Two gems for history lovers
• A look at Richard III’s demise and the biography of a Boer saboteur
The Battle of Bosworth Field in August 1485 by W Hutton, which focuses on the combat that marked the end of the Wars of the Roses and heralded the start of the Tudor Dynasty, is one of the books on offer at the Antiquarian Auctions online book auction (www.antiquarianauctions.com/auction), which starts on March 2.
It was the last time an English monarch was killed in battle on English soil. The monarch, Richard III, was also the last of the Plantagenets. The victor, Henry Tudor, was the Lancastrian claimant to the throne of England. He was crowned King Henry VII of England and one of his sons went on to become Henry VIII.
According to the book, England The Autobiography, edited by John Lewis-Stempel, Richard “was treasonably deserted during the battle by the Stanley family”. Henry’s force of about 5,000 men was half the size of Richard’s army. The battle was tilting in Richard’s favour when the Stanley family went to the aid of the hard-pressed Henry with about 3,000 men.
The tide of battle swung against Richard, “who was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies”.
Richard could have saved himself by fleeing. His loyal troops brought “swift horses”, but he refused to flee.
“God forbid I yield one step,” he is reported to have said. “This day I will die as a king or win.”
When Richard spotted Henry Tudor’s standards, he charged towards him with his cavalry of about 200 men, wearing the crown over his helmet but was killed in the ensuing melee. After Henry’s victory, Thomas Stanley, who found Richard’s crown among the debris on the field, placed it on Henry’s head.
The naked body of Richard was laid on a horse, with arms and legs hanging down on both sides. But according to the HistoryExtra website, Richard was placed on the back of a horse, “trussed up like a hog … with his ‘privy parts’ exposed”.
He was taken to Leicester, where his body was put on display before being buried two days later “without any pomp or solemn funeral”.
He was perhaps not the evil, grotesque character he is made out to be in English history. In 1924, the Richard III Society was founded, aiming to challenge accepted beliefs and assumptions about “the last Plantagenet”, not least the popular depiction of Richard as having a crooked spine.
There is a reserve price of $40 on the book, whose full title is The Battle of Bosworth Field, between Richard the Third and Henry Earl of Richmond, August 22, 1485.
On offer, too, is the biography of Capt Oliver “Jack” Hindon, the ace train wrecker and master scout for the Boers during the Anglo-Boer War.
The book, Kaptein Hindon: Oorlogsaventure van ’n Baas Verkenner, was written by Gustav Preller and published by JL van Schaik in Pretoria in 1916. The reserve price is $40.
Hindon, or Hinton as later historians spell his name, had a chequered career. Born in Scotland in 1874, he joined the British army at the age of about 14 as a band boy. He was sent to Zululand, where he deserted and settled in Wakkerstroom.
He achieved prominence during the Jameson Raid in 1895-96 when he fought with such dedication and courage on the side of the Boer forces that the Transvaal government granted him full citizenship.
When the Anglo-Boer War broke out four years later, Hinton joined the Middelburg Commando. At the battle of Spioenkop, he distinguished himself when, under enemy fire, he waved the Vierkleur on the summit of the hill.
The scout unit he subsequently formed, proved so successful that Lord Kitchener said Hinton caused him more problems than any other Boer.
Hinton and his men went on to become highly skilled train wreckers, notably along the Delagoa Bay Railway Line, where they fought under the command of Gen Ben Viljoen.
According to Rayne Kruger in Goodbye Dolly Gray, he aroused the extreme anti-Boer press to a frenzy. “It is to be hoped that the time will soon come when Hinton, who adds to his guilt the crime of treason, will expiate for his sin upon a gallows.”
RICHARD COULD HAVE SAVED HIMSELF. HIS LOYAL TROOPS BROUGHT ‘SWIFT HORSES’, BUT HE REFUSED TO FLEE
The revenge that men of the military railways wanted was more extreme. They vowed that when they caught him, “he shall be flung into the firebox of the nearest engine”.
To commemorate his brave deeds, the Jack Hindon (sic) Medal for bravery was instituted in 1970. It was awarded to members of the South African Defence Force for bravery.