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6 - Plunder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2022

Gavin Daly
Affiliation:
University of Tasmania
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Summary

At the heart of most sacks – in terms of motivation, behaviour and the broad participation of common soldiers – lay plunder. This chapter explores British sack plunder in the Napoleonic era from multiple perspectives: the broad campaign and siege contexts in which it occurred; the dynamics and rituals of plunder on the ground; and the attitudes and practices of officers. Most British rank and file participated in the plunder of stormed towns, borne of customary right, the catharsis of passing through the breaches, and opportunism. Despite the seeming chaos, this plunder had its own distinct rituals, conventions and carnivalesque dimensions. Some officers were complicit, too, in tolerating plunder, or indulging themselves; and in India, given the traditions of Company plunder and profit-taking, officers were only too eager to enjoy the official spoils of distributed prize. Yet, whilst there was a general resignation that it was next to impossible to prevent the plunder of stormed towns, most officers, and some men from the ranks, were highly critical of troops doing so, on military and moral grounds, drawing particular attention to the drunkenness, destruction and violence that accompanied it.

Type
Chapter
Information
Storm and Sack
British Sieges, Violence and the Laws of War in the Napoleonic Era, 1799–1815
, pp. 199 - 226
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Plunder
  • Gavin Daly, University of Tasmania
  • Book: Storm and Sack
  • Online publication: 29 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108863971.008
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  • Plunder
  • Gavin Daly, University of Tasmania
  • Book: Storm and Sack
  • Online publication: 29 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108863971.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Plunder
  • Gavin Daly, University of Tasmania
  • Book: Storm and Sack
  • Online publication: 29 September 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108863971.008
Available formats
×