The Cádiz Memorial, also known as the "Prince Regent's Bomb", is an early 19th-century French mortar mounted on a brass monster, located in

Horse Guards Parade Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London (at grid reference ). It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and the Beating Retreat. H ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, London. It was first "exposed to public view" on 12 August 1816 and has been classified as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

since 1 December 1987. The monument was a feature of many satirical verses and cartoons in the early 19th century, mainly because the word "bomb" – pronounced "bum" – gave it an immediate association with the notoriously profligate

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illne ...

's sizeable backside.

Description

The mortar is mounted on the back of a large brass sculpture of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...

's reimagining of the monster

Geryon In Greek mythology, Geryon ( or ;"Geryon"
''

Chinese dragon The Chinese dragon, also known as ''loong'', ''long'' or ''lung'', is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture at large. Chinese dragons have many Outline of life forms, animal-like forms such as Bixi (my ...

" in some sources), associated with the Isle of Gades on which Cádiz stands, with twin tails twisting round to the vent of the mortar which it supports on its back. At the rear of the mortar is a sculpture of the dog Orthrus. Some liberties were taken with the classical depiction of Geryon, such as substituting wings for its multiple heads. The monster and mortar rest on a bed of brass measuring some by , representing a rock on which the monster has alighted. The whole structure measures high and weights 16 tons. On the north side of the bed is the following inscription:

DEVICTIS A WELLINGTON DUCE PROPE SALAMANCAM GALLIS SOLUTAQUE EXIUDE GAUDIAM OBSIDIONE, HANC QUAM ASPICITUS BASI SUPERIMPOSITAM BOMBARDAM, VI PRAEDITAM ADHUC INAUDITA, AD URBEM PORTUMQUE GADITANUM DESTRUCUDUM CONFLATAM ET A COPIIS TURBATIS RELICTAM, CORTES HISPANICI, PRISTINORUM HAUDQUAQUAM BENEFICIORUM OBLITI, SUMMAE VENERATIONIS TESTIMINIO DONAVERUNT GEORGIO ILLUS. BRIT. PRINC. QUI, IN PERPETUAM REI MEMORIAM, HOC LOCO PONENDAM, ET HIS ORMANENTIS DECORANDAM, JUISSIT.

Cádiz Memorial, Horse Guards Parade, London (2014)

While on the south side the following inscription appears:

To commemorate the Raising of the Siege of Cadiz, in consequence of the Glorious Victory obtained by the Duke of Wellington over the French at Salamanca, on the 22d July 1812: This Mortar, cast for the destruction of that Great Port, with Powers surpassing all others, and abandoned by the Besiegers on their Retreat, was presented as a token of respect and gratitude by the Spanish Nation, To his Royal Highness the Prince Regent.

The

Prince of Wales's feathers The Prince of Wales's feathers is the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales, during the use of the title by the English and later British monarchy. It consists of three white ostrich feathers emerging from a gold coronet. A ribbon below the corone ...

appear in high relief at the front of the bed, while at the rear is the inscription, "Constructed in the Royal Carriage Department. Earl of Mulgrave, Master General – A.D. 1814".

History

Origins

The mortar was one of a number of giant siege weapons used by the French army under Marshal Soult during the two-year

siege of Cádiz The siege of Cádiz was a siege of the large Spanish naval base of Cádiz by a French army from 5 February 1810 to 24 August 1812 during the Peninsular War. Following the occupation of Seville, Cádiz became the Spanish seat of power, and wa ...

in Spain. Made in Seville in March 1811, it was spiked and abandoned when the French retreated after the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister ...

's victory at the

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, so ...

in 1812. It was designed to be capable of throwing shells over what contemporaries described as "the immense distance" of and could actually reach a range of . Although the mortar and its siblings were intended to serve essentially as terror weapons to compel the inhabitants of Cádiz to surrender, they were, however, ineffective and inaccurate weapons. The shells were said to be aimed "much at random, some of them falling short of the town, others flying completely over into the bay near the lighthouse on the other side, and some few ... falling in the city, but from which very few casualties occurred." According to one

Royal Engineer The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...

who saw the mortar in action, he watched it fire a shot into the middle of the crowded Plaza de San Antonio in the centre of Cádiz "without injuring a single individual". After the siege was lifted, the Spanish Regency presented one of the captured French mortars to Rear Admiral

Arthur Kaye Legge Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...

