9th June 2025
In his second guest post, David J Blackmore, author of the exciting Wellington's Dragoon series, tells us about his experiences in the historical re-enactment world and the research that went in to creating both his fiction and non-fiction books.
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| Waterloo Re-enactment. Photo by Kevin Wolf |
I started re-enacting in 1973 at the age of eighteen. Like most people back then I started in the Sealed Knot, as a royalist, which surprises many as, in the early 1980s, I raised a Parliamentarian regiment in the Roundhead Association. (It’s a long story). At about the same time I got a job as a curator, actually the most junior curator, with the Armouries in the Tower of London. That was when I started to get serious about research. I needed to for my work, if you are cataloguing arms and armour you need to be able to work out what you have in front of you. I also wanted the regiment I was forming to be as authentic a recreation as was possible. I was, of course, well placed to research the arms and armour of the English Civil Wars, and that led to my first book, with the original title “Arms and Armour of the English Civil Wars”.
In 1989 I became Lord General of the Roundhead Association and, soon after, the first LG to command from horseback. I retired from that position in 1995, and subsequently tried my hand at various other periods, but always as cavalry. First came a British Dragoon unit of the 1740s. I set out to research it and ended up writing another book. “British Cavalry of the Mid-18th Century”. Then came American Civil War cavalry, both sides, and, lastly, the 16th Light Dragoons of the Napoleonic wars.
In 2012 I was awarded my PhD and my thesis was published as “Destructive and Formidable, British Infantry Firepower, 1642 – 1765”, which I undertook after leaving the Royal Armouries in 2008, after twenty six years.
As a result I was well prepared to research the 16th when I got involved with them in 2014. This has resulted in me having a thorough knowledge of their uniform and equipment, or, rather both uniforms, as it changed in the winter of 1812-13, as you will read in book six of the Wellington's Dragoon series. I had to learn the drill they used, including the Sword Exercise. This knowledge was then put to practical use as we worked to create as correct a recreation as possible.
We found a cloth supplier, Kochan and Philips, who recreate the fabrics used two hundred years ago. We examined original items, or were generously helped by knowledgeable individuals like Sean Philips of Kochan and Philips. We had the correct regimental buttons reproduced. Leatherwork was researched and reproduced. There was, however, a lot more to it then just reproducing the kit.
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| Photo by Ellie Wout |
There was the important matter of recreating the way the cavalry did things. I spent hours in the back garden, sabre in one hand, a copy of the Sword Exercise in the other, trying to work out what it meant. No one at the time learnt the Sword Exercise from a book, they were taught it by someone who knew it, a luxury not available today.
Then there was the matter of the drill. You can’t do cavalry drill without horses. We were lucky as we had the invaluable assistance of Mark Atkinson of Atkinson Action Horses. One of his horses, Jonny, became my favourite and the model for Michael Roberts’ Johnny. I can also assure you that waving a sabre around on a horse at speed is a very different kettle of fish from one’s back garden. Although I say so myself, I got quite proficient. My ‘party piece’ at events was to slice a Jersey Royal potato in half while galloping past it.
Then, in 2015, I had the privilege to be asked to command the British Light Dragoons at the 200th anniversary of Waterloo. We ‘refought’ the battle on part of the original battlefield. We rode across ground the original 16th rode over. The British cavalry numbered some hundred and twenty, and we did manage to execute a charge as a single unit, the equivalent of a single squadron, which put everything in perspective. There was so much smoke that at times you couldn’t see fifty yards. We charged through wheat so high it brushed our feet. We finished both days, yes, we did it twice, in the dark, just as they did. It was about as close to the real thing as one can get today.
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| Photo by Ellie Wout |
After that incredible experience, I discovered the whereabouts of the diary of William Tomkinson, but not just that, also his order book for the Waterloo campaign. I started searching and found more material written by other officers, journals and simple letters home written in the night after Waterloo. I was fortunate enough to make contact with the descendants of Tomkinson, Swetenham, Luard and Polhill, the last two only with the 16th in 1815. Another book followed, “So Bloody A Day, the 16th Light Dragoons in the Waterloo Campaign”. Writing that I felt as if I actually got to know the men of the 16th.
I have written in my previous piece for Brindle about how the Wellington’s Dragoon series and Michael Roberts came into being. I hope that this piece explains how I have been able to achieve the realism that I hope you have found in the books, the sense of what it was like to ride and fight with the 16th.
You can follow David's Wordpress blog by clicking HERE
David's Amazon Author Page can be found HERE