My Appalling Taste in Men...

Recently, I was in the National Gallery and I clapped eyes on the most gorgeous man.  Our eyes met across a crowded gallery and I felt compelled to get closer to him. I went over to introduce myself because I knew he was the man for me...

Colonel Banastre Talerton (1782) Joshua Reynolds
National Gallery, London

Look at those legs!  Look at that hat! Swit swoo! I'm sure he won't be an amoral killing machine.  When I returned home, I immediately rushed to research him, with hope in my heart.  Oh dear...

Young Banastre Tarleton (1770s) Richard Cosway

Born in the summer of 1754, Banastre Tarleton was the third of seven children born to Liverpool Mayor, John Tarleton (1718-1773).  His grandfather had been a slave trader and shipowner and his younger brother John was a member of Parliament in 1792, and also a slave trader.  Young Tarleston went to Oxford in 1771, preparing to become a lawyer, but instead inherited money from his father's death and went well and truly off the rails. Hurrah!

Tickets and passes for the Cocoa Tree club

On his father's death in 1773, Tarleston inherited £5,000 which translates to over £300,000 in today's money. Impressively, he managed to squander most of it in less than a year, on gambling and ladies, mostly at the Cocoa Tree club, to which Lord Byron was a member.  The club was notorious for being a money drain, with extortionate amounts of money being exchanged at cards or in bribes among the most fashionable men of London.  With what was left of his inheritance, he purchased a commission in 1775, entering the 1st Dragoon Guards as a cavalry officers.  Due to his skill as a leader and talent on a horse, he worked himself up to a Lieutenant Colonel all at a very early age.

At the age of 21, Tartleton sailed to North America to join the War of Independence, where much of his dubious reputation was built.  He led a scouting party that surrounded White's Tavern on Basking Ridge and captured General Charles Lee in his dressing gown (which is a terrible place to get captured). He fought in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, working his way up the rank because he was just so bloody good at what he did. He was given his own unit, christened 'Tarleton's Raiders' and he dressed them in green jackets so that if you were on the battlefield and you saw a sea of green approaching you, you knew you were in trouble.

Siege of Charlestown 1780 (19th century) Alonzo Chappel

One of the things I love about Lieutenant Colonel Tarleton is that whilst fighting in the war, he made time to send letters home to the newspapers about what he was getting up to.  What they published was actually extracts from his letters to Sir Henry Clinton, his General.  A letter from October 1779, published in Saunder's News-Letter relates a skirmish at Poundbridge, finishing with a cheery summary of the battle: 'With pleasure I relate to your excellency, that the loss sustained by his majesty's troops is trifling, 1 hussar of the legion killed, 1 wounded, 1 horse of 17th dragoons killed, the whole of the detachment, except the above, being returned to camp.  the infantry of the legion, mounted on horses, are extremely fatigued by a march of 64 miles in 23 hours.'  From his letters you get an impression of a young, gifted soldier who drove himself as hard as he drove his troops, so no wonder they followed him with the same passion.  The problems came while Tarleton's Raiders were winning.  After the Siege of Charleston, one or more of the soldiers sexually assaulted the local women after winning a victory.  This perceived lack of control of his troops raised questions, but that was just the start of it.

Sign at the site of the Battle of Waxhaws

The Battle of Waxhaws is what cemented Banastre Tarleton's reputation as an out-and-out bastard and led to his charming nicknames such as 'Bloody Ban' and 'the Butcher', but again it was less of what he did but more what his men got up to.  In May 1780, Tarlton got a surrender from Colonel Buford, however as the troops prepared for this, Tarleton's horse was shot from under him and it fell, trapping him beneath it.  Seeing their commander fall whilst taking a surrender, and believing the musket had come from the Virginians, the Raiders slaughtered anyone they could get their hands on, including killing injured American soldier's where they lay.  Unsurprisingly, American historians in the 19th century saw this as an appalling war-crime, hence the nicknames, but generally it can be seen as further proof of the lack of discipline but also the ferocious devotion of the troops to their young, precocious commander.

It was in the Spring of 1781 that his (and everyone else's) luck ran out.  During the Battle of Guilford Court House, Banastre had two of his fingers of his right hand shot off.  This didn't initially seem to slow him down as he battled on through the year to the British surrender in October of that year.  When invitations were sent for the senior British officers to have dinner with the American victors, the only one not to receive an invite was Bloody Ban, who went home in retirement, aged 27.

Victorian engraving of Banastre Tarleton for a biography

As soon as Tartleton returned home, his portrait was painted by Joshua Reynolds who cleverly disguised his war wound by the pose he placed him in, as if he is reaching for his sword.  His hand became his great weapon in politics.  He wrote his experiences in battle in Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America (1781), available for free download here. He then went into politics, standing for MP for Liverpool, a seat he claimed in 1790 until 1812.  Disappointingly unsurprising, he was a supporter of slavery, not only because of his family history but also because of its significance for the port in Liverpool.  He also was a first-class cricketer, named as the best bowler at a match in May 1784 (according to a historical account quoted in the Liverpool Daily Post in June 1942).  According to Wisden, Tarleton played for Brighton, the forerunner of the modern Sussex Club. When fighting erupted in the Peninsular War, Tartleton had great hopes of leading the troops, but instead that role was given to the slightly younger Duke of Wellington. 'Bloody Ban' was never to go to war again.

