Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Duty: A Retelling of Waterloo (An Alternate History)




Wellington is crushed. Napoleon is back. Ireland waits.


A redirected order changes the course of the Waterloo campaign and all of time in this novel of alternate history. Caught in the madness is Captain Aiden Rowe, an Irishman and patriot who fled his homeland after the murder of his parents. Now, with France's enemies retreating, and Napoleon rising again, Rowe will return home.

But he won't be going to Ireland alone. Along with a boon companion, Killian O'Meara, and cutthroat spy James Blackbrook, Rowe will bring the armies of France and the cries of freedom to a fiery island waiting for revolution.

As Napoleon crushes his enemies on the Continent, Ireland starts her own revolt. Through it all, Rowe and O'Meara struggle to keep their humanity in the carnage that arises after Waterloo is won.


Duty is 85,000 words long and specifically formatted for Kindle with an active table of contents.


This edition contains nearly 15,000 words of extra features from Seeley's upcoming works and other genres!

Includes:

Preview of the first three chapters of The Faith: Book I of the Uprising Trilogy (Coming Summer 2012) –

Nathaniel Fletcher and Viscount Logan Harling have been friends since childhood. Now they're traveling throughout Europe seeking adventure, wealth, and fame.

What they find instead is a ruthless secret society determined to seize power from the King of Riktenburg, ending the monarchy that has betrayed the divine right of kings.

Killing him, the radicals replace him with a master imposter and order the execution of the dead king's twin brother. Logan and Nathaniel, caught up in the mess, are the only ones who can stop Rikenburg from descending into darkness and tyranny. But how can they save the kingdom and their own lives when they're being chased by THE FAITH?

The Faithis the action-packed opening to the Uprising Trilogy!


The Play’s the Thing - Seeley's Napoleonic short fiction is collected in the Men of Eagles series. In this story, a troupe of Spanish actors gives a very . . . special performance to a hated French garrison.

The Wait –A criminal’s past catches up with him aboard an airship in this Steampunk tale.

The Tricolore Irishman – a short essay on Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the factual Irish revolutionaries which provided, in part, the inspiration for Duty.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

The Tricolore Irishman: Theobald Wolfe Tone's Work towards Unified Independence

As you know, my second novel focused on an alternative history of Waterloo, complete with a French invasion of Ireland. For an Irish History course I took, we examined the 1798 rebellion. My work focused on one vital revolutionary: Theobald Wolfe Tone.

* * * * *



            Europe at the close of the Eighteenth Century was a turmoil of conflicting ideas and battling ideologies. With the American Revolution opening the question of modern popular sovereignty, and the French Revolution establishing the overthrow of the Ancien Régime, the precedent was set for popular rebellions against traditional, aristocratic societies. This newfound shift towards revolutionary action was soon taken up by one of Europe's most oppressed  nations, Ireland. For centuries, the Catholic majority of Ireland had been systematically ostracized and exploited by a Protestant minority supported by the English Crown. Yet, this Irish Question was not always the most important issue facing Ireland.

            While exacerbated by religious differences, the English suppression of Ireland was not fully rooted in faith-based sectarianism; many Irish Protestants also felt the intense need to throw off their English overlords. The resentment towards English rule, coupled with the revolutionary principles of the era, led to the Irish Rebellion of 1798. However, this rebellion was not a spontaneous, chaotic rise. Instead, it was underpinned by intense, international diplomacy, namely towards France. One Irishman, Theobald Wolfe Tone, served as an ambassador to Paris, working tirelessly to gain French martial support in the years preceding the rebellion. For Tone, religious divides were unimportant. As a Protestant leading a country of Catholics, only separation from England mattered. This was his Irish Question: how best to attain Irish independence. Despite the failed nature of the eventual uprising, Tone's vital diplomatic work must not be underestimated; it aimed at securing French military forces, an international recognition of the sovereignty of Ireland, and in part, helped spur and unify a population towards rebellion.

            The earlier life of Tone, the eldest son of a Dublin coach maker, was fraught with political activism in Ireland, notoriety among the English, and eventual exile to America (Tone 21, 35-40). The purpose of this paper, however, will focus on his time in preparation for the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

            Tone traveled from America and arrived in Paris in the winter of 1796. He immediately began petitioning the French Directory, the revolutionary government, for assistance in gaining Irish independence. He was met favorably. Tone writes in his diary that "Madgett [a longstanding Irish representative to Revolutionary France] assures me again that the government here has their attention turned most seriously to Irish affairs; that they feel that unless they can separate Ireland and England, the latter is invulnerable" (Tone 41). With favorable listeners, Tone set about grafting Ireland to the principles of the Tricolore.

            Tone understood the strategic power of Ireland's geographic and ideological positions. By controlling or aligning with a free Ireland, France would be able to undermine English antagonism; the possibility of an invasion of England by way of Ireland would be too dangerous to ignore. "Differences and antipathies between France and England in character, customs, forms of government, and commercial relations were set forth as reasons for an attack by the French. The best way to deliver this attack and to check the power and riches of England was to detach Ireland from the British Empire" (Come 181). In order to secure this detachment, Tone required a military intervention from France; he did not trust the ability of poorly trained Irish rebels to succeed on their own. As history would eventually show, his fears were correct. An Irish rebellion, unsupported by significant numbers of French troops, could not succeed.

