Feral Jundi

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Books: Samuel Smedley, Connecticut Privateer, By Jackson Kuhl

Filed under: Books,History,Letter Of Marque — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 12:15 PM

Thanks to Kyle over at the Feral Jundi Facebook Page for sending me this link. This interview brings up some very interesting aspects of privateering back then, and I was very interested in the offense industry elements.

In the interview below, the author really delves into the prize courts, the shares that crews and owners would get from prizes, and the competition between Connecticut, Continental Congress, and the other states and how that would impact privateers like Samuel Smedley.  Meaning all of these states and the Continental Congress were creating laws and regulations that would impact their specific offense industries in the war. That the group that offered the best business environment for privateers, would get the most and best privateers in the country. Pretty cool.

I have not read this book, but I did find a copy of it in Amazon and put it in the Jundi Gear store if anyone is interested. Check it out. –Matt

 

Samuel Smedley, Connecticut Privateer
By Jackson Kuhl
Book Description
Publication Date: June 7, 2011
From the shores of Long Island Sound to the high seas of the West Indies, against British warships and letters of marque, Samuel Smedley left a stream of smoke and blood as he took prisoners and prizes alike. At twenty-three years old, Smedley, a Fairfield, Connecticut native, enlisted as a lieutenant of marines on the Connecticut ship Defence during the American Revolution. Less than a year later he was her captain, scouring the seas for British prey. Author Jackson Kuhl delves into the life and times of this Patriot, sea captain and privateer.

 

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Books: Pinkerton’s War, By Jay Bonansinga

Filed under: Books,History — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 12:30 PM

I just read this book the other day, and it was a fantastic read. The author is a gifted writer, and presented this history about Allan Pinkerton more like a movie script than a plain jane biography. The cool thing about this book though is that it is all true, and it is heavily sourced from of all the books written by Allan Pinkerton and from all the other biographers that have written about this man.

The other reason why I like this book is because it highlights the achievements of private industry during war time. Pinkerton and his private detective agency was the best and most innovative private detective agency in the country at the time, and his services became crucial to not only other companies, but to government and military leaders. This company was also crucial to the expansion out west, and so the Pinkerton Detective Agency is a very important part of US history.

How important?  Let me put it too you this way.  If it wasn’t for Allan Pinkerton and his crew of agents finding and stopping the assassins that wanted to kill Lincoln during his inaugural post election train ride to Washington DC, then the Civil War probably would have turned out a lot different. Or maybe it would have never have happened at all? That is how important these guys were, and they accomplished this as a private company and not as a branch of government.

So some of the details in this book that intrigued me was how much of an innovator Pinkerton was. He was the first to use women agents for solving cases. His women agents did some serious kick ass work during the war, and certainly were the unsung heroes during the war.

He also used pictures for detective work, which you might think sounds inconsequential right now. But back then, identifying folks across the country was a difficult task. If a detective had a photo of the person they were looking for, it made it easier to ask around about them, and easier to pick out if that individual was close by. More accurate files could be created using photos as well.

Pinkerton was also a big fan of Lincoln, and had actually met Lincoln before he was president. He was also an abolitionist back then, and a pretty compassionate man according to the author.

As for a trivia deal, I learned in the book that Pinkerton’s son William was the first aerial balloon observer in the history of warfare. The kid was in his teens at the time and was working as a scout and messenger in the war. They put him in a balloon because he was light and small. I thought that was cool, and quite the innovation back in the day.

Finally, the one part that I really liked about the book, was the author’s defense of Pinkerton over the whole debate about McClellan getting fired by Lincoln. Historians and General McClellan fans have bashed Pinkerton in the past over supplying McClellan faulty intelligence during the Battle of Antietam. They claim that because of this bad intel, that McClellan was not able to destroy Lee and his army during that battle. (Lee did a tactical withdrawal) The author said that McClellan had plenty of intelligence that he drew from during the war, and Pinkerton’s was not the only source. That McClellan failed to completely defeat Lee, not because of a lack of good intel, but because he was not aggressive enough to seal the deal. Lincoln wanted the war over, and he wanted Lee’s head on a pike, and McClellan just wasn’t producing the results Lincoln wanted.

But of course I am not going to get into that debate because there are folks out there that are big fans of McClellan, and there are others that think otherwise. My intent with this book review is to discuss Allan Pinkerton’s place in that history, and I certainly recommend this book for doing just that. Perhaps with the author’s film background, this will be made into a movie?

