Page 13 - Last Chargers example

much repeated and painted story began to unravel and I started to question the validity of the accounts and pictures of the events that I had grown up with. As I dug deeper it became apparent that there were notable omissions which were either not available before 1950 or accounts which subverted the story history wanted to tell. For the paintings in particu- lar, there will always be a degree of artistic licence necessary to capture a length of time in a single image but with it comes a risk of more fundamental historical inaccuracy. They are, however, a spur to our interest and I have therefore included a chapter13 that considers the paintings and points out where they have strayed from what I believe to be the truth.
So what had changed since the original sto- ries were told? Firstly, there are no soldiers or of cers left to ask about the actions. Regimental histories, often quoted like unchallenged passages from the Bible, have been shown to be, to some extent, inaccurate and overly reliant on single sources. By apply- ing modern historical techniques, including archaeology and forensics, and then linking them with multiple accounts (including those of the Germans) I have been able to get closer to the ‘truth’ and, in the case of Squadron Sergeant Major Durant about whom I have included an appendix in the chapter on Le Montcel, to secure for him his rightful place in Regimental history.
That said, it has been a challenge to tell these stories by combining the multiple sources and make the ‘best t’ by using unrelated references to check timings and sequencing. This is, how- ever, not an exact science and the story I have told is that which best ts the information at hand. There remains the possibility that a single discarded narrative which does not t and which I have therefore ignored is actually the more accurate version. Furthermore, the multiple moving parts on the battle eld are often simultaneous so dif cult to capture
when writing sequentially. This is in turn compounded as the protagonists’ sense of time seems generally poor while the lack of accurate mapping of the day makes the corroboration of accounts dif cult.
Both Regiments are referred to throughout as simply 9th and 12th Lancers. It was always my aim to write a balanced story from everyone’s perspective, however, and to that end I have also considered the German side. None of the historical accounts told the story from their perspective, and notwithstanding the many personal accounts available, the names of the soldiers who took part (as opposed to the of cers) invariably seemed to be absent. The German cavalry is also more complex than the British as regiments other than those des- ignated ‘lancers’ also carried the lance. The German accounts all agreed, however, that those carrying lances were referred to as Ulans.
The identi cation of the two German Regiments of Dragoons that were involved in the actions was only possible by reading and translating their Regimental histories in which both actions are well recorded. Again, I have included more detail about the German forces and their histories in Chapter 4.The sequence of stories is purely chronological and follows the diary of the Retreat from Mons.
The timing for this publication has been quite deliberate in that, although it was tempt- ing to publish in time for the centenary of the charges in 2014, I did not want to miss material that might come to light during the interest generated by the events. In the event I was proved right with several new insights coming from the commemoration in France by the Regiment (covered by a separate chap- ter). I am sure that further details will come to light as attics are cleared and pictures dusted off but I trust this will prove a worthy memorial to those who charged over one hundred years ago.
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