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    The Admiral and the General.
    The Admiral and the General.
    The Admiral and the General.
    Ebook84 pages44 minutes

    The Admiral and the General.

    By William Bertram

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    It is 1654 and the English civil war is nearly over, both Cromwell and Protestantism are now supreme in England. However, there are one of two pockets of resistance bubbling away in the background. Hence, Oliver Cromwell now looks to a foreign war to distract Englishmen from certain misery and possible rebellion at home. Deviously, he now hatches a superb plan to attack Spain on two fronts, the plan will be labelled the Western Design and this play will examine the Caribbean expedition's part of that design. On the other hand, to be more exact the two men who will carry out the plan.
    One fleet will sail to the West Indies and seize or cut the flow of treasure to Spain by attacking Hispaniola. Whilst this occurs, a second fleet will sail to the Mediterranean to attack the Barbary Pirates and threaten France, whilst at the same time making friendly overtones to Spain, thus hopefully lulling them into a false sense of security. However, unfortunately, the West Indies fleet has two commanders, one for the ships, the seamen, and the other for the soldiers and any land operations. A clash of personalities will soon make this expedition sail blindly onwards towards humiliation and disaster. On the other hand, it could be argued that this expedition was the start of the formation of the Royal Marines, but of course, during the Commonwealth no one uses the title Royal.
    In December 1654, the hastily put together fleet sailed for Barbados, at the end of January they arrived, where additional forces were embarked, and the fleet arrived at Hispaniola on 13 April. Most of the Store ships carrying the arms and food for the soldiers had not caught up and so a landing was attempted with about eight thousand starving and poorly armed men, many of whom were suffering from sickness. They landed some 40 miles west of the capital, and the rag tag army trudged through the woods to attack it.
    It was no surprise to find that the Spanish easily threw back these dispirited and poorly armed men. Leaving General Venables complaining loudly and often about the cowardice of his men. Both commanders at that point decided to give up the attempt, and sailed for the Spanish Island of Jamaica, reaching that island on the 10 May. Fortunately, the capital town was occupied with very little fighting, and the governor forced to surrender by 17 May.
    Immediately Admiral Penn and General Venables sailed home and it was approximately September when both commanders appeared before the Council of State in London. Without delay both were committed to the Tower without further ado. Even at that point, General Venables complained bitterly and placed the blame for the debacle at Hispaniola on anyone and everyone.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWilliam Bertram
    Release dateJun 10, 2013
    ISBN9781301520152
    The Admiral and the General.
    Author

    William Bertram

    Bill Bertram has for the last forty years researched Britain’s late 18th and early 19th century Merchant and Royal Navy ships. At University, he specialised in the design and performance of wooden warships. He is now a maritime historian and writer living near Devonport Royal Naval Base, England.Bill’s work has been coloured by his historical knowledge and experience of seamanship, he has an unique approach to maritime history and has developed a dramatic style of writing that explores the brass tacks of historic maritime fiction. For him a good story must explain what is going on around the subject, it is extremely important that the background of the story is factually correct.Bill attended Plymouth University for his degree in Maritime History and Marine Technology. His dissertation on the sailing qualities of 19th century warships was rapidly accepted and broadcast on Television and Radio as well as being published in the New Scientist and in journals all around the world. During his time at University, he satisfied his academic curiosity and his need to eat, by becoming a guide at Plymouth Naval Base Museum and a receptionist at Fort Bovisand.For several years, he pursued this speciality further. The next years were fulfilling as a teacher, but retirement threatened and so Bill returned to his major academic love, maritime history, luckily he was in a city steeped in the past glories of her relationship with the sea. Now free from a profession, Bill again returned to his first love, the sea and writing historic novels. As a teenager, Bill loved the Hornblower novels by C. S. Forester and had always dreamed of writing books in that genre.It was at this point in Bill’s history that he decided to write books based on the history of Plymouth and its seafaring people. Resolving to write a mixture of factual and fiction books, his first three books progressed through several generations of the same family, he centred his rags to riches stories around the Brown family. Using factual evidence, he interwove the characters around Plymouth’s 18th century history and streets. This clearly involved many long days of research and fact-finding, however, eventually he wrote his first novel and swiftly followed it with two more in rapid succession. The first three books that Bill wrote are indeed based on an 18th century Plymouthian family who are clearly fictional, however, this can never be said of his novel’s backgrounds, here Bill has meticulously used old maps, drawings and records to build up an historic environment for his characters to exist in.Similarly with the three plays that have been also been composed, these also revolve about the same family, but are set in different centuries, but all involve the Plymouth Brown family and all deal with a period of historical significance.Bill Bertram has since published six books, He lives and writes from his home in Plymouth, for relaxation, Bill visits the sea daily and he is currently the owner of an Edwardian Steamboat in which he potters about.

