By this time, that sort of pencil had appeared. They know that you can saw graphite, or mix graphite powder with binding clay to be fired. The resulting core can be inserted into a wood holder. They look a lot like modern carpentry pencils.
I totally agree haha. However, 'do or do not'. Sharpe acts as a teacher, yes; it's the 'pompous foppish bruffle-brain bastard' of a Prince of Orange that is the incompetent student here.
Great tv series and great books series. I read that Bernard Cornwell was so impressed with Sean Bean's portrayal of Sharpe, that in books that came out after the original series he stopped mentioning Sharpe having black hair.
@@kevintemple9890 true, but the point is also to not lose, and you do that by not needlessly killing your own men. No one wins if the enemy gave up because he got bored of killing your soldiers.
That is why the British Army was reformed after World War II. The British Army and the French Army were out of date. Expressed in a simple way. Any capable soldier in the Wehrmacht could become an officer. In the French or British army, only officers could become those who A came from a noble family or B had enough money to buy an officer license.
@@ad220588 That's actually not true in the slightest In fact that reform for the British Army came a century or so earlier, via reviews & Army reform following the crimean war, though I cannot speak for the French The difference was it took 100yrs for meritocracy to finaly fade out the aging military families, as the Young heroes of Crimea were the generals of WW1, & their sons or subordinates the generals of the 2nd
Both the writing and performance are so good at making the Prince utterly hateable. Makes me feel pretty bad to know that he wasn't like this in real life.
Truth is, who knows what he was really like. Apparently he was very brave and a capable leader. But Waterloo was an enormous battle and a close run thing. I imagine it wouldn't be very diplomatic to criticise an allied commander and the future monarch of that nation once the battle was won.
It wasn't Wellington's decision. The Prince personally requested Sharpe, promising him an active Lieutenant-colonel commission in the Dutch Army. Sharpe accepted because it paid more than the inactive Major commission he already held in the British army. Which means Sharpe is technically a Dutch soldier during this episode. Also the British army hadn't recalled him to active service - that probably wasn't Wellington's decision either. Wellington was too high-ranked to be involved in decisions like that. The South Essex already had a new Lieutenant-colonel and a new Major, which made Sharpe redundant. Sharpe's status as a battalion commander was only temporary to begin with, since Majors aren't meant to be commanding battalions unless the Lieutenant-colonel and Colonel are either dead or absent. That was another reason to take the offer. Sharpe thought he would be serving as a staff officer and an advisor, but instead what the Prince really wanted was to have a British war hero wear a dutch uniform and serve as his personal yes-man. That isn't what he got, which is why he gets so angry whenever Sharpe questions or criticizes him, and why Sharpe stops respecting him as soon as it becomes clear what is happening. Hope that clears things up.
Next scene's got to be my second favourite scene (first being hakeswill getting kneed below the belt Prompting Harper to say "yer supposed to stand still when an officer speaks to ya,ye should know that!"
Thing is, in close formation like this, cannons would be aimed so that the ball would bounce across the ground just like a flat stone on a pond, not so it landed “flat” in the middle of a group.The bouncing ball would take out soldiers from front to back killing, maiming and wounding them on its way through the lines
@@Thickcurves I assume it’s much easier to film and actors / extras can just jump then fall to the ground when they hear the explosion. It would be much harder to shoot a canon ball sized object bouncing off the ground sheering off three different soldiers legs then having it ricochet off another soldier’s head and finally plummets into a horse. But I’m sure it might be the cool factor as you’ve said. Sorta like how movies show shotguns blasting people 10 feet back when shot.
@@alanfox691 why do you think we gemrans ban all our industry? so it gets moved to china and causes even more global warming. any day now you'll pesky orange neighbours will get flooded....aaaaany day now :) (tradition demands we keep this rivalry up. in truth is, we love you guys...unless football is on.)
Dude do you even realise that this show is over 20 years old, considering the time and the fact that this was a tv show, they did a pretty good job, only movies could do better and there is no way they could get a budget that was bigger, it's not like today
@@Lightingwarrior still doesnt change the fact that people wished this show would have had big budget because they made a good show are you brain dead?
@@SobaYatai Your asking me if I am brain dead? Maybe you should look in the mirror because I am not the one who wants cinema movie level quality from a tv show that was in the mid to late 90's, it would never happen, no tv company at that time could afford that no matter how much you wish for it
@@Lightingwarrior do you realise and get the point that its a *well made* TV show that deserved more budget imagine how much they could do with those moneys and give us another level of quaility
In the first episode when they fish the body out of water, one of the men is carrying a pattern 1796 heavy cavalry saber just like Sharpe. There are quite a few Easter eggs like that.
118.000 soldiers on Wellington's army reenacted by 20 guys in costume. Somehow this worked way better in the Spanish mountains where large numbers were easier to convey by spreading men out on a hill or making them march across the ridge. But having them grouped on a flat Belgian hill just doesn't have the same visual effect.
@I_Commission_DSPriscilla_Art You instantly reported my comments 😂 Something a weird hentai “artist” would do for sure 😂 Talking mighty tough but you wouldn’t in person because you’re a clown, kid.
Its stupid, sharpe depicts him in a very unfair light. He wasn't as much an arrogant buffoon as he was inexperienced. He has heen recorded as a brave and conscientious commander
Truth be said there were many more men in that batalion (on screen budget limit) and artilery was nowhere near this precise at that time ... Rest is explained by highly distiguished officer in the clip. For full context better watch the full episode.
