A compact, fully-illustrated guide to a strategic British victory that forced the French troops out of occupied Spain. Despite Wellington's success against Marmont's army at Salamanca in July, the year of 1812 ended in bitter disappointment for the British. However, a year later Wellington's series of brilliant manoeuvres threw the French onto the defensive on all fronts, culminating in the final victory at Vittoria: 90,000 men and 90 guns attacking in four mutually supporting columns. The French centre gave way and both flanks were turned, their army finally breaking in flight towards Pamplona. Any French hopes of maintaining their position in the Peninsular were crushed forever. On 7 October the British set foot on the 'sacred soil' of' Napoleon's France.
A detailed account of Wellington's campaign in the south of France. Drawing on eyewitness accounts and official dispatches, Ian Robertson outlines the nature of the war as well as traces the complicated maneuvering and operations of the British and French armies. He describes in detail such hard-fought actions as the Nivelle, Orthez, Toulouse, and Bayonne and throws light on some less well-known clashes, many of which were fought in the unforgiving terrain of the Pyrenees.
When, in the late summer of 1813, Wellington's troops approached the Pyrenees to enter France, the Peninsular War was far from won. Indeed, with their French adversaries defending their own soil, months of severe, relentless fighting were to follow. In this compelling account of the closing period of the Peninsular War, Ian Robertson records the difficult and brutal fighting which so characterise this phase of a stubborn, six-year conflict. Drawing on eyewitness accounts and official despatches, Ian Robertson outlines the nature of the war as well as tracing the complicated manoeuvring and operations of the British and French armies. He describes in detail such hard-fought actions as at Sorauren, the Nivelle and the last great battle of the war at Toulouse, as well as some less-well-known clashes in the unforgiving terrain of the Pyrenees. For Wellington, as well as his men, the campaign in France was a test of stamina and endurance in hostile territory, and fighting an implacable and energetic foe. Wellington's troops fought hard to win their crown of victories and bring the war to a successful conclusion.
Bayonne and Toulouse 1813–14 describes Wellington's invasion of France culminating in the battle of Toulouse in 1814. The news of Wellington's momentous victory at Vitoria on 21 June 1813 reached London in early July. Celebration spawned an expectation of a rapid conclusion to events in the Peninsula. His Majesty's Government gave authority for Wellington to invade France and made noises and plans for the redeployment of the Peninsular Army in support of Russia and Prussia. Wellington, however, did not see things in quite the same way. His army was worn out and there remained sizeable French forces in Spain, so what followed had to be a carefully thought out and planned campaign. The invasion itself commenced with the daring Allied crossing of the Bidassoa estuary in early October 1813 and was followed by an operational pause prior to the Battle of Nivelle in November. The subsequent operations, which commenced early in 1814, provided the aftermath to the invasion and the conclusion to the Peninsular War. These actions focus primarily on the investment of Bayonne and the pursuit of Soult's army east, and include the battles and engagements at Garris, Orthez, Aire, Tarbes and the final showdown at Toulouse in April 1814.
A dual biography of the greatest opposing generals of their age who ultimately became fixated on one another, by a bestselling historian. 'Thoroughly enjoyable, beautifully written and meticulously researched' Observer On the morning of the battle of Waterloo, the Emperor Napoleon declared that the Duke of Wellington was a bad general, the British were bad soldiers and that France could not fail to win an easy victory. Forever afterwards historians have accused him of gross overconfidence, and massively underestimating the calibre of the British commander opposed to him. Andrew Roberts presents an original, highly revisionist view of the relationship between the two greatest captains of their age. Napoleon, who was born in the same year as Wellington - 1769 - fought Wellington by proxy years earlier in the Peninsula War, praising his ruthlessness in private while publicly deriding him as a mere 'sepoy general'. In contrast, Wellington publicly lauded Napoleon, saying that his presence on a battlefield was worth forty thousand men, but privately wrote long memoranda lambasting Napoleon's campaigning techniques. Although Wellington saved Napoleon from execution after Waterloo, Napoleon left money in his will to the man who had tried to assassinate Wellington. Wellington in turn amassed a series of Napoleonic trophies of his great victory, even sleeping with two of the Emperor's mistresses.