Also, the book will be in the Jundi Gear locker if anyone wants to find it again in the future. Check it out. –Matt 

 


Pinkerton’s War: The Civil War’s Greatest Spy and the Birth of the U.S. Secret Service

By Jay Bonansinga

A thrilling historical account of Allan Pinkerton’s pivotal role in the Civil War and the birth of the Secret Service

Scottish immigrant Allan Pinkerton is best known for creating the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which gained renown for solving train robberies in the 1850s and battling the labor movement in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. But the central drama of his career, and the focus of this book, was his work as protector of President Abraham Lincoln and head of a network of Union spies (including himself!) who posed as Confederate soldiers and sympathizers in a deadly cat-and-mouse game.
As here told in riveting prose by author Jay Bonansinga, Pinkerton’s politics and abolitionist sympathies drew the attention of supporters of presidential incumbent Abraham Lincoln—and Pinkerton was hired to act as his bodyguard. Pinkerton was asked to organize the U.S. government’s first “Secret Service,” and during the Civil War he managed a network of spies who worked behind confederate lines and tackled espionage at the highest levels in Washington. By war’s end, the agency’s reputation was so well established that it was often hired by the government to perform many of the same duties today assigned to the Secret Service, the FBI, the CIA, and, most recently, the Department of Homeland Security.

Jay Bonansinga is the national bestselling author of The Sinking of the Eastland, a Chicago Reader Critics Choice Book, and eleven novels. His latest novel, Perfect Victim, was a Book of the Month Club Alternate. He is also an award-winning indie filmmaker. 

Find the book here.(Jundi Gear)

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Podcasts: Cry Havoc–Simon Mann Speaks At Chatham House About Coup Attempt In Equatorial Guinea

Filed under: Books,Equatorial Guinea,Podcasts — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 8:12 AM

This is interesting. Simon Mann tells his side of the story at the think tank Chatham House. He is also promoting his book Cry Havoc (Jundi Gear Store) which details this coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. I am sure it will sell well.

The other thing that I wanted to mention is that Eeben picked up on a story written about Cry Havoc over at News24, and they outright lied about Executive Outcome’s involvement with this incident. Eeben corrected the record and I wanted to put the word out through this blog as well. Here is a link to the post. To be clear, Executive Outcomes was not involved, did not back anything, and EO was officially shut down in December 31, 1998. The coup attempt took place in 2004.

Finally, if you are interested in following Simon Mann online, he has become quite connected. He is on Twitter , Facebook, and has a website he is using to promote the book. His Twitter account is very active and he talks about all sorts of stuff there. –Matt

 

Cry Havoc: Simon Mann’s Account of his Failed Equatorial Guinea Coup Attempt
Tuesday 1 November 2011
Location
Chatham House, London
Participants
Simon Mann, Author and Coup Attempt Leader

Discussant: Alex Vines, Research Director, Regional and Security Studies, Chatham House, and author, Well Oiled: Oil and Human Rights in Equatorial Guinea?Chair: Professor Nana Poku, John Ferguson Professor of African Studies and Dean, School of Social and International Studies, University of Bradford
Type: Members Events
The speaker will outline his version of events surrounding the failed coup attempt against Equatorial Guinea in 2004. He will contend that a number of governments had prior knowledge and offered tacit endorsement of the coup attempt.  ?For more information about the event please contact the Members Events Team
Transcript to follow.
Resources:
Cry Havoc: Simon Mann’s Account of his Failed Equatorial Guinea Coup Attempt (Click to download)
Click on the play icon to start playing the audio.

Q&A Recording (Click to download)
Click on the play icon to start playing the audio.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Books: Gifts Of War–Once Upon A Rice Paddy, By Dan Roach

This is cool. Every once in awhile I get a heads up from a reader about a book they wrote. This particular book is about the author’s experiences in Vietnam. What is cool though is that this book has appeal to all types of veterans, and the leadership lessons learned are priceless.

Those lessons and the blood, sweat, and tears of war, are the ‘gifts’ of memory that I believe the author is referring too. They are the memories and experiences that veterans will always cherish–the good and the bad. And lucky for us, Dan has taken the time to put those memories into a book and share that with the world. A gift indeed.

