DIFFICULT Life of British Sailor Napoleonic Wars - Mega Episode

The Napoleonic Era of the late 1700s and early 1800s is considered the British Royal Navy's most lauded era in the history of the British Royal Navy.. It is the era made famous by Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar. However, there are other stories that haven't been told as frequently. Stories of valor, bravery and glory...and even sadness and despair. Enter YOU, a British sailor with merchant experience who was "impressed" into the British navy. You will experience the life and history of a British Royal Navy sailor.
All events and times are factual, only the main character is fictional.
Additional resources include:
"The Seafarers: The East IndiaMen" - Russell Miller
"Playing at Command: Midshipment and Quarterdeck boys in the Royal Navy 1793-1815" Thesis of Samantha A. Cavell
"Nelson's Navy" - Philip Haythornthwaite & William Younghusband
"The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War" - Brian Lavery
"The Royal Navy 1793-1815" - Gregory Fremont-Barnes
"Commissioned officers' Careers in the Royal Navy, 1690-1815
"
"Empire on the Seven Seas, the British Empire" - Charles Schriber & Sons
"The Naval History of Great Britain: From the Year MDCCLXXXIII to MDCCCXXII" - Edward Pelham Brenton
"The British Navy: its strength, resources, and administration, Volume 1" - Thomas B Brassey
"The Royal Navy: a history from the earliest times to the present, Volume 6" - Various Authors
"Poor Jack: The Perilous History of the Merchant Seaman" - Ronald Hope
"A New History of British Shipping" - Ronald Hope
"The British Mercantile Marine" - Edward Blackmore
"Please note this is an unofficial video and is not endorsed by SEGA or the Creative Assembly in any way. For more information on Total War, please visit www.totalwar.com."
Music Sources:
All music from epidemicsound.com
#BritishNavy #NapoleonicWars #BritishSailors

[@YoreHistory]

MEGA EPISODE - This video contains all 8 parts of the "Yore life as a British Sailor Series". YES I am aware of the CORRECT Pronunciation of TYNE :) It was missed in editing...apologies :)

[@dashtuk9456]

Thank you 🗿⚔️

[@Fatherofheroesandheroines]

Garr this be the video I been waitin fur laddie

[@bathhatingcat8626]

Hail. I loved all your precious videos

[@Lee-wg7en]

rewatch value: priceless

[@YoreHistory]

@@AndreAnyone There are a few others (Roman Legionary, Dutch East India Sailor, Roman Envoy) and Im finishing up the Viking to Constantinople series this week. So stay tuned and thanks for watching!

[@azbdizzy4176]

No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned - James Boswell.

[@stayclean777]

*Samuel Johnson, quoted by Boswell.

[@im2alias202]

This doesn’t even sound scholarly 😅

[@RuminatingWizard]

​@@im2alias202why does it have to sound "scholarly"? How pretentious are you?

[@harbard642]

​@@RuminatingWizardyes

[@fokkerd3red618]

His journal is a TREASURE and your telling of his experiences have earned my subscription.

[@YoreHistory]

It really is. I only used it for the first 2 episodes as it was merchant marine but was able to use it to flesh out the backstory before military service :) Cheers!

[@chilli8011]

Same here. Amazing. I smoked a joint and this story took me away on a real journey!

[@notsharingwithyoutube]

My Nth great grandfather was at the Battle of the Nile and the Battle of Trafalgar in the Royal Navy. He moved to America after the war.

[@KalebCM]

I need more naval history episodes I’ve listened to these dozens of times. Your voice and the stories are the perfect way to relax and get to sleep!!! Please keep doing these brother

[@YoreHistory]

The current Silk Road envoy will be naval :) Mind you naval in 165 :) But naval...they will be taking the Maritime route as the actual Roman envoy did. HOpefully its down your alley...if not more in the future im sure! Thanks for the kind words!

[@joeylantis22]

AGREED! more naval history!

[@oat138]

He is not making these videos to make you sleep? Are you saying that you find his work boring?

[@jamesswanson7213]

I agree and I do the same.... This will be the fourth night in a row I listen to this video to fall asleep...

