Discharged Soldiery: Wordsworth, Cobbett, and Military Corruption in the 1790s

What is it about?

William Cobbett's pamphlet alleging the mistreatment of soldiers by senior officers created a scandal that influences Wordsworth's Discharged Soldier. The starved soldier in Wordsworth's Prelude, and similar figures in Salisbury Plain and the Borderers, can be read as victims of an army that cheats them of their pay and leaves them malnourished.

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Why is it important?

Wordsworth's Discharged Soldier is a response to a scandal over military conditions that was instigated by William Cobbett's pamphlet The Soldier's Friend. Cobbett publicised the terrible conditions endured by soldiers in the 1790s. His pamphlet inspired other texts and a series of naval mutinies. This article demonstrates that threats to British soldiers came not only from enemy forces, but the immorality of their commanders. Wordsworth was sensitive to these issues.