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REMEMBER THE REDCOATS

History is a chronicle of half-remembered things.

Review Questions

Vocabulary: halyard, subsistence, degrading, humanitarian, vindicated, haversack, strata, morale, rampant, paternalism.

1. In the advertisement for the Royal Marines, the writer refers to 'prize money.' What is it?

2. Explain: (a) men of the lower orders; (b) men of higher calibre; (c) the thin red line; (d) by beat of drum; (e) must blush to remain at home; (f) the merchant ploughs the main; (g) handsomely supported; (h) perilously close to mutiny; (i) fortitude of the firers; (j) he's his country's stay; (k) demonstrative courage; (l) plied their deadly trade; (m) mirrors the people from which it is drawn; (n) charismatic leadership.

3. Of another time and place, the poet said of the Redcoats:"theirs not to reason why." This says a good deal about the life of a soldier at one time. Explain.

4. (a) What really inspired men to perform acts of courage and bravery? (b) Explain: "Courage goes much by opinion."

5. (a) What was impressment? (b) How was it justified? (c) What is used today in similar circumstances?

6. Why would the 'lash, the noose and the firing squad' have limitations on the battlefield?

7. How were Wolfe's methods vindicated?

8. In your own words tell the story indicated in the poem The Soldier's Return.

9. (a) What do you think Wellington's mother meant when she said of her son: "He is food for powder and nothing more." (b) What does this comment suggest to you?

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