[@The_ZeroLine]

Sailing for five days in a hurricane?! Insanity. Jesus. I can’t believe the delicious justice/revenge he got on McGee. Guy’s early life was like a movie.

[@YoreHistory]

Haha cheers. The hurricane was actually based on a documented hurricane that ravaged the area, catching many ships in its clutches. McGee was fictional but im sure a "prick" like him existed on every 2nd ship :)

[@PersonalCoach]

It seems amazing to me that your channel is still relatively small. Your content is of a very high quality and the narrative style is very pleasant!

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers, more coming!

[@lorandoane118]

What a great story. I closed my eyes and was able to visualize myself being there.

[@tootsie40]

Your narration made me feel like I was there!! Please keep them coming! You're going to the big leagues soon!

[@YoreHistory]

Thanks for watching! THere are other series like this here and more to come :)

[@davidcooper7339]

Excellent presentation! I was aware of Hodges diary that went up for auction several years ago. My hope is that whoever purchased it would allow for the diary to be published in book form for the general public. As of this date, I've not seen such a publication. Nevertheless, you've done an outstanding job of articulating life on a frigate in the 18th/19th century. I'm now a very happy subscriber. Splendid!

[@YoreHistory]

Thanks for watching and yes, the diary served as the basis for the first three episodes of the series (first 30 mins of full show). Appreciate the kind words, was a fun series to make.

[@TyranyFighterPatriot]

Brothers let us take a moment to thank God for letting us live during an Era nowhere near as harsh and one where for the first time in history we men can avoid such harsh life. We may have to work hard but we're infinitely more at liberty and ease than vast majority of Males in prior generations and centuries. Let us be thankful every day.

[@FuckYouWhosNext]

Ayyye!

[@cbhlde]

Great work, thank you very much!

[@keithwesley2471]

My 3 times Gt Grandfather came from St Kitts. Joined the Royal Navy in 1801 and saw action in the English Channel and in the West Indies. Royal Navy records kept at the National Archives in London England are amazing. Pay books and ships logs cover practically every ship in Nelson's navy and beyond.

[@YoreHistory]

That is SO awesome Keith. I have my Dutch ancestral family tree into the 1600s but the closest my relatives came was doing inland shipping on canals lol. Very cool and so fortunate that you have access to that piece of history. I have to visit those archives at least once in my life! Cheers.

[@JesusSaves734]

I am from there! Are you West Indian/ African Decent or did his family originate is Europe?

[@ronmara5968]

Before the wind, the memoir of an American sea captain by Charles Tyng 1808-1833. The first 15 mins of this video bears a striking resemblance to the story told by the captain of his first setting to sea.

[@YoreHistory]

I messaged you in the other chat...yes exactly where I got the inspiration for. I was looking up what you posted and got something about a south african family sailing etc which is not anything I had read. But yes the American sea captain is definitely where a lot of the first 2 are based on :)

[@MyRkAcc]

Always really fascinating to listen to this episodes.

[@historyismetal2187]

These "life of" videos are GOLD

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers mate.

[@jameskillen7842]

Another masterpiece. Please tell us more stories. Egyptian, Roman, Greek, revolutionary war, anything

[@YoreHistory]

I have a new series that just started "Roman Envoy" and will be completing the Viking series next (1 to 2 weeks) which sees you as a Viking Warrior heading to Constantinople. LOTS more like this coming. Thanks for watching!

[@jamesleonard7439]

​@@YoreHistoryAwesome thanks, looking forward to them. Subscribed.

[@Suriel08]

Wow! This was just great! Thanks so much!

[@caboosej8749]

Great job with this story mate, really enjoyed the telling and we really lack these kind of 1st person historical perspective. + sub

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers Caboose. Thanks for watching. I have several more series and the Viking one in this same format will be ending that series later this week.

[@zzebowa]

Brilliant work! This is an excellent narration of a fascinating story!

[@nickglaza]

Wow. I cannot convey how up my alley a video like this is. You are amazing!

[@robertcorradi8573]

Brilliant narration..... One of the best I have ever listened to if not the best. Thank you . Excellent.

[@YoreHistory]

Thanks for listening More series like this and even more coming. Cheers Robert.

