Henry VIII as Military Commander
Top gun? Alexander McKee assesses Henry VIII's prowess as a commander by land and sea in the light of his 1545 campaigns against the French.
Learn this for a rule! So long as we ourselves are present there is no other general but ourselves. Neither can any man depart from his charge without our special warrant.
Thus Henry VIII reprimanding Sir Peter Carew for leaving his post at the castle of Hardelow on the orders of the army commander, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, to take an urgent message to the king.
In the campaign of the following summer, 1545, Lord Lisle, Lord Admiral of England, had to defer to the king in all major naval matters. The timing of a pre-emptive strike, the use of a new strategem, the selection of new captains for the fleet list, the anchoring positions of the ships for the defensive battle off Portsmouth, these were things that Henry decided. He delegated only when he was not present in person.
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