Featured battle : Figueras [3]

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 04 May 1811 - 19 August 1811

The Spanish took the fortress on the 10th April 1811 [see Figueras 1] and garrisonned it with 5 weak regular battalions. The remainder of the garrison were made up from volunteers and Miqueletes [Catalan irregular mountain troops]. In May Napoleon had ordered an immediate re-capture of the fortress but the Spanish put up such a determined defence the immediate became over three months. The Spanish dead numbered 1,500 the French lost nearly three times that number. A French victory but a long expensive one.

Wellington's Waterloo Allies

Andrew W. Field
Here we have a different view of the Waterloo campaign which calls into question many aspects of some previous Anglo-centric views of the battles. Using the national archives of the various nations new light has been shone on the battles at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. This corrective is useful in so much as no one saw the whole battle, every soldier, if their voice could be heard, would give a different view and that also would change as time passed, this is another view.
This book is a strong reinforcement to more recent thinking about the contribution of the non-British troops to the eventual victory. What is special and particularly valuable is an army officer’s analysis of all aspects e.g. training, equipping etc., of the various national contingents. Understanding of which goes a long way into understanding the actions of the various national contingents. This is incidentally an interesting insight into how different nations organized their army's in the Napoleonic period.
The text is well supported by maps and charts and makes clear as possible the confusion of the battle fields.
A good read which we highly recommend.

Pen & Sword Crime, 2022