[@MarcusAgrippa390]

So damn glad you're back dude!

[@YoreHistory]

Thx, cheers. Feels good!

[@KillroyWasHere86]

This was truly amazing. Thank you. I would love to see more stories based on journals.

[@juliusgrover7262]

Amazing job and I'm looking forward to more videos.

[@michaelcalland801]

What a great piece of history & what an incredible life this sailor led ! His revenge on McGee was extremely satisfying. Fantastic job narrating & loved the visuals as well !

[@Grumfuttocks]

Outstanding content. Thanks for taking the time to post…🇬🇧

[@YoreHistory]

Thanks for watching Mark. Cheers!

[@williamwallace9427]

Epic! Thank you for creating this video

[@YoreHistory]

Thank you for your service to the Scottish nation! ;)

[@erikt3672]

This is fantastic work, I really appreciate this guy’s efforts. So immersive it makes it easy to get through a hard work day. Keep up the great work! 💪🏽💪🏽

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers and thanks for watching/listening :D

[@kenschubert7001]

Very compelling imagery, great storytelling. Thank you!

[@dgunner0]

It's not much brother, but you've earned my like and subscription. Loved the story made me truly believe I had this harsh but fulfilling life.

[@YoreHistory]

Great to hear. More coming like this...also the Roman and Dutch sailor one plus a new one on Roman silk trade route (by sea) that will be out in a few days.

[@Matt9Xx]

This is absolutely amazing!!

[@Guillermo90r]

Napoleon died in St Helena, not Elba. In fact, he escaped from Elba

[@YoreHistory]

100% it was a typo that i missed during my editing. Was my bad 100%.

[@KHK001]

Great! Time to rewatch

[@witster6121]

Another great upload

[@Stitchwitchstitch]

This stuff is fabulous! My new favorite.

[@Hellbillyhok666]

Ive just subscribed, this doc was awesome, thanks for the great effort

[@YoreHistory]

There are some other series in this format already and more coming. Thanks for watching!

[@bowathand]

This is phenomenal work

[@samain11]

Coal was easy to transport to where it was needed in the UK.

[@horatiohornblower3757]

As you probably know by my name, I'm in to this. Just found your channel. As easy of a subscribe as I've ever had. What a great listen. This was basically an audiobook that I enjoyed all the way through.

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers Horatio! I have two other sailing ones in this format...a 17th Century Dutch sailor series and a new one on the Roman Envoys who sailed to China in AD195. And some other non sailing ones in this format with more coming! Thanks for watching!

[@rossyuill5842]

Best adventure I have ever been on 💪 brilliant storytelling I could picture every scene was fantastic well done 👏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers Ross, glad you enjoyed!

[@redfire20003]

Cracking great story....more please... 🙏

[@YoreHistory]

@@redfire20003 More up and more coming! Cheers and thanks for watching!

[@davidabney7700]

This documentary of a sailors diary while serving on a transport ship in the early 1800's is fantastic. This young man that recorded his adventures, his troubles, the barbaric treatment he received from those above him was despicable and cruel, and that's being kind to these savages. What a tough life the average sailor had on board a early 1800's sailing ship.

[@david9783]

To me the whole thing is unimaginable. I'm glad I was a carpenter in the 21st. century!

[@The_ZeroLine]

Yes! Another good history channel to binge.

[@SuperMrHiggins]

Love it, very, very enjoyable - felt like I was there. Well, as close to that as is possible.

[@jamespoynor9511]

man! these are amazing!

[@mikebarry2461]

Great stuff thanks 👍

[@edwemail8508]

Thank you. That was great. 👍

[@MrAlcazar]

These are a lot of fun! Not only entertaining, but educational too!

[@YoreHistory]

Glad you enjoyed. Many more coming!

[@johnhallett6393]

Superb narrative. Bloody well told.

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers John. Thanks for watching!

[@M.Godfrey]

My man your videos are amazing. When I close my eyes I feel like I’m there.

[@YoreHistory]

Thanks for watching, cheers!