Sir Arthur Wellesley's 1808–1814 campaigns against Napoleon's forces in the Iberian Peninsula have drawn the attention of scholars and soldiers for two centuries. Yet, until now, no study has focused on the problems that Wellesley, later known as the Duke of Wellington, encountered on the home front before his eventual triumph beyond the Pyrenees. In Wellington's Two-Front War, Joshua Moon not only surveys Wellington's command of British forces against the French but also describes the battles Wellington fought in England—with an archaic military command structure, bureaucracy, and fickle public opinion. In this detailed and accessible account, Moon traces Wellington's command of British forces during the six years of warfare against the French. Almost immediately upon landing in Portugal in 1808, Wellington was hampered by his government's struggle to plan a strategy for victory. From that point on, Moon argues, the military's outdated promotion system, political maneuvering, and bureaucratic inertia—all subject to public opinion and a hostile press—thwarted Wellington's efforts, almost costing him the victory. Drawing on archival sources in the United Kingdom and at the United States Military Academy, Moon goes well beyond detailing military operations to delve into the larger effects of domestic policies, bureaucracy, and coalition building on strategy. Ultimately, Moon shows, the second front of Wellington's "two-front war" was as difficult as the better-known struggle against Napoleon's troops and harsh conditions abroad. As this book demonstrates, it was only through strategic vision and relentless determination that Wellington attained the hard-fought victory. Moon's multifaceted examination of the commander and his frustrations offers valuable insight into the complexities of fighting faraway battles under the scrutiny at home of government agencies and the press—issues still relevant today.
Written in the same engaging style of Mark Urban's Fusiliers and Rifles, this is a brilliant study of the Gunners who revolutionised warfare during the course of the Napoleonic Wars despite the opposition of their commander-in-chief. Dismissive, conservative and aloof, Wellington treated his artillery with disdain during the Napoleonic Wars – despite their growing influence on the field of battle. Wellington's Guns exposes, for the very first time, the often stormy relationship between Wellington and his artillery, how the reluctance to modernize the British artillery corps threatened to derail the British push for victory and how Wellington's views on the command and appointment structure within the artillery opened up damaging rifts between him and his men. At a time when artillery was undergoing revolutionary changes – from the use of mountain guns during the Pyrenees campaign in the Peninsular, the innovative execution of 'danger-close' missions to clear the woods of Hougomont at Waterloo, to the introduction of creeping barrages and Congreve's rockets – Wellington seemed to remain distrustful of a force that played a significant role in shaping tactics and changing the course of the war. Using extensive research and first-hand accounts, Colonel Nick Lipscombe reveals that despite Wellington's brilliance as a field commander, his abrupt and uncompromising leadership style, particularly towards his artillery commanders, shaped the Napoleonic Wars, and how despite this, the ever-evolving technology and tactics ensured that the extensive use of artillery became one of the hallmarks of a modern army.
Bruce Collins's in-depth reassessment of the Duke of Wellington's siege of San Sebastian during the Peninsular War is a fascinating reconstruction of one of the most challenging siege operations Wellington's army undertook, and it is an important contribution to the history of siege warfare during the Napoleonic Wars. He sets the siege in the context of the practice of siege warfare during the period and Wellington's campaign strategies following his victory at the Battle of Vitoria. He focuses on how the army assigned to the siege was managed and draws on the records of the main military departments for the first time to give an integrated picture of its operations in the field. The close support given by the Royal Navy is a key aspect of his narrative. This broad approach, based in fresh archive research, offers an original perspective on both San Sebastian's significance and the nature of siege warfare in this period.
This is the first comprehensive modern atlas of the Peninsular War, the series of campaigns in Spain and Portugal between Napoleonic France and British forces commanded by the Duke of Wellington. Here a distinguished military historian examines and explains the sequence of battles and the course of the war through expertly drawn cartography in color. A general introduction, together with a historical summary setting the campaigns in context, is followed by 53 detailed maps and plans, each with a complementary text providing a succinct description of the action depicted. The great battles of Vimeiro, Talavera, Busaco, Albuera, Salamanca, Vitoria, and the Pyrenees are all graphically described, together with the main sieges and many minor combats. This is an indispensable companion to both serious students and military enthusiasts interested in the Napoleonic wars.