Mary Robinson as Perdita (1782) John Hoppner

As interesting as his military career was, I find his love life as fascinating and far more sympathetic.  In Tartleton's obituary in 1833, quite a few column inches of the Morning Chronicle were dedicated to his romance with Mary Robinson, a leading actress and writer, and previous-mistress of the Prince of Wales.  Tarleton seduced Mary on a bet (lovely) but their romance lasted 15 years and through Mary's illness and paralysis.  In 1783, Mary suffered a miscarriage and Paula Byrne, in her biography of Robinson, suggests that the actress developed an infection which left her paralyzed.  Tarleton loved her so much that he would arrive at her house, carry her to his carriage, then to her favourite theatre in Covent Garden, where she had seen great success playing 'Perdita' in Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale. The paralysis led Mary to a different career and she excelled as a writer of poetry, plays and novels.  The lovers possibly had a child, as related in this blog, but still the couple parted ways after naughty Ban's roving eye strayed towards Mary's 21 year old daughter by her first marriage. He finally married in 1798, to an illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Ancaster, Susan Bertie and Mary Robinson died in 1800.  When Tartleton died in 1833 his checkered, 'romantic' and scandalous life provided much fodder for his biographers who saw him as an MP second and a lover-soldier first.

Detail from the Reynold's portrait

A Tarleton helmet, c.1810

A slightly odd legacy for the Bloody Butcher of the American Revolution is a hat, the Tarleton helmet. The leather helmet had a plume of fur (or wool for lower ranks) across the top and it remained popular until the end of the Napoleonic wars.  It is the luscious concoction that the man himself wears in his portrait, with the massive plume billowing in the winds of war.  It no doubt added to the romance that surrounded him, and was adopted by other armies, such as King Ludwig II of Bavaria's troops until his untimely death in 1886 (another romantic if ever there was one). 

So, how should we remember the man under the hat?  It is easy to forget how young he was when he led his troops in the American Civil War, and he undoubtedly made as many mistakes as he made brilliant strategic and brave moves.  The violence that accompanied his troops diminished his victories and it is unsurprising that he is still viewed as a butcher. When you develop such a reputation in war in order to intimidate your rivals you risk forever being tarred by your own propaganda, no matter the truth behind it. The care he took of his lover, carrying her to her favourite box in the theatre is heart-meltingly romantic and certainly gives a different side to the soldier-politician.  The slave-trading sympathies relate to his history and location, but are damning, thanks to the clear vision of time but he was no different in many ways than vast swathes of rich men of his generation.  In the end I just have to admit that although Joshua Reynolds captures the beauty of an exceptional young man, knowing his background has rendered him somewhat less attractive.  

Damn, why are all the handsome ones so appalling?

Emma Hamilton's Attitudes

In this post I get to talk about one of my heroines, a woman who captures my imagination and inspires me. This, Ladies and Gentleman, is the story of Emma, Lady Hamilton and her magnificent attitudes!

Emma as Circe (1782) George Romney

I want to concentrate on Emma's performance art, her attitudes especially in this post as there is so much to say about the woman herself that it would be a travesty to squash it all into one post.  However, here is a little potted history to begin with.  Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl called Amy Lyon, born up in Cheshire in the north west of England in 1765.  She was the daughter of a blacksmith, and was sent into service by the time she was twelve years old.  Whilst in service with a family in London, she met a maid who wanted to be an actress and to poor Amy this sounded far more fun than scrubbing floors and emptying chamber pots.  She attended a theatre and started working there, ironically not as an actress but as a maid to the actresses, but still, I bet it was more interesting work than a house...

Emma in a Straw Hat (1782-84) George Romney

She didn't remain at the theatre for long, gaining employment at a 'goddess of health' where she danced and posed in something that passed for a hospital.  The lovely Emma Hart (as she became) was there as a model of physical perfection as the patients were assisted with predominantly sexual problems, on electrified beds.  Emma posed as 'Hebe Vestina', daughter of Zeus and the goddess of youth.  Seeing as she was only around 14 years old, she certainly personified youth.  Whilst it sounds a little shady to modern ears, the focus of the treatment was married couples who got to use the 'Grand Celestial Bed' for £50, together with real turtle doves.  Heavens.

Emma as a Bacchante (1785) George Romney

It was whilst she was a mistress of Charles Francis Greville (1749-1809) that Emma found herself in Naples, in 1783.  She had been sent off by Greville to keep his uncle, Sir William Hamilton, company whilst Greville found himself a rich wife.  While Greville was in love with Emma, he had commissioned the artist George Romney to paint portraits of her and she had posed as various muses - a bacchante, the tragic Cassandra, all beautiful and graceful.  Taking this further, Emma struck poses or 'attitudes' for the entertainment of Sir William and his guests, like a beautiful sculpture.  Whilst in Italy, the German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe described how Sir William had a black box 'frame' in which Emma posed.  It was probably no different for her to pose for an audience than to pose for an artist, both a mere extension of her previous ambitions towards the stage.