Square formation isn't that compact but they didn't have the extras needed to fill out a full square. The formation is more like a squarish rectangle. Also, cannon rounds didn't explode back then. They were solid shot and would pass through several men at a time like a giant bullet. In a line formation you're several lines deep so one shot especially at an angle would take out several men where as in a square formation the cannon would only be able to hit the front line and either the rear line or one of the sides. So you might lose 2 men instead of 10 assuming a perfect shot. Bouncing a round off of the ground was common if the trajectories were not right and might take out a single person in a square. Sharpe is correct. In a line formation you can't protect your flanks or rear. Calvary who charge from the side will cut down the sides and roll up the line. Causing mass disarray. You have to break formation to attack or form a defensive line in the rear which is hard enough to do without being shot at. A square has men point outwards in all directions so the cavalry is at risk of being cut down themselves from musket fire nor can they attack the massed bayonets facing outward. However, a square formation can't put out the amount of firepower that a line can. The lines are AT LEAST 4 ranks deep allowing you to fire, swap them to the back to reload, bring up the next line, and repeat. That throws out a lot of lead and anyone facing that line needs to have a LOT of men in their own formation to face it down. Yet another reason why seasoned veterans were so important.
I didn't even see that the first time around. Or rather, all the times I've watched this. This show has so many goddamn amazing tiny details in every episode, it's amazing. They make up for budget issues through sheer bloody-minded professionalism and quality.
Imagine Sharpe getting hammered on the coast because of the Prince of Orange's incompetent orders. Just when it looks utterly hopeless Hornblower let's forth a volley of cannon fire and orders his men to storm the beach. After the battle Orange tries to relieve Sharpe of his command but finds himself taken into custody by Viscount Pellow. That would be a very powerful and emotive scene.
Being first but still saying something with substance Now that's commenting! You have successfully led the Forlorn Hope into the comments. I'm giving you a field commission. Congratulations Ensign Panthersgb!
@@loyalpiper It debatable, some say the real life Prince of Orange was inexperience, incompetent, desperate to save face, and grossly-inflated his own military abilities as the man who defeated Napoleon, resulting in loses being higher than needed. Others say he was just reckless and simply inexperience in military affairs.
I remember reading in the book that it's nearly impossible for cavalry to break a square. Then someone charges at the square, the lead horses are shot, and momentum carries the dying, falling horses into the square, breaking it.
It's a question of numbers and willpower. Same as any military engagement with optimized tactics and ground for the weapons available. With enough shots, those lead horses never reach the square. The defender is favored, but if they break or they don't have enough numbers, the attacker will win out even if they take more casualties. This is why reserves and counter-attackers are so important: with no way to know where the enemy's numbers are or if your men's willpower will hold, you cannot reliably defend in just a fixed position. You need to pressure to keep the area of engagement uncertain and become the attacker if one layer of defense breaks. Hence why the crux of the dilemma is the lack of English cavalry, a unit capable of acting as a competent reserve, counterattacker, harrier...the idea of removing them from your force is ludicrous. Even Napoleon could not rely only on The Old Guard and his artillery. I know this is more than you wanted to hear, but I thought I'd add my thoughts. Cheers.
Er, no. Horses won't charge into a square because it's basically a wall of spears. Even then, the square is full of soldiers with loaded guns that will shoot the front horses and cause the rest of the charge to trip over them. Cavalry would never charge into squares.
Yes, they had little budget to hire people to act as soldiers and fill up the scene. They spent the budget on the uniforms. And I personally appreciate that.
The Spanish employed tercios to great effect starting in the late 1500's. Later the Swiss often used square or rectangular formations of pike and gunpowder infantry. In the Napoleonic wars weaponry had started to evolve to a point where the military doctrine and desirability of square formations were being challenged. But in this battle and in similar cases, breaking formation and routing is undesirable against a cavalry heavy opponent.
"In the Napoleonic wars weaponry had started to evolve to a point where the military doctrine and desirability of square formations were being challenged." It was kinda the other way around. In XVIIIth century all modern armies adapted linear tactics, with line infantry shooting at their enemy until they softened enough to rout them with a bayonet charge. French revolutionary army couldn't really perform this tactic at the high level, cause they needed a very large army (levee en masse) to fight european monarchies, therefore most soldiers were inexperienced new recruits and couldn't shoot well, but they were fiercely patriotic and passionately believed in their cause, so instead revolutionary generals employed ferocious bayonet charges performed by massed blocks of infantry that provided France with many victories. Napoleon refined this tactic into the "mixed order" of battle, meaning the combination of line and column formations.
The Prince of Orange's courage and good nature made him very popular with the British, who nicknamed him "Slender Billy". The British army lieutenant and military historian William Siborne blamed many casualties during the Waterloo Campaign on William's inexperience, incompetence, desperation to save face, and grossly-inflated opinion of his own military abilities. In response, Siborne was accused by Lieutenant-General Willem Jan Knoop of many inaccuracies and contradictions. An inspection of the archives of Siborne by General Francois de Bas in 1897 confirmed the selective use of sources and "numerous miscounts and untruths".
The Prince does actually have a point. Keeping in square formation under artillery fire is murderous; doubling or tripling the effect of each ball into the close packed solders. The textbook thing to do would probably be to form line and repose (curve back at 90 deg angles) the ends of the line.
It beats the battalion routing and being slaughtered by cavalry. They wouldn't need to be in square if they had cavalry support which the prince sent away
This is not the first clip that I've seen with the Prince of Orange. This is the first clip that I realized he's played by a fairly young Paul Bettany.
Its completely untrue the depiction of the Prince of Orange in this film. In reality he was a brave and competent field commander who proved to be inspirational to his soldiers repeatedly rallying them and leading them back into the fight.
