Flashman at the Charge
Encyclopedia
Flashman at the Charge is a 1973 novel
by George MacDonald Fraser
. It is the fourth of the Flashman
novels. Playboy
magazine serialized Flashman at the Charge in 1973 in their April, May and June issues. The serialization is unabridged, including most of the notes and appendixes and features a few interesting illustrations, collages from various paintings and pictures to depict a period montage of the Charge and Crimea.
. The papers are attributed to Flashman, who is not only the bully featured in Thomas Hughes
' novel, but also a well known Victorian military hero. The book begins with an explanatory note detailing the discovery of these papers.
Flashman at the Charge begins with Flashman trying to avoid a transfer to the Crimea
but failing miserably. He is made guardian of one of Queen Victoria
's cousins and is sent to the midst of the Crimean War
. Flashman witnesses and participates in the most notable offensive and defensive actions of that war, and eventually finds himself trekking across Asia in an effort to save the British Raj
. Flashman at the Charge covers the years 1854 to 1855. It also contains a number of notes by Fraser, in the guise of editor, giving additional historical information on the events described.
Flashman meets Queen Victoria
's cousin, William of Celle
, incognito in a billiards
hall and befriends him, before getting him drunk and leaving him in an alley with bootblack on his buttocks for the police to find. However, his reputation as a valiant and down-to-earth soldier leads to Prince Albert assigning Flashman as the boy's mentor. Despite every attempt to avoid it, he finds himself in the Crimea showing William what soldiering is all about. The boy's unfortunate death does not allow Flashman to avoid involvement in the most notable actions of the Crimean War, including The Thin Red Line
, the Charge of the Heavy Brigade under James Yorke Scarlett
, and the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade
.
Powered by fear and flatulence, he reaches the Russian guns in front of the other surviving members of the charge and promptly surrenders. He is taken into Russia
(now Ukraine
) and placed in the custody of Count Pencherjevsky. Here he reunites with Scud East, his old schoolmate, and meets Nicholas Pavlovich Ignatiev
, a vicious Russian Captain.
Flashman and East overhear plans by senior Russian officers to invade India
and end the British Raj. The two men escape from the Count's estate (thanks to a peasant uprising), but Flashman is recaptured by the Russians. Ignatiev takes Flashman with him across central Asia as part of his plans to conquer India. Flashman is rescued from prison by cohorts of Yakub Beg
, led by his Chinese paramour. Then the Tajik and Uzbek warriors attack and destroy the Russian fleet with the aid of Flashman (who is drugged with hashish
and utterly fearless as a result, for the only time in his life).
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser, OBE was an English-born author of Scottish descent, who wrote both historical novels and non-fiction books, as well as several screenplays.-Early life and military career:...
. It is the fourth of the Flashman
Harry Paget Flashman
Sir Harry Paget Flashman VC KCB KCIE is a fictional character created by George MacDonald Fraser , but based on the character "Flashman" in Tom Brown's Schooldays , a semi-autobiographical work by Thomas Hughes ....
novels. Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine serialized Flashman at the Charge in 1973 in their April, May and June issues. The serialization is unabridged, including most of the notes and appendixes and features a few interesting illustrations, collages from various paintings and pictures to depict a period montage of the Charge and Crimea.
Plot introduction
Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book describes the bully Flashman from Tom Brown's SchooldaysTom Brown's Schooldays
Tom Brown's Schooldays is a novel by Thomas Hughes. The story is set at Rugby School, a public school for boys, in the 1830s; Hughes attended Rugby School from 1834 to 1842...
. The papers are attributed to Flashman, who is not only the bully featured in Thomas Hughes
Thomas Hughes
Thomas Hughes was an English lawyer and author. He is most famous for his novel Tom Brown's Schooldays , a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. It had a lesser-known sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford .- Biography :Hughes was the second son of John Hughes, editor of...
' novel, but also a well known Victorian military hero. The book begins with an explanatory note detailing the discovery of these papers.
Flashman at the Charge begins with Flashman trying to avoid a transfer to the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
but failing miserably. He is made guardian of one of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
's cousins and is sent to the midst of the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. Flashman witnesses and participates in the most notable offensive and defensive actions of that war, and eventually finds himself trekking across Asia in an effort to save the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
. Flashman at the Charge covers the years 1854 to 1855. It also contains a number of notes by Fraser, in the guise of editor, giving additional historical information on the events described.
Plot summary
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
's cousin, William of Celle
Celle
Celle is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the River Aller, a tributary of the Weser and has a population of about 71,000...