At this time, the book is being distributed through Author House, so follow the links below if you are interested in checking it out. If you are a Ranger or 101st Airborne from that era, you are really in for a treat with this book. Like Dan says, ‘you’ll laugh, you’ll cry but most of all you will be treated to a gift of understanding’. –Matt

 

GIFTS of WAR, Once Upon A Rice Paddy
By Dan Roach
Like many that have experienced the bitter taste of war; I understand the need for war and warriors. Yet, I am now a reluctant warrior. This book is an invitation for you to be embedded with a young lieutenant as he experiences an incredible journey as a combat platoon leader. You will experience the daily social, psychological, emotional, ethical and moral dilemmas presented by war. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry but most of all you will be treated to a gift of understanding. I believe you will be awe inspired at what our nation asked of these young warriors and how they responded. You will be pleasantly surprised at the gifts of war received by this warrior. Vietnam was the stage and we were the players in a life and death drama.
About the author.
After graduating from college with a B.S. Degree in Forestry, Dan Roach faced one of the biggest decisions of his life; enlist or be drafted during time of war. He chose enlistment hoping to have more control over his destiny. On May 10, 1966 he enlisted in the Army and was off to FT. Jackson, SC to attend Basic and AIT (Advanced Infantry Training). After AIT he reported to Infantry OCS (Officer Candidate School) at Ft. Benning, GA. On March 27, 1967 he graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant and went directly into RANGER School. After RANGER School he was assigned as an instructor in the Mountain Phase of RANGER Training at Dahlonega, GA. As a RANGER he was sent to Airborne School at FT. Benning, on 17 July 1967.

(more…)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Books: Castles, Battles, And Bombs–How Economics Explains Military History, By Jurgen Brauer And Hubert Van Tuyll

This is a great little book and I highly recommend it just for the chapter 3, ‘The Renaissance, 1300-1600–The Case of the Condottieri and the Military Labor Market’. What makes this book so cool is that it describes the history of the Condottieri from the point of view of economics. Stuff like principal agent problem and asymmetric information are the areas that this book goes into, and I found it to be fascinating.

The book also talked about today’s PMCs and how they are being used, or misused. The authors even gave some kudos to Executive Outcomes for being an effective PMC versus the UN during the Sierra Leone war.

But back to the Condottieri or Italian contractors/mercenaries. (Condottieri were the mercenary captains and also contractors in general) This is very interesting material, because the authors discussed the incentives of these mercenaries back then that helped to alleviate the principal agent problem. They used things like bonuses, or the individuals were allowed to ransom and loot as part of the contract. (back then, this was a standard feature of warfare of all armies)

Probably the one thing that piqued my interest the most is the use of bonding agreements within the contracts. I have talked about bonds in the past or how these could be effective tools for getting companies to do what you need them to do, and this book talked a little bit about how bonds were used in the past.

Specifically, the authors mentioned a lecturer named Daniel Waley whom examined twenty Italian mercenary contracts that had been preserved from the late 13th century. There were 11 contracts from Bologna, 5 from Siena, 1 from Florence, 2 from Piedmont, and one from the March of Ancona. All of them were issued between 1253 and 1301, with fifteen of them after 1290.

All of the contracts had these elements in common:

1. Number of men to be hired.
2. Type of force. (cavalry, infantry, etc.)
3. Number of horses to be supplied.
4. Values of the horses. (minimum and maximum)
5. The mendum or compensation for horses injured or killed.
6. Provisions for arms and equipment.
7. Length of contract. (usually 3 or 6 months)
8. Contract renewal option.
9. Payment for travel to place of engagement.
10. The rate of pay and pay period. (usually once every two months)
11. The pay differentials among various grades of hired men. (commanders, cavalry, infantry, crossbowmen)
12. The division of prisoners, ransom, and booty.
13. The secure release if the hired men were themselves taken prisoner.
14. Bonus pay. (retention of booty, double pay for battle days)
15. Jurisdiction, default and penalty clauses.
16. Dispute Resolution within the hired band.
17. Loyalty clause.
18. A performance bond. (6 of the 11 Bolognese contracts had bonds guaranteeing good behavior)

As you can see, the contracts were pretty involved back then. The book mentioned that contracts used to run about 4,000 words, but later contracts shortened up a bit and ran about 1,000 to 3,000 words. The authors pointed out that the hiring states began to develop regulations that helped to make contracts more formulaic, and thus easier to write. It is easier to point to laws and regulations of that state, as opposed to make provisions that cover ‘everything’ within in a contract.

What is interesting is that this is exactly what has happened with today’s companies. There were really not enough regulations on the use of companies in the beginning days of Iraq or Afghanistan, and so contracts really had not control features.(we also had problems because of this) Now, the contracts are a lot better, just because of the amount of scrutiny that has been applied to the companies and the government. I have seen a dramatic increase in regulations, and we will probably continue to see this evolution take place.