The town where I live was named by the early Australian explorer Major Sir Thomas Mitchell after the Prince of Orange with whom he served during the Peninsular War.
That's highly debatable. Reports from German troops he commanded said he ordered them to do this exact thing, resulting in their destruction. Wellington thought he had potential, but a lot of the myth of his competence comes from Dutch and Belgian historians unhappy with how the British had downplayed the competence and contribution of their troops, which is fair enough...but their reports largely swing too far in the other direction. The problem with history is that you can find any source to support your viewpoint and simply choose to believe it. It's highly likely that Orange made the mistakes he is blamed for, mistakes lots of experienced generals and marshals have made, but if Wellington thought he had potential, he likely wasnt as bad as this in real life. But he probably had a lot to learn.
@@AtheAetheling German troops? I'm open to new information, but what I heard was that 30k English, 30k Belgian and 30k Dutch troops fought 125k French troops, with 100k Prussians marching towards the battlefield. Of course among these troops mercenaries from Hanover or Saxony could have been present, or you could be talking about a different battle, so could you fill in the gaps in my knowledge?
@@sjonnieplayfull5859 There were also Hessian and Hanoverian troops among Wellington's forces, which were German principalities under the British crown a the time
Those 1600's - 1800's wars were some seriously horrific stuff. Humans had graduated to guns and artillery but hadn't graduated away from lining up on open fields with no cover for battle. I can understand the commanders apprehension just letting them stand there getting shot. But what a nightmare if the fact that if they lined up and spread out to fight then it would be even worse.
@Rizal Disraeli Ramos - Agreed. Serious nightmare fuel there. It wouldn't even feel like I was 'dying fighting" if I got shot just while standing still or walking forward in an open field.
They had guns in that era, but very innaccurate - so needed dense formations to put out a dense amount of firepower so it was more likely to hit. The dense formations also helped deter cavalry, as horses wouldn't charge home against a wall of bayonets (which replaced the initial mixed pike/musket blocks). Spreading the troops out protected them from being shot, but left them vulnerable to being ridden down by cavaly without the formation or density of firepower to protect themselves. Skirmish lines were used by light troops, but only in the right terrain or if they had supporting troops nearby to protect them. They had enough firepower to pester large blocks of troops, but not really enough damage to stop them entirely.
That's the crux of the matter. The Prince doesn't believe the cavalry (which he cannot physically see) are a threat, while the guns (who's effects he CAN see) are a threat. As such, he's reacting to the threat he see's and ignoring the one he doesn't see but his subordinates do.
MirFiddleedee then you must be new to sharpe. cuz everyone who has been following this channel for more than a few months is goddamned sick of the soldiering comments. they stopped being funny a long time ago.
Any streaming app should have it. And, yes, it is fantastic! I've just spent a couple of days off work and watched them all again, from Sharpe's Rifles to Sharpe's Waterloo. Sean Bean was born to play Sharpe. Edited to say that the complete episodes are all on TH-cam as well.
I always felt bad for the Prince if Orange. His reputation was sorely ruined because he was the highest rank to die, on the field where the most losses took place. He attended Eaton and had military tutors from the age of 12. Wellington wrote one damning letter and he's been known as the idiot of Waterloo ever since. But Wellington wrote alot of damning letters, even one about his "adulterous rougue" Lt. General who was second in command. And that man was a genuine war hero who had a single tussle with Wellesleys cousin. He was a gossip hound. In short- the Prince of Orange was a hero who fell at Waterloo in real life.
Highest rank to die? The Prince of Orange wasn't killed at Waterloo. He was wounded in the shoulder and had to retire from the field, but he wasn't killed. He died at age 56 in 1849.
Prince of Orange was seen by the British army as a courageous and very likable and good person. The depiction in this serie is not accurate. It’s what they call artistic freedom these days.
Its completely untrue the depiction of the Prince of Orange in this film. In reality he was a brave and competent field commander who proved to be inspirational to his soldiers repeatedly rallying them and leading them back into the fight. He also had an excellent staff most who had served Napoleon. Wellington had much to be thankful for this with regard to the Prince and his Army.
In defense of the Prince, he _is_ correct that no target is to a gunner sweeter than a tightly packed square. Frenchies could have simply not had cavalry, and pounded the squares to smears.
@stop with the porn and gaming and start training French artillery setting up in the open, without any infantry support nearby? Unlikely. The presence of artillery is usually the indication that a larger force has arrived, instead of just raiders/ scouts. In Sharpe's defence: most of the time commanders would loose their patience and charge while enemy squares were still intact, and have their cavalry be shredded, their infantry mauled. In the games we play, we just use all our artillery ammo before we charge the remains, but these men were always short on time. Defeat these guys fast, before more show up and defeat you. The top-down view was not used often in those days, most preferred the first person view.
Pity the Prince didn't learn by Quatre Bras, he lost the 69th South Licolnshire's Colors because of this Prince of Orange countermanding Picton's orders...
Normally I'd criticize Sharpe for not just having his men spread and dig in to wait out the bombardment rather than bunching up in making themselves easier targets for artillery fire. But then I realized line-based wars didn't believe in such tactics. Nor were soldiers ever provided with shovels for such things....
Trenches were dug at times. But that required time to prepare proper defenses for an attack you know will be launched in a number of hours or the following day. The incident here was a hastily scrambled and desperate rearguard to buy time for the main army to move out. In any case, as Sharpe is trying to explain, there is cavalry in the low 'dead' ground, just outside visual range (which is why the incompetent senior officer is claiming they're illusory) and any unit in line, or worse spread out digging, would have been cut down to the last man. Staying in square was the lesser of two evils. Artillery would whittle the force down slowly but may give enough time to withdraw or receive support to cover a retreat.