. They requested that it might be placed in one of London's Royal Parks to commemorate the victory at Salamanca, the liberation of southern Spain and the exploits of the Duke of Wellington. The Prince Regent agreed and instructed the Earl of Mulgrave to procure a suitable carriage for the mortar and set it up in Horse Guards Parade. The royal carriage department at the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing, and explosives research for the Britis ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

, carried out the work, creating an elaborate allegorically sculpted bronze base for the weapon. It was unveiled on the Prince Regent's 54th birthday, situated on the south side of the parade ground behind a square of chevaux de frise. It was subsequently moved to its present position adjacent to the Horse Guards building.

The Regent's Tremendous Thing

At the time, the slang term for a cannon or mortar was a "bomb", pronounced " bum". The Cádiz mortar was thus immediately nicknamed the "Regent's Bomb", prompting a flood of scatological puns associating it with the corpulent posterior of the Prince Regent. C.F. Lawler wrote of its report, its wind and "width, breadth and monstrous size" and predicted that the

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

would "sing the charming odour of the thing". The satirist

William Hone William Hone (3 June 1780 – 8 November 1842) was an English writer, satirist and bookseller. His victorious court battle against government censorship in 1817 marked a turning point in the fight for British press freedom. Biography Hon ...

celebrated its unveiling with a verse attacking the Prince Regent and his ministers, their names scarcely disguised:

Oh, what a Bomb! Oh, Heaven defend us! The thought of Bombs is quite tremendous! What crowds will come from every shore To gaze on its amazing bore! What swarms of Statesmen, warm and loyal, To worship Bomb so truly royal! And first approach three 'secret hags,' Then him the R——t egentcalls 'Old Bags;' he_Lord_Chancellor,_ he_Lord_Chancellor,_John_Scott,_1st_Earl_of_Eldon">John_Scott,_1st_Earl_of_Eldon.html"_;"title="he_Lord_Chancellor,_John_Scott,_1st_Earl_of_Eldon">he_Lord_Chancellor,_John_Scott,_1st_Earl_of_EldonMethinks_I_see_V———t_[Nicholas_Vansittart,_1st_Baron_Bexley.html" ;"title="John_Scott,_1st_Earl_of_Eldon.html" ;"title="John_Scott,_1st_Earl_of_Eldon.html" ;"title="he Lord Chancellor, John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon">he Lord Chancellor, John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon">John_Scott,_1st_Earl_of_Eldon.html" ;"title="he Lord Chancellor, John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon">he Lord Chancellor, John Scott, 1st Earl of EldonMethinks I see V———t [Nicholas Vansittart, 1st Baron Bexley">Vansittart] come, And humbly kiss the royal Bomb! While T——y W———y [William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 4th Earl of Mornington, Tylney Wellesley], (loyal soul) Will take its measure with a Pole; And C———h Castlereagh.html" ;"title="Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh">Castlereagh">Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh">Castlereagh/nowiki> will low beseech To kiss a corner of the breech; And next will come of G——y R—e, George_Rose.html" ;"title="George_Rose_(politician).html" ;"title="/nowiki>George Rose (politician)">George Rose">George_Rose_(politician).html" ;"title="/nowiki>George Rose (politician)">George Rose/nowiki> And in the touch-hole shove his nose!

The poem was accompanied by a cartoon drawn by George Cruikshank, which showed the Prince Regent as the personification of the mortar with a queue of ministers lining up to kiss his backside. Similarly, S.W. Fores published C. Williams' ''A Representation of the Regent's Tremendous Thing erected in the Park'' – "thing" being a slang term for "penis" – with predictable double entendres such as a parson saying "What an erection to be sure," to which his wife replies, "I could look at it for ever". Many other cartoonists followed suit, often depicting the mortar in conjunction with the Prince Regent's then mistress Lady Hertford.

References

External links