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Being the first to charge an army or fortress often meant certain death. The small groups of men who took on these dangerous tasks were known as “forlorn hopes.” They formed the spearhead of an army, and charged into a breach first, drew the enemy's fire, or covered their comrades’ retreat. Despite the enormous risk, there were almost always enough volunteers. In this video, we ask why soldiers in the Napoleonic Wars were willing to risk their lives in such suicide missions.
We highly recommend checking out Bernard Cornwell's impeccably researched historical novels about the Napoleonic Wars. His story telling is masterful too, so his books are well worth reading for anybody.
The first book "Sharpe’s Tiger" covers the the Siege of Seringapatam, 1799. Link: https://amzn.to/3WdfWlu
There are 23 more books. In light of this video we especially recommend looking into book 13 "Sharpe’s Company: The Siege of Badajoz, January to April 1812". Link: https://amzn.to/4j6AohD
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00:00 Intro & examples of attacks on breaches
02:53 Saily Esim
03:43 Forlorn hope (the first in the breach)
Bibliography
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Nolan, Cathal J., The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650, An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization, Westport 2006.
Ortenburg, Georg, Waffe und Waffengebrauch im Zeitalter der Landsknechte, Koblenz 1984.
Holmes, Richard, s.v. Forlorn hope, in: Oxford companion to military history online [https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198606963.001.0001/acref-9780198606963-e-443].
Holmes, Richard, Redcoat. The British Soldier in the Age of Horse an Musket, London 2001.
Showalter, D., Astore, W., Soldier's Lives Through History, 2007.
Costello, Brett-James Antony, Edward Costello: The Peninsular and Waterloo Campaigns, London 1967.
Grattan, William, Adventures of the Connaught Rangers: From 1808 to 1814 (vol. 2), London 1847.
Edwards, John, Forlorn hope?, in: Wei, Li et al. (eds.), Opportunities and Challenges of Bilingualism, The Hague 2002, pp. 25-44.
Green, William, Bugler and Officer of the 95th Rifles, York 2005.
Snow, Peter, To War with Wellington. From the Peninsula to Waterloo, London 2010.
Paget, Julian, Wellington's Peninsular War. Battles and Battlefields, Barnsley 32009.
Muir, Rory, Wellington. The Path to Victory 1769-1814, New Haven/London 2013.
Myatt, Frederick, British Sieges of the Peninsular War, Staplehurst 1995.
Waddington, Raymond B., Looking into providences: designs and trials in Paradise Lost, Toronto 2012.