[@ChemysteryKids]

I very very very rarely subscribe to anything ever. Sometimes my kids use my phone and accidentally subscribe to stuff, but I love your content so much I’m definitely a subscriber. This is my favorite channel

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers Kyle! Welcome aboard, more to come!

[@hektorsayenkov]

Privileged to be able to enjoy your work sir. Cheers.

[@astralclub5964]

Whenever a ship is lost under ANY circumstances the Captain faces a Courts Martial.

[@YoreHistory]

Which are you referring to? Everything apart from the main character was taken from historical sources/events etc. Just curious which you are referring to :) Cheers!

[@astralclub5964]

The First Lord of the Admiralty demands the old-established custom of holding naval courts-martial following the loss of ships of the Royal Navy in order to determine the circumstances of such loss, is being adhered to; whether such courts-martial have been held as to the sinking of His Majesty's Ship "Glorious"; and what were the findings of the courts. In the program it was mentioned that there was a rumor that the Captain had faced a Courts Martial. There was no shame in such a trial when the Captain acted properly in the commission of his duty, resulting in the loss of the ship.

[@YoreHistory]

@@astralclub5964 Absolutely but the lack of social media and access for the layman...rumours would have undoubtedly run wild...at least that was my speculation in writing it that way. However, you are 100% correct :)

[@YoreHistory]

@@astralclub5964 Also thanks for watching. Hope that piece didn't ruin it for you :)

[@adamhinds8352]

FANtastic well done

[@larrymckenna3503]

beautiful narration a welcome breath of fresh air where media Has gotten away from !

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers Larry, thanks for watching!

[@supersoundfrom70s]

What a fantastic story! Thx Yore! Extra points for the Dutch accent of Piet.

[@YoreHistory]

Im Dutch so it helped :D

[@MaverickSeventySeven]

Very engaging and informative - a drop in the ocean of maritime history, ( :-) ) but Very important!

[@whitetrashrobofficial1769]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the use of the second person point of view for the narrative. It inserts the listener into the story in a compelling way.

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers Rob. I have quite a few series like this. Viking one will have it's part 4 within a week as well. Then ill be doing some Victorian crime putting you in the role of a street urchin turned criminal in Victorian London. Also a Roman Legionary during Invasion of Britain etc.

[@whitetrashrobofficial1769]

@@YoreHistory Oh wow, I will be watching everything you just mentioned and more. Can I ask where you find your source material? Cuz the type of content you're producing is exactly the type I search for. It should also carve out a nice niche for your channel, which I hope continues to grow and be successful.

[@YoreHistory]

@@whitetrashrobofficial1769 Thanks Rob. I use historical text for the chronological times, places, events and the character and plot that drives the character through those events is fictional. In the British sailor series I used a merchant diary of an American sailor to heavily inspire the events of the first two episodes (Hawaii/Canton) but the rest are in the description as source material including the diary. Cheers so far so good channel is growing :)

[@lightfeather9953]

This is brilliant. I hope more people get a chance to listen to this.

[@margaretkairu7418]

napoleon died on st helena,not elba

[@YoreHistory]

Yes was an edit faux paux :) My bad. I did a LOT of research for that series but one or two things did slip through...that one still haunts me lol.

[@margaretkairu7418]

@@YoreHistory its alright my dear friend,man is to error after all.Nevertheless the video was nothing short of entertaining.it is quite underrated.

[@BlueBaron3339]

They certainly didn't regard childhood with the near sancity we do now...well...depending on your class, of course. It's interesting these journals and diaries that have only recently come to light. A fascinating one is the Journal of Jacob Nagle who had a LONG career at sea from 1775 to 1841. And from serving in the American Revolution to the British Royal Navy, and then commercial ships thereafter. It only appeared in 1980 to initial disbelief until verified against service records. Not a wonderful life. But he was proud of it.

[@YoreHistory]

Agreed interesting and so true. Much of the earlier episodes of this series was based on such diaries.

