8
CIC 7
CIC 6
CIC 5
CIC 4
CIC 3
CIC 2
CIC 1

Profile - Defending London, 1858-1870

Since the seventeenth century, the permanently fortified city has been largely unknown in the English-speaking world.  Only Portsmouth and Plymouth in England, the principal bases of the Royal Navy, were fully fortified, with permanent seaward and landward defenses in peacetime.  Of course, cities sometimes were given extensive improvised defenses in wartime, as, for example, London during the English Civil War or Washington during the American Civil War, and many others were provided with permanent seaward defenses, such as New York or Singapore or San Francisco.

This is not surprising, given that all the English-speaking countries have for many centuries been defended primarily by the "wooden -- and later steel -- walls" of their fleets.  The permanent defenses of Plymouth and Portsmouth were necessary because these ports had for centuries been the principal bases of the Royal Navy, and, being an easy sail from France, possibly vulnerable to a surprise descent against their landward sides. 

The introduction of the ironclad warship in the mid-nineteenth century, however, led to "The Great Anglo-French Ironclad Race."  Britain won the race to build the largest ironclad fleet, but not before some people feared that her primacy at sea had been lost forever, and, worse, that a French invasion might be imminent, for, as one pundit put it, Napoleon III, ". . . would never embarrass his finances to create an enormous navy merely as a yacht fleet."  Something had to be done.

Naturally, there were immediate calls for strengthening the Royal Navy, as well as the army and the militia, to which Parliament, sensitive to public opinion, readily assented.  But these measures would require time to bear fruit, and for some people they were not enough.  So a few Britons proposed that in the emergency nothing less than the fortification of London and other places would satisfy them.  Many people not only suggested that Britain commence fortifying its cities and ports, but some even provided detailed proposals for fortification schemes.

One of the most creative plans was advanced by Col. Robert Alexander Shafto Adair,  Second Baronet Waveney, a militiaman and aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria.  During the height of the "invasion scare" of 1858-1861, Shafto Adair wrote extensively on the problem of the defense of Britain, with his work appearing in the influential Journal of the Royal United Service Institute

Shafto Adair's first essay appeared in 1858, and advanced a very innovative proposal to turn London into an entrenched camp by using the rail lines that circled the city as the basis for a vast system of earthworks.  Relatively little work had to be done, since most of the rail lines were on berms, or in cuts, which could be extended to provide parapets and battery pits as needed, while leaving the tracks and roadbeds intact so that trains could move heavy guns, troops, and supplies around the perimeter to supplement the fixed defenses.  This proposal would have resulted in a fortified camp with a circumference of some 70 miles, leaving virtually the entire city immune from artillery bombardment.  As part of this plan, Shafto Adair also proposed increasing the London militia from less than 20,000 to over 100,000 men to garrison the works.  Not only would this provide for the defense of London, but any invader attempting to bypass and screen the city rather than besiege it would be vulnerable to an attack by the garrison.

Although this plan was an improvisation, it received extensive public support, with numerous letters to The Times and other journals, many adding suggestions to strengthen the defense.  Since Shafto Adair viewed his plan as a temporary measure, he supported other suggestions. 

Retired Field Marshal John F. Burgoyne picked up Shafto Adair's ideas, and in 1860 came up with a plan for a permanent defensive ring around London.  Burgoyne proposed 28 forts and batteries covering the area from Kensington and Harrow to Woolwich and Barking, to mount 1,050 guns and be manned by a permanent garrison of some 17,000 regulars, supplemented in time of war by 120,000 militia.  The whole system, without the cost of the land, was to run slightly over a million pounds, an enormous sum in those days.   Shafto Adair read Burgoyne's proposals, and was soon championing them in print.  But as he defended Burgoyne's plan, Shafto Adair came up with a new one of his own, in 1862.

Shafto Adair's 1862 project proposed that London be provided with a roughly octagonal trace slightly over 55 miles in circumference, consisting of 71 forts, fortified bridgeheads, hornworks, batteries, and fortified arsenals mounting a total of 2,192 guns and requiring 22,000 artillerymen, 4,500 cavalrymen, and 160,000 militia built around a cadre of 20,000 volunteers to man in time of war.  In addition, specially trained fire brigades were to be located throughout the entrenched camp.  The total cost of this grand plan was to amount to some £4.15 million pounds, including the cost of buying the 14,921 acres of land needed to construct the works (His estimate was certainly much too low; the French were just then refortifying Paris at a cost of £6.24 million pounds, exclusive of the price of the land).  Shafto Adair's new proposal generated considerable discussion.  But it was less fevered and more thoughtful, for the strategic situation was changing, and cooler counsels were beginning to be heard.

Although theoretically a French invasion was real possibility, the "window of opportunity" for such was quite narrow, even assuming Louis Napoleon wanted to complicate his already difficult international situation by taking on Britain.  To be sure, things were not all right with the defense of Britain, but the "threat" existed less in reality than in the minds of some Englishmen.  By 1862 the naval balance of power was shifting back in favor of Britain, if indeed it had ever been otherwise.  And by 1865 the Royal Navy was clearly superior again, whilst the French ironclad construction program was lagging badly. 

Despite this, some concerns about the security of London persisted.  In 1870 Alexander B. Tulloch proposed, not a full defensive enceinte for London, but a "shield" to protect the city from a surprise landing by a large force on the East Coast of England, by fortifying a range of hills that runs north from the Thames at Tillbury, some 10 miles east of the capitol, and just east of the city building a ten mile defensive system, while also providing defenses for Woolwich.  Tulloch argued that even if lightly held by trained militia and volunteers, these lines would impede the advance of a hostile force of as many as 150,000 men long enough to permit the British Army to concentrate against it, while the Royal Navy severed its lines of communication.  The Tulloch plan generated very little interest, for by 1870 it was clear than an invasion was very unlikely, but his plans do resemble temporary defenses erected east of London during the First World War.

Genealogical Notes:

1. Robert Alexander Shafto Adair (1811-1886) was the grandfather of Major General Sir Allan Henry Shafto Adair (1897-1988), the Sixth (and last) Baronet Waveney, who commanded the Guards Armoured Division, from 1942 until the end of World War II.

2. Field Marshal John F. Burgoyne (1782-1871) was the illegitimate son of General John Burgoyne (1722-1792), who did so much to insure American victory by losing the two Battles of Saratoga in 1777, and the opera singer Susan Caulfield. 

3. Field Marshal Burgoyne was, in turn, the father of Capt. Hugh Talbot Burgoyne (1833-1870), of the Royal Navy, who earned a V.C. in the Crimean War, but perished when his ship capsized in a gale off the French coast, on which see "H.M.S. Captain Goes Down, and With Her a Bit of History"   

4. Curiously, on the very same night Hugh Burgoyne perished, his cousin, Sir John Montagu Burgoyne (1832-1921), the 10th Baronet Burgoyne and an officer in the Grenadier Guards, transported the just-deposed Empress Eugenie and the Prince Imperial from France to England in his yacht, through the very same storm.

 

 


© 1998 - 2024 StrategyWorld.com. All rights Reserved.
StrategyWorld.com, StrategyPage.com, FYEO, For Your Eyes Only and Al Nofi's CIC are all trademarks of StrategyWorld.com
Privacy Policy