, incognito in a billiards
English billiards
English billiards, called simply billiards in many former British colonies and in Great Britain where it originated, is a hybrid form of carom and pocket billiards played on a billiard table. Billiards is less well known as "the English game", "the all-in game" and "the common game".The game is for...
hall and befriends him, before getting him drunk and leaving him in an alley with bootblack on his buttocks for the police to find. However, his reputation as a valiant and down-to-earth soldier leads to Prince Albert assigning Flashman as the boy's mentor. Despite every attempt to avoid it, he finds himself in the Crimea showing William what soldiering is all about. The boy's unfortunate death does not allow Flashman to avoid involvement in the most notable actions of the Crimean War, including The Thin Red Line
The Thin Red Line (1854 battle)
The Thin Red Line was a military action by the Sutherland Highlanders red-coated 93rd Regiment at the Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854, during the Crimean War. In this incident the 93rd aided by a small force of Royal Marines and some Turkish infantrymen, led by Sir Colin Campbell, routed a...
, the Charge of the Heavy Brigade under James Yorke Scarlett
James Yorke Scarlett
General Sir James Yorke Scarlett, GCB was a British general and hero of the Crimean War.-Early life:The son of the 1st Baron Abinger, and educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, Scarlett entered the army as a cornet in 1818 and in 1830 became a major in the 5th Dragoon Guards...
, and the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade
Charge of the Light Brigade
The Charge of the Light Brigade was a charge of British cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. The charge was the result of a miscommunication in such a way that the brigade attempted a much more difficult objective...
.
Powered by fear and flatulence, he reaches the Russian guns in front of the other surviving members of the charge and promptly surrenders. He is taken into Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(now Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) and placed in the custody of Count Pencherjevsky. Here he reunites with Scud East, his old schoolmate, and meets Nicholas Pavlovich Ignatiev
Nicholas Pavlovich Ignatiev
Count Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev was a Russian statesman and diplomat...
, a vicious Russian Captain.
Flashman and East overhear plans by senior Russian officers to invade India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and end the British Raj. The two men escape from the Count's estate (thanks to a peasant uprising), but Flashman is recaptured by the Russians. Ignatiev takes Flashman with him across central Asia as part of his plans to conquer India. Flashman is rescued from prison by cohorts of Yakub Beg
Yakub Beg
Muhammad Yaqub Bek was a [Turkic peoples] adventurer who became head of the kingdom of Kashgaria.-Spelling variants:In English-language literature, the name of Yaqub Beg has also been spelt as Yakub Beg , Yakoob Beg , or Ya`qūb Beg...
, led by his Chinese paramour. Then the Tajik and Uzbek warriors attack and destroy the Russian fleet with the aid of Flashman (who is drugged with hashish
Hashish
Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...
and utterly fearless as a result, for the only time in his life).
Fictional characters
- Flashman - The hero or anti-heroAnti-heroIn fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...
- Elspeth - His adoring and possibly unfaithful wife
- Prince William of CelleCelleCelle is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the River Aller, a tributary of the Weser and has a population of about 71,000...
- Count Pencherjevsky - A Cossack HetmanHetmanHetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
who is now the feudal Russian lord of a large estate. - Scud East - Character from Tom Brown's SchooldaysTom Brown's SchooldaysTom Brown's Schooldays is a novel by Thomas Hughes. The story is set at Rugby School, a public school for boys, in the 1830s; Hughes attended Rugby School from 1834 to 1842...
, now a junior officer in the British army. - Valla - The daughter of Count Pencherjevsky and Flashman's lover.
- Aunt Sara - Aunt of Valla, who teaches Flashman how to properly enjoy a Russian steam bathBanya (sauna)Banya in Russian can refer to any kind of steam bath, but usually to the Russian type of sauna. In Bulgarian, banya usually refers to a bath and bathing...
. - Ko Dali's daughter - (Perhaps historical) A Chinese woman and Yakub BegYakub BegMuhammad Yaqub Bek was a [Turkic peoples] adventurer who became head of the kingdom of Kashgaria.-Spelling variants:In English-language literature, the name of Yaqub Beg has also been spelt as Yakub Beg , Yakoob Beg , or Ya`qūb Beg...
's lover. She seduces Flashman and doses him with hashish in order to make him effective in the coming battle.
Historical characters
- Prince Albert
- Lord RaglanFitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron RaglanField Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, GCB, PC , known before 1852 as Lord FitzRoy Somerset, was a British soldier.-Early life:...
- Commander of the British troops in the CrimeaCrimeaCrimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
and the man held by Flashman to be responsible for the Charge of the Light Brigade. Flashman says, "He should have been a parson, or an Oxford don, or a waiter, for he was the kindliest, soft-voiced old stick who ever spared a fellow-creature's feelings - and that was what was wrong with him..." - Lord CardiganJames Brudenell, 7th Earl of CardiganLieutenant General James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, KCB , was an officer in the British Army who commanded the Light Brigade during the Crimean War...
- The man in command of the Light Cavalry Brigade at the Battle of BalaclavaBattle of BalaclavaThe Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Anglo-French-Turkish campaign to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea...
, whom Flashman catches pantsless with Elspeth. - Lord Palmerston
- Lord PagetHenry Paget, 3rd Marquess of AngleseyHenry William George Paget, 3rd Marquess of Anglesey , styled Lord Paget until 1854 and Earl of Uxbridge between 1854 and 1869, was a British peer and Liberal politician.-Background:...