[@SuperMrHiggins]

I mean, may sound odd but I attribute it to antibiotics, our as you said sanctification of childhood. Many, many children died before they were adults before the advent of a) germ theory and b) the aforementioned antibiotics. But it is very interesting. Jacob Nagle? 1775 to 1841?! DAMN, I understand why people doubted it's veracity. I should check that out, sounds very ineresting. Guy lived during the pre-napoleonic, through the entire napoleonic era, and even into post napoleanic and the very, very, very beginning of the end of the age of sail. Damn. That's incredible, I will try and get a copy of that. Thank you very much,

[@YoreHistory]

@Yakko Benefiel he was a merchant, not Navy, but I used inspiration from some of his accounts like China :) it is a good read though!

[@kaskorraky9473]

Thank you for sharing 😬

[@desdicadoric]

Really enjoying this one, making work today pass quickly

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers Adam! Glad!

[@aiwithbri]

Really enjoying your stories. Great job! Hey, when describing the watch schedule you used "port" instead of "larboard". Four or five decades later, they started using port to describe that side of the ship (or boat).

[@YoreHistory]

I had researched that the term was in use from 1543 on (Oxford Dictionary) and a few of the sources I referenced but I am NOT an expert on the term so apologies if used incorrectly. I try my best to make everything as factual as possible in terms of naming, times, events, ships etc but mistakes do creep in. Thanks for watching and enjoying, cheers!

[@Ash4184]

Fantastic thank you

[@scinanisern9845]

LOL!!! I remember when we crossed the equator. Lord what an insane week. Imagine a modern battle fleet flying the Jolly Roger!

[@wayneONvolarte]

Excellent Sir.Ive had a Tour of Hms Victory . UR TITLE IS ACURATE SIR.GREAT BATTLE SCENES.THANK YOU SIR

[@YoreHistory]

Thanks for watching!

[@Norseraider84]

Have been listening to this fantastic tale while painting board game minis. I absolutely enjoyed it ❤🤘🏻

[@YoreHistory]

Love me painting some minis...mine are usually for tabletop role playing like D&D or wargames. I do have to get more into board games...I have Gloomhaven and cracked it open but not played it yet.

[@Noiceman1]

This is great!

[@alexlysakowski329]

I dont know if anyone noticed but Napoleon died on St.Helena in the middle of the south atlantic, he was exiled to elba which is just west of Italy, but escaped and simply waltzed back to france and took control of the army again, he was then defeated for a second time, which led to him being exiled to Britain's Island for people it wanted to forget about

[@YoreHistory]

Believe me I noticed...unfortunately I can't edit in hindsight...but yes that somehow slipped past me in editing.

[@acoradulovic7534]

Do u have patreon ? The quality of your videos is insane and your story telling is amazing deserving of some coin .

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers, glad you enjoyed. The link is on the homepage and the About tab. Subscribing and viewing is enough but thanks :)

[@babyramses5066]

​@YoreHistory we love u and yore channel

[@The_ZeroLine]

I think you got the name wrong BTW. His name was George Hodge. Not Charles. Amazing video nonetheless. I was spellbound throughout.

[@YoreHistory]

Remember the diary only served as inspiration for the first two episodes...I changed a lot. IE Made him British instead of American, changed names, places etc. Thanks for watching!

[@steveshannon1842]

Well done. Thanks

[@YoreHistory]

Thank you too!

[@omalleyshepherd2936]

That said I also watched e v e r y minute of your video, I found it informative and compelling!

[@davidcoleman2796]

Very interesting. I will finish watching . Great history.

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers David.

[@blameusa7082]

You tell the best stories!

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers and thanks for watching :)

[@edwarddesoignie1194]

Amazing he knew how to write and read.

[@YoreHistory]

It was almost 50/50. In 1800 literacy rate for males in Britain was about 40%, so not amazing but definitely on the right side of literacy :)

[@Rob.P974]

It’s still about 50/50 today, considering English was invented in England most people here fail to have a basic command of it, sadly.

[@YoreHistory]

@Rob .P lol no comment.

[@AndyJarman]

1:10:00 the Pophams signal system could not be learned by crew members since it used a code book held by the captain. The books were bound into lead covers so that they could be sunk before falling into enemy hands.

[@davidabney7700]

Many thanks! Was unaware of the signal book having a lead cover for sinking purposes, until now. Any idea how long this practice was carried on?