There was trench warfare at that time. Battle of Poltava and Borodino are the most famous example (funny how both involve Russians). The problem is that trenches need to be made before the battle, otherwise it will be a very easy target for cavalry.
This is like a fresh officer coming in and ignoring the advice of his multi tour sgt.Why bring in the battle worn expert if you're going to ignore them.
Its a good job Sharpe remembered his Ikea pencil, else he wouldn't have been able to do a little sketch for the Prince.
By this time, that sort of pencil had appeared. They know that you can saw graphite, or mix graphite powder with binding clay to be fired. The resulting core can be inserted into a wood holder. They look a lot like modern carpentry pencils.
@Angry Dimsum I did too for a second.
With Mr. Orange there, he needs one
Tactics are pretty straight forward with Ikea though....follow the one way system.
Aaa yes the IKEA pencil, still in use by many in the modern Swedish defense force.......
I'm not even kidding, it's true!
The title is midleading. It should read “Sharpe TRIES to Teach Battle Techniques to The Prince of Orange”.
fucking clickbait
I totally agree haha. However, 'do or do not'. Sharpe acts as a teacher, yes; it's the 'pompous foppish bruffle-brain bastard' of a Prince of Orange that is the incompetent student here.
@@Vikingr4Jesus5919 What happens when spoiled brats with no real understanding of warfare are sent to lead.
Hah! Try as he might.
Lol
Great tv series and great books series.
I read that Bernard Cornwell was so impressed with Sean Bean's portrayal of Sharpe, that in books that came out after the original series he stopped mentioning Sharpe having black hair.
Not sure about the hair, but I've also heard he retconned Sharpe's background to include a stint in Yorkshire.
@@VideoMask93 He did.
Denying your commander's order because you know that would kill your men?
Now that's soldiering
@Reee Monro isn't the idea to kill the enemy's men, not your own?
Rollo Chairbreaker the idea is to win. You win by killing your enemy or forcing him to quit. Lot’s of ways to do it.
@@kevintemple9890 true, but the point is also to not lose, and you do that by not needlessly killing your own men. No one wins if the enemy gave up because he got bored of killing your soldiers.
That is why the British Army was reformed after World War II. The British Army and the French Army were out of date. Expressed in a simple way. Any capable soldier in the Wehrmacht could become an officer. In the French or British army, only officers could become those who A came from a noble family or B had enough money to buy an officer license.
@@ad220588 That's actually not true in the slightest
In fact that reform for the British Army came a century or so earlier, via reviews & Army reform following the crimean war, though I cannot speak for the French
The difference was it took 100yrs for meritocracy to finaly fade out the aging military families, as the Young heroes of Crimea were the generals of WW1, & their sons or subordinates the generals of the 2nd
Both the writing and performance are so good at making the Prince utterly hateable. Makes me feel pretty bad to know that he wasn't like this in real life.
Truth is, who knows what he was really like. Apparently he was very brave and a capable leader. But Waterloo was an enormous battle and a close run thing. I imagine it wouldn't be very diplomatic to criticise an allied commander and the future monarch of that nation once the battle was won.
@tarasrakya8414 he did make some costly mistakes especially resulting in 2 kgl battalions being ridden down by cruassiers outside la haye Sainte.
Seeing a pre-clip ad about soldering and reading it as "soldiering" - now that's sharp!
Sharpering*
@@backalleycqc4790 *Sharpening
reading a comment about a pre-clip ad about soldering, while reading it as soldiering - and claiming it's sharp - that's confusing.
I see what you did there, you sharpe little thing 😉
We're getting closer and closer to Sharpe roasting him
Fragging him.
I wanna say spoilers
The credit for the best roast doesn't go to sharpe in this one, but one of the other officers.
@@cudwieser3952 Doggett :D
The fragging fails, because irl the Prince of Orange was wounded at Waterloo, which means Sharpe did not succeed.
Don’t think it was Wellington’s best decision to take his most effective soldier out of battalion command and put him in a advisory role to a child.
It wasn't Wellington's decision. The Prince personally requested Sharpe, promising him an active Lieutenant-colonel commission in the Dutch Army. Sharpe accepted because it paid more than the inactive Major commission he already held in the British army. Which means Sharpe is technically a Dutch soldier during this episode.
Also the British army hadn't recalled him to active service - that probably wasn't Wellington's decision either. Wellington was too high-ranked to be involved in decisions like that. The South Essex already had a new Lieutenant-colonel and a new Major, which made Sharpe redundant. Sharpe's status as a battalion commander was only temporary to begin with, since Majors aren't meant to be commanding battalions unless the Lieutenant-colonel and Colonel are either dead or absent. That was another reason to take the offer.
Sharpe thought he would be serving as a staff officer and an advisor, but instead what the Prince really wanted was to have a British war hero wear a dutch uniform and serve as his personal yes-man. That isn't what he got, which is why he gets so angry whenever Sharpe questions or criticizes him, and why Sharpe stops respecting him as soon as it becomes clear what is happening.
Hope that clears things up.
stops thec= child running rampant
Theo is when you use drops pods to land behind the cannons and wipe them out
Achievement Earned:
*Illusary-ILLUSARY*
IllusOry, though...
Next scene's got to be my second favourite scene (first being hakeswill getting kneed below the belt Prompting Harper to say "yer supposed to stand still when an officer speaks to ya,ye should know that!"
