NOSTALGIA: Look back at High Wycombe's military past

In the Nostalgia page over several weeks a few months back Mike Dewey and I examined in detail the painting of ‘The High Street in High Wycombe in 1772’ by William Hannan.

It is a vivid local historical street scene which, on close study, can pose some interesting questions. For instance, why are there sentries in guard boxes on either side of the doorway of The Antelope Inn?

At that time many inns throughout the country had military connections as they also functioned as a home for the local militia.

And so it was in Wycombe that The Antelope served such a purpose complete with guard boxes and sentries.

According to Jacqui Hogan, an expert on Jane Austen’s life and times, ‘the militia served to keep the peace locally, as there was no police force as such at that time.

They were funded by the local Lord Lieutenant and other land owners, but commanded by the Crown in times of national emergency.

They were constitutionally separate from the army “regulars” who served overseas. In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mr Wickham was an officer of the militia.

Since they didn’t do much apart from attending training camps and quashing the occasional riot, it was a popular occupation for young gentlemen able to be able to afford a commission.

Your rank depended on how rich your landholdings were or how clever you were in gaining influence amongst senior officers.’

In the later years of the 19th century it was thought necessary to set up a facility for training junior officers in the British Army who aspired to staff duties.

Training was to be provided in trigonometry, geometry, French language and siege warfare. Perhaps as a result of its militia connection, The Antelope was chosen as the headquarters of the Royal Military College which was established in 1799.

The founder was Lt Col John Gaspard le Marchant, who commented “It is an old place, but it will do to begin with.”

Born in Amiens in France, John Gaspard le Marchant came from a distinguished family in Guernsey. He was sent to school in Bath where he was described by his headmaster as ‘the greatest dunce I have ever met’.

However, he turned out to have a brilliant military mind.
Gaspard had a restless, innovative spirit and took a deep interest in the efficient functioning of the army.

He was made a lieutenant in 1789 and promoted to captain in 1791.

After one battle, an Austrian officer remarked to him that he thought British swordsmanship was akin to someone chopping wood.

Struck by that observation Gaspard went away and developed a new cavalry sabre which later was accepted throughout the army.

On another occasion, appalled at the poor performance of the British cavalry in Flanders in 1794, he devised new more effective cavalry-sword exercise.

This was soon adopted into the new army drill-book and became so famous that small boys practised it with bits of wood in country lanes.

These new ideas caught the attention of Frederick, Duke of York (of nursery rhyme fame), and in 1797 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel.

Shortly afterwards he won the support of His Royal Highness for the idea of setting up a college to train officers. This establishment, known as the Royal Military College, would aim to supply the army with a new class of officer able to do anything and go anywhere and to this end tutored the students in a wide range of skills including geometry, siege warfare and French.

The college opened in High Wycombe on 4 May 1799 with a junior section opening on 17 May 1802 at ‘Remnantz’, in West Street, Marlow.

There is a plaque on the restaurant ‘The Works’ in the High Street commemorating the college and there is another in Marlow. Gaspard became lieutenant-governor of the college with an annual salary of £300.

Soon afterwards he brought over his wife and family and they stayed in a house in Church Street on a site which is now the Chiltern Centre. There is also a heritage plaque on the wall there.

The roll at the college in Wycombe was limited to 30 at any one time. All candidates had to pay 30 guineas per annum and had to bring their own books and instruments.

At the same time, as much of the instruction was in the field, each cadet needed a horse for which forage was allowed.

It was generally agreed that the presence of officer cadets added to the romance of the town although their conduct sometimes upset the locals.

At that time a theatre flourished in St Mary Street and balls were held in the Guildhall.

In 1811 Gaspard was promoted to major general and was asked to vacate his position at the college and embark for service in the Peninsular War.

In his time at the college he had supported a school for poor children at his own cost.

Within days of his arrival in Portugal he was told that Mary, his wife, had died in giving birth to their 10th child. She is buried in All Saints Parish Church.

The college closed in 1813 and moved to Fareham whilst the junior section moved to Sandhurst, the site of the Royal Military Academy today.

For Wycombe it was not only a blow for the local shopkeepers but also the local young ladies!

In the time the college was based in Wycombe it is estimated that more than 200 officers passed through it.
Half the staff officers in Wellington’s army came from here.

After the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, which finally saw the defeat of the French under Napoleon, Wellington’s chief of staff praised the training that his officers had from the Royal Military College in Wycombe.

Was victory at Waterloo then won not only on the playing fields of Eton but also in the hills and valleys of the Chilterns?

Gaspard lost his life in 1812 at Salamanca after cutting down 6 of the enemy in a cavalry charge. News of his death came as a blow to both officers and men in his regiment and the Duke of York wept on hearing the news.

For services to his country parliament voted an annual pension of £1,000 for his orphaned children as well as donating £1,500 for a memorial in St Paul’s Cathedral.

There the inscription reads ‘Erected at the public expense to the memory of Major General John Gaspard le Marchant who gloriously fell in the Battle of Salamanca.’

In 1999, to mark the bicentenary of the setting up of the Royal Military College, the island of Guernsey produced a set of postage stamps. Gaspard features on the first stamp in the series outside the college in High Wycombe alongside a soldier shown brandishing the sabre he invented.

The background is taken from part of William Hannan’s painting.

Willie Reid is a trustee of the High Wycombe Society. He has led free guided historical walks round the town since 2016. The walks are 2.5 miles long and normally take 2.5 hours to complete with one short steep climb.

Future walks will start from the museum in Priory Avenue at 10.15 on the following dates: Saturday, July 7; Saturday, August 18; Saturday, September 22; Saturday, October 20. No need to book - just turn up.