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Books > Humanities > History > European history > 1750 to 1900
Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) is best known for his masterpiece
of military theory On War, yet that work formed only the first
three of his ten-volume published writings. The others, historical
analyses of the wars that roiled Europe from 1789 through 1815,
informed and shaped Clausewitz's military thought, so they offer
invaluable insight into his dialectical, often difficult
theoretical masterwork. Among these historical works, one of the
most important is Der Feldzug von 1799 in Italien und der Schweiz,
which covers an important phase of the French Revolutionary Wars.
The Coalition Crumbles, Napoleon Returns focuses mainly on the
campaigns in Switzerland, where the cracks that finally fractured
the alliance between Russia and Austria and led to the defeat of
the Second Coalition first opened. Moving from strategy to battle
scene to analysis, this first English translation of volume 6 of
Clausewitz's collected works nimbly conveys the character of
Clausewitz's writing in all its registers: the brisk, often
powerful description of events as they unfolded and the critical
reflections on strategic theory and its implications. The Coalition
Crumbles, Napoleon Returns features Suvorov's astonishing march
through the St. Gotthard Pass and major actions such as the Second
Battle of Zurich and the Battle of Mannheim. The nature of the
campaign highlighted the contrast between the opposing armies'
different strengths and weaknesses and the problems of fighting as
part of a coalition. This book will expand readers' experience and
understanding of not only this critical moment in European history
but also the thought and writings of the modern master of military
philosophy.
This is the story of a Spanish army, commanded by the Marques de La
Romana, which was sent to Denmark by Napoleon in 1807, whilst
France and Spain were allies bound by the Treaty of San Ildefonso,
signed in 1796. When relations between the two countries broke down
in May 1808 they were soon at war with each other, and La Romanas
host became, in effect, a captive army in the hands of the French.
When Spain looked to forge an alliance with Britain against her
erstwhile ally, they found the British government only too eager to
help. The Royal Navy's dominant presence in the Baltic provided a
ready opportunity to seal the new alliance and, once the political
groundwork had been laid, plans for a daring rescue of the
entrapped Spaniards by Vice Admiral Keats' squadron were drawn up.
However, whilst efforts were being made by the British to
accumulate and prepare a sufficient amount of shipping to carry out
the operation, difficulties soon arose in making contact with La
Romana in order to convey to him the intentions of the Spanish and
British high commands. This almost led to disaster, and the whole
operation was saved only by some remarkable strokes of fortune, and
the magnificent leadership provided by Keats and La Romana. Until
now this remarkable and little-known story has had little coverage
in the various histories written about the Peninsular War, and what
has been said about it in the Anglosphere has been confined to a
description of events taken almost solely from a British
perspective. Now, with access to a comprehensive collection of
documents in the Spanish archives, it is possible to tell the story
of the Spanish contribution to the successful operation in the
Baltic, when the greater part of La Romana's army was evacuated
from Danish Baltic territory during the summer of 1808. Due to
circumstance and bad fortune, a significant part of the Spanish
army was left behind during the Royal Navy's action, and there is
an interesting story told about what became of these men, related
via the personal accounts left by two of the soldiers who did not
return to Spain with La Romana.
William Brown's autobiography is a unique historical document,
since he is the only memoirist to have come to light from the ranks
of the 45th (1st Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot for the period
of the Peninsula War - a regiment that was one of Wellington's
longest-serving and most valiant in that turbulent era, a proud
member of Sir Thomas Picton's 'Fighting' Third Division. William
was born in Kilmarnock in 1788, the son of a poor cobbler, but
seems to have been given a good education since the narrative is
clear and lively, with many learned literary references. Like many
young men, William Brown originally volunteered into the militia,
Britain's second-line army intended for home defence only. And like
a goodly percentage of these young men, he found that the life
more-or-less agreed with him, and willingly took the bounty on
offer to volunteer into the regular army a few weeks after
Wellington's victory at Talavera. In the next five years he served
at Busaco, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Madrid, Vittoria,
Orthez, and Toulouse, and his descriptions of these actions provide
worthy additions to our knowledge of these great battles. William
seems to have been generally a reliable soldier, often 'on command'
doing ancillary regimental service involving a degree of trust,
including service as an officer's batman. His outrage at the antics
of his fellow-soldiers in the sack of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz is
palpable. Nonetheless, he occasionally seems to have slipped into
questionable behaviour and comes across in the text as a bit of a
'likeable rogue'. His romantic pursuits also get plenty of coverage
in the text. William's pen-portraits of commanders such as Picton,
Kempt, Pakenham, and Brisbane are revealing, and he was not slow in
criticising his senior battalion officers or their actions; nor
indeed is the Duke of Wellington above William's barbed criticism.
Maps are provided to allow the reader to understand the route
travelled within Portugal and Spain by William and the 45th
Regiment in those turbulent years, and the whole text is annotated
by historian Steve Brown, an expert on the 45th and its deeds in
the Napoleonic era.
This, the fourth volume in Andrew Field's highly praised study of
the Waterloo campaign from the French perspective, depicts in vivid
detail the often neglected final phase the rout and retreat of
Napoleon's army. The text is based exclusively on French eyewitness
accounts which give an inside view of the immediate aftermath of
the battle and carry the story through to the army's disbandment in
late 1815\. Many French officers and soldiers wrote more about the
retreat than they did about the catastrophe of Waterloo itself.
Their recollections give a fascinating insight to the psyche of the
French soldier. They also provide a first-hand record of their
experiences and the range of their reactions, from those who
deserted the colours and made their way home, to those who
continued to serve faithfully when all was lost. Napoleon s own
flight from Waterloo is an essential part of the narrative, but the
main emphasis is on the fate of the beaten French army as it was
experienced by eyewitnesses who lived through the last days of the
campaign.
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