The Nineteenth Century saw a number of British naval and army officers follow disgrace with glorious service for a foreign power. This book covers Baker’s lows and highs to his triumph at Tashkessen, but it also includes some brief and fascinating views of his family – Highly Recommended.
NAME: Valentine Baker's Heroic Stand at Tashkessen 1877, A Tarnished British Soldier's Glorious Victory FILE: R2595 AUTHOR: Frank Jastrzembski PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword BINDING: hard back PAGES: 202 PRICE: £19.99 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: Russo-Turkish War, British Army, Ottoman Army, Foreign Enlistment, land warfare, Nineteenth Century ISBN: 1-47386-680-4 IMAGE: B2595.jpg BUYNOW: http://tinyurl.com/ybplv8uh LINKS: DESCRIPTION: The Nineteenth Century saw a number of British naval and army officers follow disgrace with glorious service for a foreign power. This book covers Baker's lows and highs to his triumph at Tashkessen, but it also includes some brief and fascinating views of his family – Highly Recommended. During the Nineteenth Century there was a fluidity that has now largely evaporated. By the end of WWII, boundaries between States became clear and modern communications and information systems have made it considerably more difficult for an individual to make a new life in the way that it was possible in the Nineteenth Century. Thomas Cochrane was a brilliant frigate commander during the Napoleonic Wars and a great naval warfare thinker. Not the character we might expect to be disgraced. He was however an adventurer who became a Member of Parliament and a business man. It was in politics and business that he came unstuck and had to flee Britain. He was appointed to command the navies of Chile, Peru and Brazil during their fight for independence. At sea he again earned a reputation that any naval commander would be proud of and he was eventually taken back into the Royal Navy and promoted to Admiral. Baker was disgraced in Army service, dismissed and jailed. Like Cochrane he sought employment outside Britain, although in his case he was aided by the Prince of Wales (King Edward VII) who secured an appointment for him in Egypt, commanding Ottoman troops. Where Cochrane is still remembered in South America and Britain, Baker has been forgotten, even though he was taken as an example of tactical control and command of troops by his contemporaries after his victory at Tashkessen. Cochrane of course was helped to immortality in two ways. In South America, ships and places have been named for him, and in literature he is the model frigate captain who inspired a small group of best selling novelists and appears in their books as part of their heroes. Baker was not always lucky in combat and he is more likely to be remembered for the charges brought against him, his imprisonment and a less successful battle, leading Egyptian troops in the Sudan. The courage and leadership he displayed at Tashkessen must have always been a part of him, bursting out in a spectacular manner at Tashkessen. He fought there in a manner worthy of the Spartans. His 3,000 Ottoman troops were facing a Russian force of 25,000. His brilliant tactics and disposition of his troops enabled his force to achieve an impossible victory. The author has crafted an absorbing tale which is supported by some interesting images. Not a story to miss.