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      Book preview

      The Admiral and the General. - William Bertram

      The Admiral and the General.

      a

      Radio Play.

      by

      William Bertram

      Published by William Bertram at Smashwords

      Copyright 2013 William Bertram

      Discover other titles by William Bertram at Smashwords.com

      Theme

      Taking time to construct a well-designed plan and then setting an incompetent person to manage it, is liken to constructing a well-designed cabinet with rotten wood. It will in the end, produce only a rotten box that falls apart at the seams while the makers and owners try to blame each other.

      Background.

      1654 and the English civil war is nearly over, both Cromwell and Protestantism are now supreme in England. However, there are one of two pockets of resistance bubbling away in the background. Hence, Oliver Cromwell now looks to a foreign war in order to distract Englishmen from certain misery and possible rebellion at home. Deviously, he now hatches a superb plan to attack Spain on two fronts, the plan will be labelled the Western Design and this play will examine the Caribbean expedition's part of that design. Or to be more exact the two men who will carry out the plan.

      One fleet will sail to the West Indies and seize or cut the flow of treasure to Spain by attacking Hispaniola. Whilst this occurs, a second fleet will sail to the Mediterranean to attack the Barbary Pirates and threaten France, whilst at the same time making friendly overtones to Spain, thus hopefully lulling them into a false sense of security. However, unfortunately this West Indies fleet has two commanders, one for the ships, the seamen, and the other for the soldiers and any land operations. A clash of personalities will soon make this expedition sail blindly onwards towards humiliation and disaster. On the other hand, it could be argued that this expedition was the start of the formation of the Royal Marines, but of course, during the Commonwealth no one uses the title Royal.

      Cast List

      Name Age Character Major or Minor

      William Brown, 20, Young seadog, proud, Protestant Devon accent, Major.

      John Tinsdale, 19, Northern accent, friend of William Brown's character, he can easily be dominated. Major

      William Penn, 34, Admiral placed in charge of the fleet sailing to the West Indies.

      Of the two commanders in this expedition, the Admiral is the strongest, but he is very stubborn and will carry a grudge for a long time. Major

      Robert Venables, 44, General in charge of the soldiers who accompany the fleet and who will take the Islands. Childish in character. Incompetent and full of bluster, but will back down if faced. Major

      General Desborough, 50 plus, some say the designer of this devious plan. In addition, he is Cromwell's brother in law. Minor

      James Bett, 35 Clerk to William Penn. Very clever, manipulates the Admiral. Minor

      Peter Wright, 36, older sailor, Norfolk accent. Very Minor

      Ned Gunn, Bosun, 35, experienced sailor, North Country accent. Very Minor

      Robert Duval, Master Gunner, 40, experienced gunner, Devon accent. Very Minor

      Musgrove 60 plus. Old salt, very clever but now weak in health. West Country accent. Minor

      Master Robert James Gunner’s Mate, 29, Experienced sailor, he is a natural leader and an expert gunner. London accent. Minor

      First, soldier (Ben Brooks), 28, Now half starved and mad with the world, does not want to be a soldier and especially does not want to be there. London Accent. Minor

      Second, soldier (Ned Riley), 25 Irish. Nasty piece of work, natural thief. Minor

      Third Soldier, age about 23. Good soldier, West Country accent. Very Minor

      Lieutenant Hoskins, 19, Young, inexperienced, well bred. Very Minor

      Colonel Blake, 45, Experienced soldier, knows the

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