Voices from the Peninsula

by Fletcher, Ian

• ISBN13: 9781853674594
• ISBN10: 1853674591
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-10-01
• Publisher: Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal

Summary

The Peninsular War was one of the most successful campaigns ever fought by the British Army. Between 1808, when British troops landed in Portugal, and 1814, when Wellington's Army advanced into the south of France, British soldiers were involved in countless battles and sieges against Napoleon's vaunted French veterans. Drawing on rare letters, diaries and memoirs, Ian Fletcher presents a superb insight into the daily lives of British soldiers in this momentous period and evokes such key battles and sieges as Vimiero, Talavera, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria and San Sebastian. Ian Fletcher's skillful compilation of accounts, placed in context by important background detail, make this the story of the Peninsular War in the words of the men who marched, fought and triumphed with Wellington. Although there have been many accounts of soldiering in Wellington's army, Voices from the Peninsula throws new light on the experience of Napoleonic warfare and brings to life what Wellington called 'the finest military machine in existence'.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 5
The Peninsular War	p. 9
Rolica and Vimeiro	p. 13
The Corunna Campaign	p. 27
Oporto and Talavera	p. 41
On the Border: The Coa, Agueda and Almeida	p. 55
Busaco and the Retreat to Torres Vedras	p. 67
Massena's Retreat, Sabugal and Fuentes de Onoro	p. 87
Albuera	p. 105
The Bloody Sieges: Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz	p. 119
Salamanca	p. 143
Burgos and Retreat	p. 163
Vittoria: The Decisive Campaign	p. 183
The Battle of the Pyrenees	p. 203
The Invasion of France	p. 217
The Nivelle and the Nive	p. 233
The Final Battles: Orthes and Toulouse	p. 261
The Sortie From Bayonne	p. 289
Bibliography	p. 301
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