Good Lord, Paul Bettany looks like he's fresh out of grade school! :)
Thing is, in close formation like this, cannons would be aimed so that the ball would bounce across the ground just like a flat stone on a pond, not so it landed “flat” in the middle of a group.The bouncing ball would take out soldiers from front to back killing, maiming and wounding them on its way through the lines
yeah the exploding canon ball wasn't really a thing, but tv shows and movies use them for the "cool factor" I guess?
@@Thickcurves the rule of cool
@@Thickcurves I assume it’s much easier to film and actors / extras can just jump then fall to the ground when they hear the explosion. It would be much harder to shoot a canon ball sized object bouncing off the ground sheering off three different soldiers legs then having it ricochet off another soldier’s head and finally plummets into a horse.
But I’m sure it might be the cool factor as you’ve said. Sorta like how movies show shotguns blasting people 10 feet back when shot.
They're using shells rather than solid cannonballs
@@Thickcurves Cool factor maybe - but honestly, it would look not only not cool - it would look more fake than the fake explosions...
I'm getting the impression that Sharpe does not like Orange?
Makes sense I suppose, he does work for O2
Not doing a very good job is he now old chap as we are still around.
Dude, nice 👏👏👏
@@alanfox691 why do you think we gemrans ban all our industry? so it gets moved to china and causes even more global warming. any day now you'll pesky orange neighbours will get flooded....aaaaany day now :) (tradition demands we keep this rivalry up. in truth is, we love you guys...unless football is on.)
@@thecursed01 Love you too!
Really wish they would have gotten propper budget
Dude do you even realise that this show is over 20 years old, considering the time and the fact that this was a tv show, they did a pretty good job, only movies could do better and there is no way they could get a budget that was bigger, it's not like today
@@Carl-hs420a Do without, sir!
@@Lightingwarrior still doesnt change the fact that people wished this show would have had big budget because they made a good show are you brain dead?
@@SobaYatai Your asking me if I am brain dead? Maybe you should look in the mirror because I am not the one who wants cinema movie level quality from a tv show that was in the mid to late 90's, it would never happen, no tv company at that time could afford that no matter how much you wish for it
@@Lightingwarrior do you realise and get the point that its a *well made* TV show that deserved more budget imagine how much they could do with those moneys and give us another level of quaility
I just started watching the Frankenstein Chronicles. Sean Beans character in that, is both a veteran of waterloo and of the 95 rifles.
In the first episode when they fish the body out of water, one of the men is carrying a pattern 1796 heavy cavalry saber just like Sharpe. There are quite a few Easter eggs like that.
118.000 soldiers on Wellington's army reenacted by 20 guys in costume. Somehow this worked way better in the Spanish mountains where large numbers were easier to convey by spreading men out on a hill or making them march across the ridge. But having them grouped on a flat Belgian hill just doesn't have the same visual effect.
Ha ha ha low budget film let’s dog on it ha ha ha
All for likes too
@I_Commission_DSPriscilla_Art Didn’t realize the date of a comment changed its subject 🙄
@I_Commission_DSPriscilla_Art You instantly reported my comments 😂 Something a weird hentai “artist” would do for sure 😂 Talking mighty tough but you wouldn’t in person because you’re a clown, kid.
@I_Commission_DSPriscilla_Art Now sit down and shut up
The Prince of Orange had no Vision
🤣🤣🤣 Very good!!!
Its stupid, sharpe depicts him in a very unfair light. He wasn't as much an arrogant buffoon as he was inexperienced. He has heen recorded as a brave and conscientious commander
@@duncandl910 You realise this is a universe where Sharpe exists? Stuff is different.
He is gangster no.1 though...
Touché
"That order will kill them all"
I'm surprised they aren't dead yet
Truth be said there were many more men in that batalion (on screen budget limit) and artilery was nowhere near this precise at that time ... Rest is explained by highly distiguished officer in the clip. For full context better watch the full episode.
Square formation isn't that compact but they didn't have the extras needed to fill out a full square. The formation is more like a squarish rectangle. Also, cannon rounds didn't explode back then. They were solid shot and would pass through several men at a time like a giant bullet. In a line formation you're several lines deep so one shot especially at an angle would take out several men where as in a square formation the cannon would only be able to hit the front line and either the rear line or one of the sides. So you might lose 2 men instead of 10 assuming a perfect shot. Bouncing a round off of the ground was common if the trajectories were not right and might take out a single person in a square.
Sharpe is correct. In a line formation you can't protect your flanks or rear. Calvary who charge from the side will cut down the sides and roll up the line. Causing mass disarray. You have to break formation to attack or form a defensive line in the rear which is hard enough to do without being shot at. A square has men point outwards in all directions so the cavalry is at risk of being cut down themselves from musket fire nor can they attack the massed bayonets facing outward. However, a square formation can't put out the amount of firepower that a line can. The lines are AT LEAST 4 ranks deep allowing you to fire, swap them to the back to reload, bring up the next line, and repeat. That throws out a lot of lead and anyone facing that line needs to have a LOT of men in their own formation to face it down. Yet another reason why seasoned veterans were so important.
@@brainplay8060 so it seems someone's taking this a bit too seriously
Australian Word it seems like someone knows what they hell they are talking about
brainpla
why dont the french just spam click through the square like in napoleon total war 3
3? Hold up 3 If it 3 then 3x3= 9 divide it by 3 to get 3 and oh my god Napoleon total war 3.
hated that game. I could break the square every damn time.
@@tvnetworks6610 Napoleonic Total War 3 is a mod for Napoleon Total War.