            But, in 1796, hopes were high. With a level of French sympathy to the Irish cause, Tone set about convincing the Directory of the necessity and soundness of his strategies. In this, the Irishman turned to Lazare Carnot, a powerful French politician and one of the five Directors. Carnot was one of the most powerful men in France, had organized the draft that saved the French Republic, and had survived the backlash after the Terror despite being on the Committee for Public Safety; this politician was one to respect and fear. Tone was understandably intimidated. "What shall I say to Carnot? Well, 'whatsoever the Lord putteth into my mouth, that surely shall I utter'" (Tone 142). Knowing the importance of his mission and the vital need for French assistance, he "plucked up a spirit . . . and mounted the stairs like a lion" (Tone 142). The following interview would pave the way for French support.

            The two politicians greeted each other amiably and proceeded to discuss the merits of a proposed invasion. Tone discussed the overwhelming Catholic support for independence, as well the fallibility of the English military. "With unwarranted optimism Tone asserted that two-thirds of the British army . . .were Irishmen who would offer no resistance to a French invasion. Whatever the merits of all of Tone's arguments, it was a case of a fast-talking Irishman convincing a group of keen-minded Frenchmen" (Come 181). In the end, the French government decided to support the rebellion; French troops would sail to Ireland.

            After nearly a year of negotiations and discussions to settle upon logistics, a French force set sail for Ireland in December of 1796. In composition, it was led by French General Lazare Hoche, a veteran of great skill, as well as fifteen thousand troops (Jackson 15). The troops carried additional supplies, such as muskets, to be distributed to the Irish rebels. These ancillary revolutionaries would then support a French advance across the island, sweeping up the British garrisons in their wake. Together, the French and the Irishmen would free the country from English tyranny.

            Theobald Wolfe Tone had accomplished his diplomatic aims. He had united the two nations, aligning to defeat a common enemy and achieve liberation for his homeland. "Huzza! Vive la Republique! I am a pretty fellow to . . . pull down a monarchy and establish a republic; to break a connection of 600 years standing, and contract a fresh alliance with another country" (Tone 147). The ambassador eagerly boarded a ship, and the force loosed her anchors to enact Tone's plans.

            Sadly, the strategy's execution would not be fulfilled. Hoche, Tone, and the French liberators sailed "only to be dispersed by Atlantic gales rather than the Royal Navy" (Jackson 15). As they approached Bantry Bay, high winds and rough waves attacked the vessels. Hoche's ship had become separated from the expedition. His subordinates could not come to a consensus about attempting a landing; they decided to err on the side of caution and not attempt one at all. The entire expedition was forced to turn around without landing a single troop. In rage, Tone lamented that  "England has not had such an escape since the Spanish armada" (Tone 231). There would never again be an opportune time for an invasion by significant numbers of French troops.

            Very small parties of Frenchmen would eventually land and aid the rebellion in 1798. But Tone, and all of his contemporaries, would never live to see an independent Ireland. Instead, only sadness waited for the Irish rebels. Without French aid, the British garrisons destroyed the Irish troops in battle after battle. Heinous atrocities were committed against the Irish population and captured rebels. As for Theobald Wolfe Tone, fate would also not be kind. "The capture and suicide of Tone came as a quiet coda to a rebellion that was already all but crushed" (Jackson 20). The diplomat was taken when a French ship, the Hoche, was seized by the Royal Navy. He was tried and found guilty of treason against the state and sentenced to hang. In protest of the government's refusal to give him a military execution by firing squad, he slit his wrists, taking his own life and preserving his own honor.

            Yet, whatever his end, Tone's work must not be forgotten. In a country rife with religious sectarianism, Tone refused to advocate division. In regards to the Irish Question, Tone strove for unification; a Protestant Irishman wanted freedom for his country from an oppressor of his own faith. Religious divides did not matter in the face of independence. To unite the whole people of Ireland, to abolish the memory of all past dissensions, and to substitute the common name of Irishman in place of the denominations of Protestant, Catholic, and Dissenter -- these were my means" (Tone 62). Tone understood that Ireland could not meet her full potential as a religiously divided state. She could never rise to greatness unless she threw off a foreign government that propagated religious divides and tensions.

            While he never fully achieved his ends, Tone's powerful work towards Irish unification, towards Irish independence, should be remembered and lauded when examining the Irish Question. Acting in an era of radical, governmental shifts and religious divides, Tone sought to unify all members of his country in a struggle against a foreign power. Tone attempted to settle his own Irish Question -- one of Irish independence -- by securing French military aid, an international recognition of the sovereignty of Ireland, and unifying Ireland in the bid for freedom. For this, the Tricolore Irishman must never be forgotten.



Bibliography

Come, Donald R.. "French Threats to British Shores, 1793-1798." Military Affairs, Vol 16.4 (1952): 174-188. Print.

Jackson, Alvin. Ireland 1798-1998: Politics and War. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 1999. Print.

Tone, Theobald Wolfe. The Life of Theobald Wolfe Tone. Ed. William Theobald Wolfe Tone. London: Whittaker, Treacher, and Arnot, 1831. Print.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Free Kindle Ebooks!


Well folks, my Napoleonic short fiction collections, the Men of Eagles series, is going on sale today! With the KDP Select program, they'll be free for all of today! I hope you enjoy!

Here's the links:

Men of Eagles : http://www.amazon.com/Men-Eagles-Volume-ebook/dp/B004LZ55GY/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336108654&sr=1-1

Staying the Course: http://www.amazon.com/Staying-Course-Eagles-Volume-ebook/dp/B005FCUB84/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2