A Brutal Fight in the English Countryside - The Battle of Bossenden Wood (1838) w/ Ian Knight

Ian Knight joins me once again...this time we discuss the long forgotten Battle of Bossenden Wood.
There is a long list of people who have claimed to be the second coming of Christ…
But did you know that one of them was responsible for the first British combat death of Queen Victoria’s reign?
It is a fascinating a forgotten story.
Ian Knight's new book can be purchased here - amzn.to/3G0039o
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[@redcoathistory]

Thanks for watching guys. The more I learn about British military history the more I realise I know nothing.

[@rahjah6958]

Blame the treasonous lefties lying to children about history or just not teaching any of it

[@thehistoadian]

Really interesting, never heard of this before! Though I might add, British soldiers were killed in action in Canada in 1837 during Queen Victoria's reign during rebellion such as at the battle of Saint Denis in November, 1837

[@keithagn]

Great story. I can see rebelling against harsh living and working conditions, but to be led by a messiah impersonating nut is crazy. Thank you, Chris!

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks Keith. The crazy thing is that this sort of thing still happens. I live in South Africa and the number of self-proclaimed "Prophets" is surprising.

[@Baseballnfj]

It's no more crazy than believing in Christianity..... yet billions do.

[@johnbruce2868]

So much for Culloden being the last battle fought on British soil... Now I read, with more care, "the last pitched battle." Aside from numbers of participants, what is the distinction between a 'battle' and a 'pitched battle'? And are there further unrecognised 'battles' on British soil later than Culloden or are such to be regarded more as lesser acts of policing the populace akin, perhaps, to the Peterloo Massacre? The conflicts of Culloden, Bossenden and Peterloo all share the same foundation in being acts of violence suppressing political opposition.Very iInteresting. A well uncovered piece of obscure history, this Bossenden business.

[@scottym6239]

Anthony Frewin's book "Lion of Canterbury" is an excellent dramatisation for anyone interested in this forgotten episode of Kent history

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks, I will look it up.

[@kevincorby435]

I lived in East Kent for most of my life until 2009 and had never heard of this. Very interesting.

[@cameronsimpson-ld8nk]

Another very interesting video Chris and Ian.

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks, Cam.

[@markdickey739]

Interesting. A 19th century uprising I hadn't heard of before.

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks Mark - yep it was new to me also.

[@sme70]

Great video thanks for making them

[@robengl6553]

Had only a slight knowledge of this topic. Thanks!

[@redcoathistory]

Very welcome!

[@dansmith4077]

Great video thank you

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks Dan.

[@bevinboulder5039]

Did they really guard the body for 3 nights in case he rose from the dead?

[@skepticalbadger]

No, they guarded it because his few idiot followers thought he might, thus steal the body.

[@johnfisk811]

To avoid it being removed and a false claim of resurrection made.

[@charlietreston4035]

Great video very interesting 👍

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks 👍

[@paulbennett4415]

There is a memorial to Lieutenant Bennett of the 45th Foot on one of the walls in Canterbury Cathedral. I remember seeing it 20+ years ago, but can't remember if it is in brass or stone.

[@MrConna6]

You renamed your channel since last night? I like it, a lot easier to get out!

[@tombogan03884]

5:40 These troops were just back from foreign service. The Regiment was there home, those civilians were just another bunch of rebel's, they were the "them" in US vs THEM

[@91Redmist]

Greetings from America. Wow! Never heard that one before. This would be like Jim Jones leading some sort of revolt over here and getting gunned down by the state National Guard! (Instead, he and his followers left for Africa with a ton of Kool-Aid packets.)

[@jonathanstempleton7864]

Like John Brown?

[@kn7991j]

I guess this started before the Canadian rebellions?

[@FIREBRAND38]

Blackadder and Monty Python! Top marks.

[@redcoathistory]

Yep, it was great to have a chance to use two of my favourite comedies.

[@johnfisk811]

The call to the Magistrate for permission to fire upon the rioters demonstrates that the army was there ‘in support of the civil powers’ and acting under their instruction and permission. The Riot Act had already been read to the rioters and they continued to defy it and not disperse. The army was not using martial law but the common law of the land. A crude and sometimes brutal law but within the law and they could be prosecuted had they not followed it, and sometimes were. The Magistrate was the person in charge under the law, not the senior army officer who was there to support the Magistrate. This was hardly unique, for example the Militia in Cornwall were called out several times in the same role to cope with rioters who had driven the police out of their own police stations and towns. In the case of Cornwall the extending railways and telegraph eventually allowed the police to be gathered from far away and sent quickly to such situations and the need for support of the army dwindled away leaving the civil powers to cope themselves. Far from the peaceful aura of a Victorian golden age it was one of frequent violent riots and arson and urban areas where the police would not go except in a sizeable squad under a sergeant at least. The police carried and used cutlasses for very good reasons in their early years. In Victorian times the public frequently went armed with pistols and one reason for an unarmed constabulary was to avoid inspiring their use but to rely upon trained use of massed truncheons in practiced formations.It was not unknown for the unarmed police to ask bystanders for the use of their pistols when faced with armed criminals.

[@tommiatkins3443]

A Trump like figure for the 1830s.

[@TheopolisQSmith]

Please say you were being sarcastic when you posted “Not real footage of the battle”? Please.

[@skepticalbadger]

Why would you *ever* think he was being serious?

[@TheopolisQSmith]

@@skepticalbadger That was a joke son to quote the great Foghorn Leghorn. I was pulling everyone’s leg. Sometimes the legs come off in my hand. 😁

[@matthewmckever2312]

Not hard to believe .. Wat Tyler , Norfolk tomblands, Gordon riots, Peterloo a tiny percentage that the biggest enemy of the English working class have traditionally been the English working class. We are thick as shit you just need to sprinkle sugar on a big turd and we go nom nom nom thankyou sir, lord , boss 😂😂😂

[@meofamily4]

An account of a battle, within England, in the mid-19th century, without any effort to determine casualties. Any usual account of any battle has that. No, I'm not interested in an advertisement for Mr Knight's book, which I'm sure is magnificent. I'm concerned that this video is amateurish beyond belief.