Overview

For several years, the armies of Napoleon III deployed some 450 Muslim Sudanese slave soldiers in Veracruz, the port of Mexico City. As in the other case of Western hemisphere military slavery (the West India Regiments, a British unit in existence 1795-1815), the Sudanese were imported from Africa in the hopes that they would better survive the tropical diseases that so terribly afflicted European soldiers. In both cases, the Africans did indeed fulfill these expectations. The mixture of cultures embodied by this event has piqued the interest of several historians, so it is by no means unknown. Hill and Hogg provide a particularly thorough account of this exotic interlude, explaining its background, looking in detail at the battle record in Mexico, and figuring out who exactly made up the battalion. Much in their account is odd and interesting, for example, the Sudanese superiority to Austrian troops and their festive nine-day spree in Paris on the emperor's tab. The authors also assess the episode's longer-term impact on the Sudan, showing that the veterans of Mexico, having learnt much from their extended exposure to French military practices, rose quickly in the ranks, then taught these methods to others.

Full Product Details

Author:   Richard Hill ,  Peter C. Hogg
Publisher:   Michigan State University Press
Imprint:   Michigan State University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 16.50cm , Height: 2.20cm , Length: 24.10cm
Weight:   0.565kg
ISBN:  

9780870133398

ISBN 10:   087013339
Pages:   214
Publication Date:   31 May 1995
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Undergraduate ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

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Peter C. Hogg is author of numerous books and articles, including The African slave trade and its Suppression: A Classified and Annotated Bibliography of Books, Pamphlets and Periodical Articles.

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