@@trumpetedeagle2 Not knowing the best and most realistic mod for Napoleon Total War and making a fool of himself?
Now, that's noobing!
Spam clicking through square to rout the horse art. Now thats soldiering!
In reality the prince was actually very well respected by others and he was a very loyal and brave commander
2:47 that wink thou
Lol! You defo know somethings going to happen behind ol Princey's back.
I didn't even see that the first time around. Or rather, all the times I've watched this. This show has so many goddamn amazing tiny details in every episode, it's amazing. They make up for budget issues through sheer bloody-minded professionalism and quality.
It’s the same when Sharpe says no to the prince of orange rubeck starts to smile a little.
9
That Prince couldn't anticipate an adversarial cavalry charge, he had precious little vision.
I am pretty sure, that the Princes Vision was pretty good.
"A bad officer is better off dead"
True dat.
Imagine Sharpe getting hammered on the coast because of the Prince of Orange's incompetent orders. Just when it looks utterly hopeless Hornblower let's forth a volley of cannon fire and orders his men to storm the beach. After the battle Orange tries to relieve Sharpe of his command but finds himself taken into custody by Viscount Pellow.
That would be a very powerful and emotive scene.
Joking aside, I always wondered what a Sharpe-Hornblower crossover would be like.
@@ESFAndy011 the Lobsters episode seemed the closest.
Rebeque's face during this is priceless
FINALLY THIS MAN LEARNS A LESSON FROM SEAN BEAN. First to.
He learns the ultimate Sean Bean lesson by the end.
I mean he really doesn't in this clip. He still sends the order, the men still die, and Sharpe is sent away in shame.
Being first but still saying something with substance
Now that's commenting!
You have successfully led the Forlorn Hope into the comments. I'm giving you a field commission. Congratulations Ensign Panthersgb!
@@bdubbs tru
If I remember correctly, when the commander of the formation reads the orders his face goes pale and he says something like “Dear God!”
Teaching an inexperienced soldier battle tactics? That's tutoring.
Teaching a pompous twat some common sense. That's Sharpe.
@@cudwieser3952 The word is TRYING, The Prince has shit for Brains
@@Lightingwarrior not IRL though
@@loyalpiper It debatable, some say the real life Prince of Orange was inexperience, incompetent, desperate to save face, and grossly-inflated his own military abilities as the man who defeated Napoleon, resulting in loses being higher than needed. Others say he was just reckless and simply inexperience in military affairs.
I remember reading in the book that it's nearly impossible for cavalry to break a square. Then someone charges at the square, the lead horses are shot, and momentum carries the dying, falling horses into the square, breaking it.
It's a question of numbers and willpower. Same as any military engagement with optimized tactics and ground for the weapons available. With enough shots, those lead horses never reach the square.
The defender is favored, but if they break or they don't have enough numbers, the attacker will win out even if they take more casualties. This is why reserves and counter-attackers are so important: with no way to know where the enemy's numbers are or if your men's willpower will hold, you cannot reliably defend in just a fixed position. You need to pressure to keep the area of engagement uncertain and become the attacker if one layer of defense breaks. Hence why the crux of the dilemma is the lack of English cavalry, a unit capable of acting as a competent reserve, counterattacker, harrier...the idea of removing them from your force is ludicrous. Even Napoleon could not rely only on The Old Guard and his artillery.
I know this is more than you wanted to hear, but I thought I'd add my thoughts. Cheers.
There is a a reason the phalanx has existed in many forms for thousands of years. It works.
Er, no. Horses won't charge into a square because it's basically a wall of spears. Even then, the square is full of soldiers with loaded guns that will shoot the front horses and cause the rest of the charge to trip over them. Cavalry would never charge into squares.
Sharpe is still around. I saw him in nursing home near my place. His platoon of 180 years old soldiers attacked nearby Walmart. It was on local news.
I just now noticed the sly wink Rebecq give Sharpe, like "No worries, mate, you're better off out of it."
Isn't it that surgeon from Master and commander
Yes Paul Bettany now most famous for the Marvel films.
And Chaucer from A Knight's Tale.
@@R2007-o1j 0:44 Plays the Prince of Orange
yes and the man of one top ww girls
@@alittlebitofhistory Religious fanatic in The DaVinci Code.
A teacher may teach, but the student must also wish to learn!
There's a good bit later on in the episode where Doggett loses patience with The Prince of Orange and comes out with some juicy Regency swear words.
Silk stocking full of shit
God I love this show as a kid
What did he use to draw on the map with? Was it a SHARPEy? ;)
QUALITY IS GREAT
Dipping a thin strip of hot buttered toast into a soft boiled runny egg, that's soldiering.
Yes, they had little budget to hire people to act as soldiers and fill up the scene. They spent the budget on the uniforms. And I personally appreciate that.
The Spanish employed tercios to great effect starting in the late 1500's. Later the Swiss often used square or rectangular formations of pike and gunpowder infantry.
In the Napoleonic wars weaponry had started to evolve to a point where the military doctrine and desirability of square formations were being challenged. But in this battle and in similar cases, breaking formation and routing is undesirable against a cavalry heavy opponent.
"In the Napoleonic wars weaponry had started to evolve to a point where the military doctrine and desirability of square formations were being challenged." It was kinda the other way around. In XVIIIth century all modern armies adapted linear tactics, with line infantry shooting at their enemy until they softened enough to rout them with a bayonet charge. French revolutionary army couldn't really perform this tactic at the high level, cause they needed a very large army (levee en masse) to fight european monarchies, therefore most soldiers were inexperienced new recruits and couldn't shoot well, but they were fiercely patriotic and passionately believed in their cause, so instead revolutionary generals employed ferocious bayonet charges performed by massed blocks of infantry that provided France with many victories. Napoleon refined this tactic into the "mixed order" of battle, meaning the combination of line and column formations.