[@Momusinterra]

Why is it called the "dog" watch? Because it's cur-tailed! Har har har! Arg!

[@jamieharris1927]

This was brilliant

[@BoskoBuha99]

What an amazing story! After watching this i feel as i've been a salior myself!

[@freelandLee1987]

A good video ❤

[@mikewilburn5884]

Outstanding. Thank you very much.

[@gjmjajaj]

Well done thank you

[@YoreHistory]

Thanks for watching Glen!

[@420slaughter]

anyone ever told you you sound like Jordan Peterson? And I love your show

[@YoreHistory]

Lol yep probably around a dozen times I have been told that :) Cheers and thanks for watching! We are both Canadian and have similar voices :)

[@mpezdirtz8220]

@@YoreHistory Completely agree.... I was scrolling the comments to see if it was Peterson!

[@travisj8091]

This might sound odd but do you run role-playing games? Listening to this gives me strong game master feels LOVE IT!

[@LilStoops]

Moving lumber from the UK to Cuba in sailing ship? Stating the obvious here, but the continental north America was full of lumber at this point in history.

[@YoreHistory]

Yep, but I based that on an actual ship, and it's cargo manifest :)

[@Rob.P974]

I’m so glad I twatted McGee😅. I really enjoyed this, thank you old chap. 👍🏻

[@YoreHistory]

He was indeed a right twat, worth twatting:)

[@omalleyshepherd2936]

The diary of George Hodge is the one you’re referencing. Charles Hodge was a religious scholar and author of roughly the same time.

[@YoreHistory]

LOL...yes typo but got it correct in the source attribution. That diary served as inspiration for the first 2 episodes.

[@omalleyshepherd2936]

@@YoreHistory GAH! So you did! OK, so dish, has it been published? I can’t find it.

[@YoreHistory]

@@omalleyshepherd2936 I can link you when back at pc

[@omalleyshepherd2936]

@@YoreHistory Thank you! Please do.

[@cantbringmedowntoday]

Awsome!

[@impudentdomain]

It was a dangerous and difficult life, but so were most lives and professions at that time. Unless you were in the upper social class.

[@YoreHistory]

100%

[@RogerThat787]

Amazing, amazing content.

[@mikefabbi5127]

I just stumbled on Yore History. Subscribed at 1:23:54. Great storytelling,.

[@YoreHistory]

Cheers Mike! Welcome aboard...lot's more like this coming...Viking series finale ALMOST done :)

[@johann9715]

underrated

[@rodrigochiberio5472]

Totally.

[@user-zn6ek8bf8p]

I like your stories. Do you write them yourself or have other people write them for you?

[@YoreHistory]

Thanks. 100% me...one person production..thus my not always timely output:D thanks for watching!

[@stevetorres76]

In an age of air conditioning, washing machines and iPhones.. to have to live like that would truly be a living hell for most men of today.

[@shdhddjji]

😂😂😂 yeah buddy I'm poor and I have nothing to lose try me!!!

[@yoyo762]

The definition of ignorance being bliss. They knew of no luxuries in life so their hell was normal.

[@brianmacpherson6555]

Since mankind began life was a struggle, now it's comicly simple. There must be a fallout

[@chicagogyrl4846]

Many people in the world today do not have air conditioning, a washing machine, or an iPhone!!

[@williamholm2020]

What i've been waiting for.

[@MichaelSchmidt-wi9be]

Alexander Kent a deceased author who wrote about this in great detail well done for your history it's fascinating 😮

[@1234blenheim]

Brilliant

[@stefanschnabel2769]

"You realize, that you acted purely on adrenaline and are at the same time deeply astonished and confused about your untimely knowledge of hormones and their function in the human metabolism." (Sorry, I couldn't resist. Great video!)

[@YoreHistory]

Lol good catch!

[@AndyJarman]

At 1:00:00 you show the British flag without the cross of St Patrick. The flag shown was abandoned a few years earlier in 1801 and replaced with the current flag of the UK.

[@YoreHistory]

Definitely a few editing mistakes. I am a team of 1...believe me I see them too but too late to change it after the fact :) I just try to improve with my newer series.