At the time The Reluctant Widow was set, England and France were at war - and had been for a good number of years.
One of the government departments was 'The Horse Guards' - so-called because that was where the office of the Commander in Chief was located.
The Horse Guards is very much a part of the plot.
Historical records reveal that the staffing was not of the highest level.
Anne Woodley has advised me that at this time the army was administered by two branches,
1) the Horse Guards who administered the infantry and cavalry as well as the Militia and sold commissions etc to officers, and
2) the Board of Ordnance who administered the engineers and artillery.
To add to the confusion a third Government department, The Treasury ran the Commissariat and Transport.
In Chapter V, John Carlyon has this to say:-
"Lord Bedlington is in a great way over the trouble they are in at the Horse Guards Information leaking out! Not my department, thank God!. It's for ever happening. Bonaparte's agents know their business very well."
and
"there's an important memorandum gone astray, and they're all in an uproar over it. By what I can make out, it's to do with his lordship's campaign for this spring, and there are only two copies in existence. You may guess what Bonaparte would give to have an inkling of what Wellington means to do, whether he will march on Madrid a second time, or strike in some new direction."
His brother, Lord Carlyon asks if it has been stolen.
"No, I don't say that, but I do know it is missing, However, from all I have ever seen of the way they go on at the Horse Guards it will very likely turn up in the wrong file, or some such thing. You must know that there are too many of Prinny's creatures foisted on them at the Horse Guards, and a shabbier set of fellows you'd be hard put to it to find than most of 'em! Such jobbery!"
Espionage was a vital part of warfare, particularly as it was such a long job to move troops - unlike today when large aircraft and helicopters can move the soldiers swiftly and precisely.
In the Peninsular War it was a case of the men marching for days on end to reach a particular position. To read about those conditions, see the links on the previous page to the letters written by two officers in Wellington's army in the Peninsular.
The Horse Guards Commander-in-Chief from 1795 - 1827 was the Duke of York (apart from a hiatus 1809-11 when Sir David Dundas took over after the Maryanne Clark scandal).
She was the mistress of the Duke of York who -it was alleged- had used her position as his mistress to ensure promotions in the Army. A list was even published of how much Mary Anne Clarke charged from the men seeking promotion - e.g. for a Majority 2600 pounds for a full-pay position and only 900 pounds for a half-pay position.
For the lowly position of an Ensign she was reputed to charge 400 pounds full-pay position and 200 pounds half-pay position.
The scandal was so well publicised in the newspapers of the time that it resulted in the Duke of York having to stand a public examination in the House of Lords
"to investigate the conduct of His Royal Highness the Duke of York, in his capacity of C-in-C with regard to appoinments, promotions, exchanges, the raising of new levies and the general state of the Army"
After a seven-week investigation, the result was a verdict of not guilty by 82 votes. The general opinion having been that there was no proof that the Duke of York had actually been involved in the corrupt transactions.
Source: 'The Regency Underworld' by Donald Low Published 1999 by Sutton Publishing Limited UK
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