The performance bond is interesting to me. I mentioned this in my post about Reflex Responses that they had a performance bond in their contract with the UAE, and that is smart. Early American privateers had to be bonded in order to receive a Letter of Marque as well. Of course the bond survives in other industries, and it is just one tool of many to provide incentive in the principal agent problem–or to get folks to do what you want them to do.

The other thing that this book talked about is modum stipendii and modum societatis. Or basically contracting with an individual versus contracting with the leaders of mercenary companies. Contracting with individuals was problematic, because each had their own set of intentions. But hiring a group with a leader that motivates them and keeps them together, is far more dependable and easier to manage.

Of course with today’s companies, this is how it works. The US government rarely contracts with individuals, and it is far more easier and efficient to contract with DynCorp and have them provide the bodies. But this also got me thinking about how companies recruit.

I have thought about this concept in the past, as far as hiring groups of individuals for companies. If a company could hire a squad or platoon of contractors, where all of them fought together in their old unit or company, and they had a leader for bargaining purposes, then a company could gain advantage of having a team that has unit experience, integrity and cohesion. This is an issue that I have seen out there, and it would be interesting to see companies try this out. Because to me, a unit with experience, integrity and cohesion is extremely valuable to a company for the offense and defense.

The book also defined a time period where Italian cities switched from hiring individuals to hiring units. They started using the term Lance or lancea in contracts which was a unit of 3 men. Perhaps this might be a feature of modern contracts? It would be far easier to find Lances who all knew each other and fought together in let’s say the Marines. The survival of such teams would be higher, and their effectiveness on the battlefield would be better because that unit experience/cohesion/integrity element was already there. (that’s if you have a good leader leading these lances)

The other deal that was interesting to me is the pay for the common mercenary back then. They did not make a lot of money, and it was the mercenary captains that became wealthy. These grunts would make the same amount as day-laborers for stuff like construction. The book said they averaged 9 florins a day, from between 1321 and 1368. It sounds like rates continued to fall as time passed, and the basic grunt definitely took it in the shorts. They also had tons of pay issues, like late pay, not getting paid or receiving forged money! lol And we talk about pay problems these days?

But like with any military or PMC, past or present, if you screw with the soldier’s pay, they tend to get pissed off. Or they just leave. Countries like Iraq or Somalia have experienced what happens when you don’t pay soldiers or police, and security is highly dependent upon making sure guys are getting paid on time and the amount that was agreed upon.

These old mercenaries also sold their equipment to make enough money to get by between contracts, and life for a soldier was tough back then. As a result of this low salary, contractors tended to gravitate to contracts with the most stability and longevity. If you have a family to feed and bills to pay, then this becomes understandable in today’s realm. (I have seen contractors leave contracting to be soldiers again, and I have seen soldiers leave the military to be contractors. Which might indicate equilibrium of a sorts?)

The other thing I wanted to touch on about the book is they do go into offense industry a little bit. Contractors were paid bonuses for all sorts of things, like for storming a castle, acts of bravery, or for bounties. Anything to give an incentive. They also offered pensions to contractors that were loyal, something Sir John Hawkwood depended on greatly towards the end of his career. (the lesson here is save your pennies!)

Well, that is all I will get into with the book. Check it out in the Jundi Gear Store, and I have provided some links below for your convenience. –Matt

The third chapter of the book on Google Books here.

Book Description
Publication Date: May 1, 2008

Castles, Battles, and Bombs reconsiders key episodes of military history from the point of view of economics—with dramatically insightful results. For example, when looked at as a question of sheer cost, the building of castles in the High Middle Ages seems almost inevitable: though stunningly expensive, a strong castle was far cheaper to maintain than a standing army. The authors also reexamine the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II and provide new insights into France’s decision to develop nuclear weapons. Drawing on these examples and more, Brauer and Van Tuyll suggest lessons for today’s military, from counterterrorist strategy and military manpower planning to the use of private military companies in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“In bringing economics into assessments of military history, [the authors] also bring illumination. . . . [The authors] turn their interdisciplinary lens on the mercenary arrangements of Renaissance Italy; the wars of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon; Grant’s campaigns in the Civil War; and the strategic bombings of World War II.

“This study is serious, creative, important. As an economist I am happy to see economics so professionally applied to illuminate major decisions in the history of warfare.”—Thomas C. Schelling, Winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics

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