, Flashman's relative who gets him a job at the Board of Ordnance - Fanny Duberly, Society woman and diarist, who accompanied the soldiers to the Crimea
- George BrownGeorge Brown (soldier)General Sir George Brown GCB, KH, PC , was a British soldier notable for commands in the Peninsular War and the Crimean War.-Military career:Brown was born and educated in Elgin, Scotland...
- The man in command of the Light Division in Crimea. Flashman calls him an "old Scotch war horse...and nobody's fool". - Jacques Leroy de Saint ArnaudJacques Leroy de Saint ArnaudArmand-Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud was a French soldier and Marshal of France during the 19th century...
- François Certain CanrobertFrançois Certain CanrobertFrançois Certain de Canrobert, usually known as François Certain-Canrobert and later simply as Maréchal Canrobert , was a marshal of France.-Biography:...
- William Howard RussellWilliam Howard RussellWilliam Howard Russell was an Irish reporter with The Times, and is considered to have been one of the first modern war correspondents, after he spent 22 months covering the Crimean War including the Charge of the Light Brigade.-Career:As a young reporter, Russell reported on a brief military...
- War correspondent for The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
. Flashman says, "He was a good fellow, Billy, and we got on well, but he always had an eye cocked towards his readers, and the worse he could make out a case, the better they liked it." - Louis Edward NolanLouis Edward NolanLouis Edward Nolan , was a British Army officer of the Victorian era, an authority on cavalry tactics best known for his controversial role in launching the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava...
- Staff galloper to Airey and one of the links in the chain of events leading to the Charge of the Light Brigade and his own death. Flashman calls him a "cavalry maniac who held everyone in contempt". - Richard AireyRichard Airey, 1st Baron AireyGeneral Richard Airey, 1st Baron Airey GCB , known as Sir Richard Airey between 1855 and 1876, was a British general.-Background:...
- QuartermasterQuartermasterQuartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...
-general to Raglan - Lord Lucan
- George de Lacy EvansGeorge de Lacy EvansSir De Lacy Evans GCB was a British Army general who served in four wars in which the United Kingdom's troops took part in the 19th century. He was later a long-serving Member of Parliament....
- Sir Colin CampbellColin Campbell, 1st Baron ClydeField Marshal Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde GCB, KSI was a British Army officer from Scotland who led the Highland Brigade in the Crimea and was in command of the ‘Thin red line’ at the battle of Balaclava...
- Commander of The Thin Red LineThe Thin Red Line (1854 battle)The Thin Red Line was a military action by the Sutherland Highlanders red-coated 93rd Regiment at the Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854, during the Crimean War. In this incident the 93rd aided by a small force of Royal Marines and some Turkish infantrymen, led by Sir Colin Campbell, routed a...
at the Battle of BalaclavaBattle of BalaclavaThe Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Anglo-French-Turkish campaign to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea...
. - James Yorke ScarlettJames Yorke ScarlettGeneral Sir James Yorke Scarlett, GCB was a British general and hero of the Crimean War.-Early life:The son of the 1st Baron Abinger, and educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, Scarlett entered the army as a cornet in 1818 and in 1830 became a major in the 5th Dragoon Guards...
- Commander of the Heavy Cavalry Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava. - Nicholas Pavlovich IgnatievNicholas Pavlovich IgnatievCount Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev was a Russian statesman and diplomat...
- Russian diplomat who takes Flashman in chains across half of Asia and introduces him to knoutKnoutA knout is a heavy scourge-like multiple whip, usually made of a bunch of rawhide thongs attached to a long handle, sometimes with metal wire or hooks incorporated....
ing. Flashman says, "He looked tough, and immensely self-assured; it was in his glance, in the abrupt way he moved...He was the kind who knew exactly what was what, where everything was, and precisely who was who - especially himself. He was probably a devil with women, admired by his superiors, hated by his rivals, and abjectly feared by his subordinates. One word summed him up: bastard." - Tsar Nicholas INicholas I of RussiaNicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
- Flashman overhears him discussing The Great GameThe Great GameThe Great Game or Tournament of Shadows in Russia, were terms for the strategic rivalry and conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. The classic Great Game period is generally regarded as running approximately from the Russo-Persian Treaty of 1813...
with Ignatiev. - Yakub BegYakub BegMuhammad Yaqub Bek was a [Turkic peoples] adventurer who became head of the kingdom of Kashgaria.-Spelling variants:In English-language literature, the name of Yaqub Beg has also been spelt as Yakub Beg , Yakoob Beg , or Ya`qūb Beg...
- A Tajik military leader who fought against the Russians. He later ruled over the city of KashgarKashgarKashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
. Flashman describes him as "a tough customer, by the look of him; one of those genial mountain scoundrels who'll tell you merry stories while he stabs you in the guts just for the fun of hearing his knifehilt bells jingle." - Izzet Kutebar, brigand and friend of Yakub Beg