"Wellington's army 1809-1814" Topic

Of possible interest?

PDF link

Armand

Excellent volume and well-worth having.

Yes, great find. This is a digital scan of Oman's 1912 book.

Jim

Downloaded for reading, thank you.

My brother-in-law gave me a first edition a few years ago. Great book to have if only to see how the approach to history changes over the years.

The best part of the book is Appendix II: Divisional and Brigade Organization and Changes, pages 343-373.

It goes by year and unit and shows all of the units assigned to brigades and divisions in the army in the Peninsula.

A votre service mes amis….

How little you can … (smile)

Armand

I have all of Oman's seven (VII) volumes. I also have the supplementary volumes 8 (VIII by John Hall) The Biography Dictionary of British officers killed and Wounded. 1808-1814.
And Volume 9 (IX Paddy Griffith) Modern Studies of the War in Spain and Portugal. 1808-1814. All excellent books and Oman's study is probably the ultimate campaign library ever written.

PS. I also have the book featured in this thread.

Oman's study of the war in the Spanish Peninsula is indeed monumental and a must for anyone interested in the period.

It should also be noted that the war in Spain and Portugal was not one campaign, but a series of campaigns fought over a period of 6-7 years.

Up to now, I only own two of Oman's seven volume series and, although I have tried to impose a book buying ban until the end of September, if I saw any on offer in any of the second hand bookshops that I still end up going in, I doubt I would be able to resist buying a copy if one was available, depending on the price, of course. But one of my aims is to have all seven in Oman's Peninsular War series. And now it looks like I will have to add this title. Thank you everyone. LOL

So the British and French went home at the end of the season and came back next year with a new satchel and pencil case? Wellington was in the peninsula throughout and there were some lulls when the weather dictated. It was one campaign – each year was directly linked to the next.

Sorry, no.

It was one war, which was composed of a series of campaigns. That is clearly established by Nick Lipscombe's excellent Atlas as well as by Oman.

All you have to do is to look at the titles in Oman, such as the Talavera Campaign and the Campaign of Vittoria. Then you have Suchet's campaigns in Eastern Spain…They are separate campaigns, all part of one war.

Further, the period from 1805-1815 is correctly labeled the Napoleonic Wars, plural. And the campaigns from 1806 to 1807 are correctly labeled as three disctinct campaigns-Jena, Eylau, and Friedland. And the French didn't 'go home' until after Tilsit.

In point of fact, a good portion of them would hit the road for Spain and the remainder would be under Davout's command in central Europe.

The British did go back home after their overall failure in the Corunna campaign. They were also forced to go back to Portugal, their second home so to speak, after the Talavera campaign and after the battle of Bussaco and also after the failed siege of Burgos in 1812.

For the British and their allies it was a series of campaigns although for the French I imagine they may well have seen it as a continuous war since they were never forced out of Spain or back to France until the very end, which took several years, as we know.

The First 'Rescue' of Portugal from the Hands of the Eagles

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Armand

Was he Wellington in 1809?
I thought not!