The British Cheer

Psychological Warfare in the Napoleonic Era

Paul Thompson

• Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781399048453
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Napoleonic Wars
• Index: History

This is a bold, painstakingly researched and wide-ranging assessment of the British Cheer in the Napoleonic era. Reference to the Cheer in accounts of the time is virtually ubiquitous and repeatedly the claim was made for cheering as an integral part of British offensive operations. However, more recent historians have tended to overlook this evidence. Based upon a vast range of contemporary sources, this book suggests that the Cheer wielded genuine power as a true 'weapon of war'. This book first surveys the history of acclamations in battle worldwide and British battle-cries from all periods, before addressing the question of what the British Cheer actually sounded like. Issues of acoustics, physics and the psychology of battlefield morale are considered, along with commentaries from significant military scholars throughout history. Examination of the Napoleonic-era Cheer then reveals the practically invincible 'recipe' of volley-cheer-charge that propelled the British Army to victory upon victory. Comparison is drawn with French and other national patterns of vocalizing, along with analysis of those occasions when the Cheer might be suppressed. Finally, the attitude of the Duke of Wellington towards cheering is reconsidered, with surprising results. This study encompasses a vast canvas of place and time in pursuit of the elusive yet galvanizing Cheer: from the Mahratta wars in India, through campaigns in Egypt, the Mediterranean, Flanders, the Caribbean and South America, as well as the war of 1812. The Peninsular and Waterloo campaigns feature prominently as the Cheer is heard thrillingly from Vimeiro to Talavera, Salamanca to Vitoria, Orthez to Toulouse and the shocking siege of Badajoz to the charge of the Scots Greys on the ridge of Mont Saint Jean. Anyone interested in the wars of Revolutionary France and Napoleon, the British army, the career of the Duke of Wellington, or indeed the wider questions of the psychological motivations of combat will find this book illuminating and thought-provoking.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Background
• Chapter 1 Some Military Acclamations in History
• Chapter 2 The British Cheer through History
• Chapter 3 What Did the Napoleonic Era British Cheer Sound Like?
• Chapter 4 What the Ear Doesn’t Hear...
• Chapter 5 Modern Psychology, Morale & The Cheer
• Chapter 6 The Cheer Imagined
• Chapter 7 Towards a Greater Recognition of the British Cheer
• Chapter 8 The Napoleonic Era Cheer Unleashed
• Chapter 9 The Tactical Cheer: Formula for Victory
• Chapter 10 Vocalisations of Other Descriptions
• Chapter 11 Three Cheers
• Chapter 12 The French Cheer
• Chapter 13 Napoleonic Era Cheering from Others
• Chapter 14 Suppression of the Cheer
• Epilogue Wellington & The British Cheer
• Appendix The British Cheer in Action
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Plates