Emma as Cassandra (1780s) George Romney

It was during her stay in Italy that Emma found herself surrounded by the mass of antiquities that Sir William had collected.  She was also given an education of sorts, studying languages, history, art, together with singing and other skills that would make her a good companion for her older benefactor.  Sir William was a diplomat, a learned man, archaeologist and vulcanologist, and lonely.  After it became apparent that Greville was not returning to her, Emma pinned her colours well and truly to Sir William and her role as hostess at his gatherings involved her posing, moving gracefully between characters.  If Romney's paintings of Emma had made her famous, her attitudes swiftly made her a superstar.

Emma Hamilton's Attitude (1891-4) Friedrich Rehberg (engraved: Tommaso Piroli)

When a folder of engravings was published of 'EH' (Emma Hart/Hamilton) was published it added to the accounts of her performances by Goethe.  In his Italian Journey of 1787, Goethe described her thus: 

"She lets down her hair and, with a few shawls, gives so much variety to her poses, gestures, expressions, etc. that the spectator can hardly believe his eyes. He sees what thousands of artists would have liked to express realised before him in movements and surprising transformations - standing, kneeling, sitting, reclining, serious, sad, playful, ecstatic, contrite, alluring, threatening, anxious, one pose follows another without a break . . . This much is certain: as a performance it is like nothing you ever saw before in your life."

The twelve attitudes portrayed in the portfolio of engravings would have been familiar to those on the 'Grand Tour', connoisseurs of antiquities, acquirers of statuary and vases.  Emma personified those flimsily clad maidens, her youth and beauty displayed in passive, static pose for the enjoyment and enlightenment of a predominantly male audience.

Emma as the attitude of 'dance' from the above portrfolio

Emma Hamilton as a Bacchante (1791-2) Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun

 Such was Emma's fame by this point that even though her attitudes had only been performed for a select audience, on the publication of the portfolio, the Morning Post commented in much excitement 'LADY HAMILTON'S attitudes are at last made public'.  By the time that the portfolio was published, plain Emma Hart had indeed become Lady Hamilton, wife of a diplomat and one of the most sought after hostesses in Europe.  In many ways the publication of the portfolio was a forerunner to something like Kim Kardashian's 2015 opus Selfish, a bound copy of all her selfies over 352 pages.  There are quite a few similarities between Emma Hamilton's early career and that of Miss Kardashian, who both used clever manipulation and exploitation of their image to gain fame, although I have yet to come across the engraving of Emma with a champagne glass on her bottom.

Lady H- Attitudes (c.1800) Thomas Rowlandson

It's hardly surprising that Emma became an easy target for satire and mockery.  The above image is fairly typical, showing a rather grotesque Sir William showing off the beautiful, naked Emma to an artist, whilst statues take on rather amorous aspect around them.  This is no doubt a reference to her previous career as a goddess of health, but also has hints of prostitution about it.  Sir William is seen as pimping out his young wife, who seems to have her foot in a chamber pot. Charming.

Caricature of Emma from A New Edition of Attitudes Faithfully Copied from Nature
and Humbly Dedicated to all Admirers of the Grand and Sublime (1807)

Oddly, various caricatures of Emma at the height of her fame show her as enormously fat (and indistinguishable from the Prince Regent's bride Caroline about a decade later).  For a woman who had built her fame on her looks I suppose it is inevitable that mockery would stem from the destruction of that fame and a way of mocking the famous men who worshipped her.  The artist of these works, attributed to James Gillray, was possibly hinting that previous artistic devotees of Emma were utilizing 18th century Photoshop and portraying her as far more attractive than she was. It's comforting to know that the English propensity for tearing down harmless celebrities for no good reason has been going on for years.  Apparently, it's traditional.

As a conclusion to this rambling piece, I found it delightful that the publicity shots of the movie That Hamilton Woman (1941), Vivian Leigh reproduced the poses that made Emma famous. The attitudes of Lady Hamilton still had the power to express beauty and grace to a twentieth century audience, a century and a half after they were conceived.  In many ways, Emma was the sum of her art, and in no way is that meant to belittle her.  By transforming an uneducated, cast-off mistress into an educated society star, Sir William Hamilton had performed the role of Pygmalion creating his perfect woman in statue form.  By allowing that statue life, he also gave her fame and in that fame she found other men who also thought she was their perfect woman.  In many ways, Emma Hamilton's fame is based on her art and her art is herself, which today would be viewed with the levels of cynicism that is afforded Ms Kardashian.  However, Lady Hamilton and her attitudes found not shallow fame of a fleeting selfie moment, but the lasting fame of centuries.