The Royal Engineers At Chatham
Tells the story of the Chatham Garrison in Kent, a site of major international military significanceSurviving physical evidence at Chatham is substantial and unique relating directly to Britains development as a nineteenth-century imperial power"Contains extensive use of previously unpublished Royal Engineer photographic archive materialChatham, on the River Medway in Kent, is a site of international military significance. It has been vitally important for the defence of the nation for more than four centuries, ever since the Royal Navy used the river here as a safe anchorage for mooring their warships and a dockyard was built. In this superbly illustrated book, using previously unpublished archives, Peter Kendall tells for the first time the story of the defences that protected the dockyard and the key route to London, from substantial lines of earthen ramparts and ditches to major citadels and innovative forts. Part of his narrative focuses on how the Medway area developed a major role in the storage of explosives and artillery, how the first training school for the Royal Engineers was founded at Chatham in 1812 and how the soldiers were trained in siege exercises, which were huge spectacles attracting thousands of spectators. The author gives the human side of the military training and conflicts, with his descriptions of the life endured by the new recruits and the terrible conditions in barracks that were gradually improved at Chatham and elsewhere, particularly following on from the Crimean War.About the AuthorPeter Kendall is a team leader in English Heritage's national planning department, whose responsibilities include the heritage aspects of the Chatham Dockyards.Format: 276mm x 219mmExtent: 192ppIllustrations: 174 illustrationsPublish Date: October 2012ContentsIntroduction1. Early Days 2. On the Defensive3. The First Chatham Lines4. Barracks and Billeting, 175618015. Reinforcing the Chatham Lines6. Napoleonic Wars and the Threat of Invasion7. The New Fortifications8. Firepower and Sieges9. Barracks and Brompton10. After the Napoleonic Wars11. The Crimean War and Reform12. The School of Military Engineering13. Reforming Soldiers Lives14. New Fortifications and World War I15. World War II to the present day16. 21st-Century Royal Engineers and the Royal School of Military Engineer