The Prince of Orange's courage and good nature made him very popular with the British, who nicknamed him "Slender Billy".
The British army lieutenant and military historian William Siborne blamed many casualties during the Waterloo Campaign on William's inexperience, incompetence, desperation to save face, and grossly-inflated opinion of his own military abilities. In response, Siborne was accused by Lieutenant-General Willem Jan Knoop of many inaccuracies and contradictions. An inspection of the archives of Siborne by General Francois de Bas in 1897 confirmed the selective use of sources and "numerous miscounts and untruths".
Wow, surprising to see Paul Bettany in his younger days...
Whoa
He’s good in everything I’ve seen him in and I hate almost everything.
The Prince does actually have a point. Keeping in square formation under artillery fire is murderous; doubling or tripling the effect of each ball into the close packed solders.
The textbook thing to do would probably be to form line and repose (curve back at 90 deg angles) the ends of the line.
The reason Sharpe had them in square was not because of the cannons but the cavalry the prince claimed wasn't there
It beats the battalion routing and being slaughtered by cavalry. They wouldn't need to be in square if they had cavalry support which the prince sent away
They're There !!
Telling Vision you won't take his orders. That's soldiering!
the vision as orange lol cool
This is not the first clip that I've seen with the Prince of Orange. This is the first clip that I realized he's played by a fairly young Paul Bettany.
The author and showmakers really hated the Prince of Orange. Whilst inexperienced, he was a well liked commander, a fairly decent man all round.
Its completely untrue the depiction of the Prince of Orange in this film. In reality he was a brave and competent field commander who proved to be inspirational to his soldiers repeatedly rallying them and leading them back into the fight.
The town where I live was named by the early Australian explorer Major Sir Thomas Mitchell after the Prince of Orange with whom he served during the Peninsular War.
Prince of Orange was competent in real life
That's highly debatable. Reports from German troops he commanded said he ordered them to do this exact thing, resulting in their destruction.
Wellington thought he had potential, but a lot of the myth of his competence comes from Dutch and Belgian historians unhappy with how the British had downplayed the competence and contribution of their troops, which is fair enough...but their reports largely swing too far in the other direction. The problem with history is that you can find any source to support your viewpoint and simply choose to believe it.
It's highly likely that Orange made the mistakes he is blamed for, mistakes lots of experienced generals and marshals have made, but if Wellington thought he had potential, he likely wasnt as bad as this in real life. But he probably had a lot to learn.
@@AtheAetheling German troops? I'm open to new information, but what I heard was that 30k English, 30k Belgian and 30k Dutch troops fought 125k French troops, with 100k Prussians marching towards the battlefield. Of course among these troops mercenaries from Hanover or Saxony could have been present, or you could be talking about a different battle, so could you fill in the gaps in my knowledge?
@@sjonnieplayfull5859 There were also Hessian and Hanoverian troops among Wellington's forces, which were German principalities under the British crown a the time
Whenever I see a thumbnail with Sean Bean I click ▶️
Doggett contemplates, lose my commission or carry out an order that may lose more lives.
Even Doggett gives the Prince a bollocking by the end of the episode.
0:21 Harper (glumly ruminating to himself) as thinks about the Prince of Orange "I'll see you, Sir! at Rossnowlagh on the 12th of July"
Those 1600's - 1800's wars were some seriously horrific stuff. Humans had graduated to guns and artillery but hadn't graduated away from lining up on open fields with no cover for battle. I can understand the commanders apprehension just letting them stand there getting shot. But what a nightmare if the fact that if they lined up and spread out to fight then it would be even worse.
@Rizal Disraeli Ramos - Agreed. Serious nightmare fuel there. It wouldn't even feel like I was 'dying fighting" if I got shot just while standing still or walking forward in an open field.
They had guns in that era, but very innaccurate - so needed dense formations to put out a dense amount of firepower so it was more likely to hit. The dense formations also helped deter cavalry, as horses wouldn't charge home against a wall of bayonets (which replaced the initial mixed pike/musket blocks). Spreading the troops out protected them from being shot, but left them vulnerable to being ridden down by cavaly without the formation or density of firepower to protect themselves.
Skirmish lines were used by light troops, but only in the right terrain or if they had supporting troops nearby to protect them. They had enough firepower to pester large blocks of troops, but not really enough damage to stop them entirely.
19th Century Ted Talks by Richard Sharpe ..... Now that should have been enough Soldiering for Silly Billy
"You always form square to meet cavalry" - Prince of Orange
Also, it's hip to be square
Just the face palm alone.
"They are not there to form tempting targets for French gunners!"
Would you rather they form tempting targets for French cav?
I think that's the point Sharpe was trying to make. An obvious trap for Cavlary charges.
That's the crux of the matter. The Prince doesn't believe the cavalry (which he cannot physically see) are a threat, while the guns (who's effects he CAN see) are a threat. As such, he's reacting to the threat he see's and ignoring the one he doesn't see but his subordinates do.
I know it isn’t him but something about the princes voice reminds me of several of Hugh Laurie’s characters
And so I advanced on the enemy Calvary in lines that’s just my style
Who knew that the Prince of Orange would one day Play the voice of Jervais in Marvel and the play Vision in Avengers.
Holy crap! I just realized it. Seems like this show is just loaded with well known future actors. 🤣
disappointed by the lack of "*now that's soldiering*" comments
Learning to live with disappointment? That's soldiering.
