1803. July… August… September… Three months in which the Maratha forces are defeated by Arthur Wellesley at Assaye… Hanover becomes the latest victim to Napoleon Bonaparte’s forces… And there’s another attempted uprising in Ireland. This is episode 47 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months in which the British and their sepoys take another step towards Empire on the Indian subcontinent.

[07:08] - Headline developments

[20:17] - Michael Rowe on the French invasion of Hanover

[39:45] - Ravindra Rathee on the end of the Second Anglo-Maratha War

[1:01:00] - Ciaran McDonnell on Emmet’s uprising

Alex Stevenson sits down with Martin Howard, author of the newly published 'The Napoleonic Wars: A Medical History' (March 2025). Together, they dive into the real and often overlooked medical realities of the Napoleonic Wars.

The discussion explores how disease, especially yellow fever and malaria, decimated armies in places like the Caribbean, frequently eclipsing battlefield casualties. Martin Howard explains the psychological, social, and strategic impact of mass disease, highlighting how military leaders and soldiers navigated the ever-present threat of death and illness during this era. The episode also delves into medical advancements, the organization of military healthcare, and personal anecdotes that bring the human cost—and resilience—of the period into sharper focus.

Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly

Here's a brief update on the state of the podcast. The main points:

- The podcast is temporarily slowing down its pace. There will now be a main episode, three bonus episodes and three Patreon bonuses every 42 days, rather than every calendar month; published alternating weekends / midweek, ie an episode every 10/11 days rather than every 7.

- A new super-bargain priced tier is being introduced on Patreon so those who feel short-changed have the option of downgrading. It also offers incredibly good value to those who might want to join our community of Quartermasters...

Josh Provan is joined by Charles Esdaile and Alex Mikaberidze, with Alex Stevenson and Clemens Bemmann along for the ride, to discuss all things politico-diplomatic in this Q&A episode. Including:

02:30: British dirty tricks (Warning: Grumpy Charles alert)

24:00: French brinkmanship

32:00: Poland's prospects

36:32: Napoleonic ghost stories

Link: Napoleon's little red man

41:00: Listener feedback

Seven years before the Napoleonic Quarterly got going properly, a single interview was recorded in 2013 - in the Palace of Westminster, of all places. A young Alex Stevenson, then a lobby journalist, spoke to Professor David Andress of the University of Portsmouth about his new book, 'The Savage Storm - Britain on the brink in the age of Napoleon' (it was subsequently retitled 'Beating Napoleon' - for obvious Bonaparte-googling reasons). David kindly returned to the podcast once it hit its stride in 2020, but it's a great pleasure to finally get around to releasing this outlier. Twelve years might be some sort of record...

Quartermasters - keep a look out on Patreon for more from this interview from David, where he discusses the situation in the first half of 1803.

Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly

1803… April… May… June… Three months in which war once again breaks out between Britain and France… American negotiators worrying about Louisiana’s future get an unexpected offer from the First Consul… And on Saint-Domingue, General Jean-Jacques Dessalines unifies resistance to the struggling French expedition.This is episode 46 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three months which sees the beginning of what will become known as the Napoleonic Wars.

[04:25] - Headline developments

[16:25] - Graeme Callister on the resumption of war between Britain and France

[39:40] - Peter Kastor on the Louisiana Purchase

[1:01:20] - Marlene Daut on the Arcahaie Agreement, the anti-French slide and progress towards Haitian independence on Saint-Domingue

Liam Gauci, Senior Curator at the Malta Maritime Museum in Valletta, returns for another conversation about Maltese history, this time with the goal of planning a future visit by the Napoleonic Quarterly to the 'crossroads of the Mediterranean'.

This episode is sponsored by Heritage Malta, whose support for the podcast is enormously appreciated. Liam's book Morte o Fortuna: Corsairs in Malta 1747-1798 is out now. 

What led to the Louisiana Purchase, one of the most important territorial acquisitions in world history? Prof Peter Kastor of Washington University in Saint Louis describes the build-up all the way to the negotiations in Paris, which we'll cover off in our main episode on Q2-1803 (out Wednesday 2nd 2025).

We're very excited, after such a long time working on this concept, to bring you the pilot for our new approach to battle episodes. Given 1802-4 is relatively quiet in military history terms, we're going to use this period to work our way through some of the key battles of the 1796 campaign, beginning with Bonaparte's victory at Montenotte in April.

Clemens Bemmann presents; Rick Schneid is our battlefield correspondent, reporting from Montenotte itself as the day develops; Graeme Callister is in the studio with Clemens as our French Army expert; and John (Jack) Gill is alongside him as our Austrian Army expert.

The result is our attempt to present battles in a novel audio format, bringing an immediacy to the story. This remains a work in progress, of course - we'll keep improving it to make it even better, and please let us know if you have any feedback to help with this by dropping us a line to napoleonicquarterly [at] gmail.com.

We'll aim to produce one of these every couple of months or so, so bear with us!

Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly

1800. January… February… March… Three fateful months for the Hapsburgs, for Austria, and for the patchwork of territories east of the Rhine… In Switzerland the French impose a revised settlement in a bid to end years of unrest… And in the interior of modern-day Sri Lanka the Kingdom of Kandy is ready and waiting for the British as the ill-fated redcoats make their advance… this is episode 45 of the Napoleonic Quarterly - covering three historic months for Switzerland and for Germany.

[06:17] - headline developments

[25:40] - Michael Rowe on the Imperial Recess, the Reichsdeputationhauptschluss and the dividing-up of Germany

[51:40] - Biancamaria Fontana on the Act of Mediation and the re-establishing of cantonal government in Switzerland

[1:13:30] - Josh Provan on the British offensive against the Sri Lankan Kingdom of Kandy

Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly