The other Thomas Hardy and Trafalgar

Thomas Hardy was fascinated by the Napoleonic war, as a child he heard stories of the preparations made to defend the county from invasion. The fact that he shared the same name as one of the greatest naval heroes, who lived only a few miles from where he was born only added to the fascination which this period had for him. In later life he was to claim a distant relationship with his namesake, the hero of Trafalgar. He used these stories to good effect in his later writings. In the preface to the Trumpet Major (written in 1895, fifteen years after the books first publication) Hardy describes the sources for the story.

The external incidents which direct [the story's] course are mostly an unexaggerated reproduction of the recollections of old persons well known to the author in childhood, but now long dead, who were eye-witnesses of those scenes. If wholly transcribed their recollections would have filled a volume thrice the length of 'The Trumpet-Major.' Down to the middle of this century, and later, there were not wanting, in the neighbourhood of the places more or less clearly indicated herein, casual relics of the circumstances amid which the action moves--our preparations for defence against the threatened invasion of England by Bonaparte. An outhouse door riddled with bullet-holes, which had been extemporised by a solitary man as a target for firelock practice when the landing was hourly expected, a heap of bricks and clods on a beacon-hill, which had formed the chimney and walls of the hut occupied by the beacon-keeper, worm-eaten shafts and iron heads of pikes for the use of those who had no better weapons, ridges on the down thrown up during the encampment, fragments of volunteer uniform, and other such lingering remains, brought to my imagination in early childhood the state of affairs at the date of the war more vividly than volumes of history could have done.

He also collected a wide range of information on the period, from details of military training, to women's dresses, and used the information gathered to great effect in several stories and poems.

Stories and Poems relating to the Napoleonic war.

This list is not inclusive, if you feel other works should be described here, please contact me via the contacts page.

The Trumpet Major (1880) Hardy's great novel of the Napoleonic war, written to commemorate the seventy fifth anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar. It is remarkable for the number of real people, and events, which appear in the story. For example the visit paid by Captain Hardy to the King in Weymouth took place on 3^rd September 1805, almost exactly as described in the book.

The Sergeant's Song (first published in The Trumpet Major 1880) A humorous ballad, typical of the period, which describes how unlikely Napoleon's conquest of Britain would be. It would take place when 'Parsons practice what they preach', and 'Husbands with their Wives agree' and such like unlikely occurrences.

A Tradition of Eighteen Hundred and Four (first published in 1882) A curious short story, describing how a boy watched Napoleon land at Lulworth Cove looking for possible landing sites for his invasion force, describe it as impossible, then sail away. This was a complete invention of Hardy, yet within a few years, much to his surprise, it was being described as a real legend. Now there are some people who believe that Hardy had retold a traditional story, and don't believe that he invented the tale.

The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion (first published in 1890) In this case Hardy took a real incident, the desertions, recapture and execution of a group of German soldiers serving with the British Army, as the basis for his short story.

The Alarm (first published in Wessex Poems 1898) In May 1804 it was believed that the French Invasion forces had landed on the Dorset coast. Traditions of this event formed the basis of this poem, as well as incidents in the Trumpet Major, the Dynasts and are referred to in the Return of the Native (1878)

The Dynasts (first published in1908) A complex play in verse describing the Napoleonic war from the threat of invasion in 1803-4 until the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. In his introduction to the poem Hardy describes how he made use of material he was unable to use in the Trumpet Major.

When, as the first published result of these accidents, The Trumpet Major was printed, more than twenty years ago, I found myself in the tantalising position of having touched the fringe of a vast international tragedy without being able, through limits of plan, knowledge, and opportunity, to enter further into its events; a restriction that prevailed for many years. But the slight regard paid to English influence and action throughout the struggle by those Continental writers who had dealt imaginatively with Napoleon's career, seemed always to leave room for a new handling of the theme which should re-embody the features of this influence in their true proportion; and accordingly, on a belated day about six years back, the following drama was outlined, to be taken up now and then at wide intervals ever since.