h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A87938464 - Fauveau's Breastplate

I'll be subbing the above, can you please subscribe and I'll be back with any questions.

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Hi Bluebottle
Just ask

I must admit I did wonder whether it would be possible to add the story of the Earl of Uxbridge to the entry somewhere. Something along the lines of:

During this battle the Earl of Uxbridge, shot by a cannon when riding next to Wellington, said to him, 'By God, Sir, I’ve lost my leg.' To which Wellington replied, 'By God, Sir, so you have.' Uxbridge survived the amputation operation and went on to have a long and successful political career.

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I've come back with my first questions
You've said that the carabiniers 'carried the long-barrelled muskets implied by their name'. I thought that they carried carbines, which were short-barrelled muskets that were easy to carry on horseback?

It is also possible that a reader might be confused with the sentence 'The British tactic when faced with cavalry was to close infantry squares around the guns, sustaining musket-fire in all directions as their assailants circled. This proved very effective, particularly on the wet ground that made Waterloo less than ideal for mounted warfare.'
It leads readers to ask 'why is it very effective to sustain musket-fire while their assailants circled?
Would it also be possible to add an explanation, something along the lines of, 'Each side of the infantry square had up to four ranks of soldiers with fixed bayonets. As horses do not charge the densely-packed formation, the French cavalry were unable to attack the infantry with their sabres but could be targeted by the defenders in the square.' (but you can have it in your own words).

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All good.
Yes why not add Uxbridge. (A footnote maybe? I think the ridiculousness of the exchange might not really fit with the generally sombre tone of the main text. Or the other possibility might be to add a whole section about cannon fire injuries of the period. There’s a discourse in the PR thread about a high incidence of amputations resulting from kicking cannonballs, and it progressively makes sense why this apparently absurd proposition might be true. Possibly a summary of that as well as Uxbridge added into a new section with it’s own heading? Tell me what you think of that idea and if you like it, I’ll try draft it).
Yes, should be short not long.
And it’s the squares in general that were effective, so “The squares” in place of “This” would do it, do you think? The additional explanation of the square deployment is good too. Your words are fine.

Just reminded that it was you who brought up cannonball kicking!
That section, if added, would probably fit best straight in front of A Damned Nice Thing.

I've tweaked the section about squares so it should be clearer it is squares plural and not just one as well as adding the bit about the dense formation, so I hope that meets with your approval.

I think that a section that includes both Uxbridge and the amputation of men's legs following trying to kick cannonballs is a good idea. It is at least worth trying – if you draft one we can add to the text and see how it looks, and if you decide it doesn't work we can then delete it entirely or add some/all of it to footnotes.

By the way, do you have a picture of the breastplate that you took that can be used as an illustration for this entry? If so, can you send it to artists AT h2g2 .com.

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No photo sorry.
Insert to follow in a day or two.

Let me know when you're ready.

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Are you still working on it?

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Incidentally, an image has now been added to the entry.

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As you appear to have ed I'll send this on its way without the extra bit and hopefully you'll return to see it on the front page.

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