MirFiddleedee then you must be new to sharpe. cuz everyone who has been following this channel for more than a few months is goddamned sick of the soldiering comments.
they stopped being funny a long time ago.
@@geekdiggyallo' gatekeeper, hows the weather outside the guardbox?
I'd have thought that Vision would be of a more expansive tactical understanding
Boy what a thumbnail.
Artillery will do it every time.
Did my man just pull out a joint? haha
I ordered them to form line, sir, thats my style
Paul Bettany as the Prince of Orange
He was also Chaucer in
A Knight's Tale
Damnit i knew he looked familiar!
Ist das etwa ein Ikea Bleistift 😁
Anyone know where you can watch this show online? It looks fantastic.
Any streaming app should have it. And, yes, it is fantastic! I've just spent a couple of days off work and watched them all again, from Sharpe's Rifles to Sharpe's Waterloo. Sean Bean was born to play Sharpe. Edited to say that the complete episodes are all on TH-cam as well.
The title should read “The writer totally distorts history because he despised the Dutch”.
Showing up your commander in tactical warfare on the field of battle. That's a soldering.
illusory, ILLUSORY cavalry
had to lol at the thumbnail for this clip when i had the mouse over it
If only this series had been half as good as Hornblower.
Illusory... ILLUSORY CAVALRY.
Were can you watch the entire series?
Bettany is a great actor.
The French: What if we just take our cavalry, and push it over there?
I always felt bad for the Prince if Orange. His reputation was sorely ruined because he was the highest rank to die, on the field where the most losses took place. He attended Eaton and had military tutors from the age of 12. Wellington wrote one damning letter and he's been known as the idiot of Waterloo ever since. But Wellington wrote alot of damning letters, even one about his "adulterous rougue" Lt. General who was second in command. And that man was a genuine war hero who had a single tussle with Wellesleys cousin. He was a gossip hound. In short- the Prince of Orange was a hero who fell at Waterloo in real life.
Rougue*? You mean rogue* I expect.
Highest rank to die? The Prince of Orange wasn't killed at Waterloo. He was wounded in the shoulder and had to retire from the field, but he wasn't killed. He died at age 56 in 1849.
I wonder how many takes it took for him to say Ignominy
A shameful amount.
ILLUSORY
Ned Stark trying to teach Vision battle tactics.
Bettany is quality in this role
Prince of Orange was seen by the British army as a courageous and very likable and good person. The depiction in this serie is not accurate. It’s what they call artistic freedom these days.
Regardless of rank if a officer under you recommends tactics you listen
Its completely untrue the depiction of the Prince of Orange in this film. In reality he was a brave and competent field commander who proved to be inspirational to his soldiers repeatedly rallying them and leading them back into the fight. He also had an excellent staff most who had served Napoleon. Wellington had much to be thankful for this with regard to the Prince and his Army.
That's Paul Bethany!
In defense of the Prince, he _is_ correct that no target is to a gunner sweeter than a tightly packed square. Frenchies could have simply not had cavalry, and pounded the squares to smears.
What's your suggestion then?
@bLaCk LiVeS mAtTeR But they did have cavalry. That's the problem. It's an unwinnable battle, retreat is the only option.
@stop with the porn and gaming and start training French artillery setting up in the open, without any infantry support nearby? Unlikely. The presence of artillery is usually the indication that a larger force has arrived, instead of just raiders/ scouts.
In Sharpe's defence: most of the time commanders would loose their patience and charge while enemy squares were still intact, and have their cavalry be shredded, their infantry mauled. In the games we play, we just use all our artillery ammo before we charge the remains, but these men were always short on time. Defeat these guys fast, before more show up and defeat you. The top-down view was not used often in those days, most preferred the first person view.
Is that the doctor from Master and Commander?
now that´s soldering
See kids all good soldiers always have there range cards
Shoestring budget 😂
Pity the Prince didn't learn by Quatre Bras, he lost the 69th South Licolnshire's Colors because of this Prince of Orange countermanding Picton's orders...
Frag the prince. A large piece of shrapnel will make him the perfect commander
Oliver Tobias a big name from the seventies and Paul Bettany a big name in the years to come,forgot they were in Sharpe.
Normally I'd criticize Sharpe for not just having his men spread and dig in to wait out the bombardment rather than bunching up in making themselves easier targets for artillery fire. But then I realized line-based wars didn't believe in such tactics. Nor were soldiers ever provided with shovels for such things....
Trenches were dug at times. But that required time to prepare proper defenses for an attack you know will be launched in a number of hours or the following day. The incident here was a hastily scrambled and desperate rearguard to buy time for the main army to move out. In any case, as Sharpe is trying to explain, there is cavalry in the low 'dead' ground, just outside visual range (which is why the incompetent senior officer is claiming they're illusory) and any unit in line, or worse spread out digging, would have been cut down to the last man. Staying in square was the lesser of two evils. Artillery would whittle the force down slowly but may give enough time to withdraw or receive support to cover a retreat.
There was trench warfare at that time. Battle of Poltava and Borodino are the most famous example (funny how both involve Russians). The problem is that trenches need to be made before the battle, otherwise it will be a very easy target for cavalry.
@@aleksapetrovic6519 Poltava was a century before the napoleonic wars depicted in the Sharpe series.
This is like a fresh officer coming in and ignoring the advice of his multi tour sgt.Why bring in the battle worn expert if you're going to ignore them.
Is that a young Paul Bettany?
Prince of Orange is the same actor who starred in Gangster Number One. He was a murdering bugger in that one too.
Heey, left us hanging did ya