We
can be surprised sometimes by connections in life, and sometimes echoes from
the past connect us with far away and long forgotten people and events. I have been very fortunate to escape into the
highways and byways of military history and wander around many historic
battlefields over the years. The
landscape tells us so many things and gives us a unique perspective on the
events and personalities who we encounter in the pages of the history books. Sometimes the past connects with our own lives
in a very special way, and we find a physical connection.
I am currently researching the battle of Svensksund in 1790, during the war between Sweden and Russia. The maritime museum in Finland made a remarkable discovery in the wreck of one the Russian warships, the Saint Nikolai. It was the binding of a copy of my favourite book, ‘The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy’ by the Reverend Laurence Sterne. It had been on the seabed for nearly 200 years. This lovely little three minute video tells the story;
The video has English subtitles and describes the finding of the book; probably owned by an English officer in the Russian fleet. He was reading about Uncle Toby and Corporal Trim in the faraway Baltic in 1790 – as I read about them in faraway Iraq in 2003. A little research revealed that this officer was probably Captain Marshall; of whom an unfinished miniature painting exists with this poignant inscription:
S E Marshall. Aged 24
Captain in the Russian Navy
who in the Engagement with
the Swedes on the 10 July 1790
having with unparalleled valour
fought for 17 Hours & received
many wounds wrapt himself
up in the Colours of his
Ship when sinking &
perished with her
in the Waves
The scene now moves to a longer term project that has been in the background for a number of years;
the Cabinet wars of the Theatre King;
or
Gustavus III Rex.
The project has now started, so the Vauban and Shandy blog says a temporary farewell to Trumptonshire and moves to the Skerries of Sveaborg and Svenskskund... and it was a remarkable joy to find Tristram Shnady and Uncle Toby in these cold northern waters, a long time ago.
