Download or read book A History of the Peninsular War written by Charles Oman and published by . This book was released on 1902 with total page 726 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A History of the Peninsular War Volume III September 1809 to December 1810 written by Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman KBE and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 907 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Illustrated with 14 maps and 5 portraits The 1807-14 war in the Iberian Peninsula was one of the most significant and influential campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars. Arising from Napoleon's strategic need to impose his rule over Portugal and Spain, it evolved into a constant drain on his resources. Sir Charles Oman's seven-volume history of the campaign is an unrivalled and essential work. His extensive use and analysis of French, Spanish, Portuguese and British participants' accounts and archival material, together with his own inspection of the battlefields, provides a comprehensive and balanced account of this most important episode in Napoleonic military history. Volume III covers the period from September 1809 to December 1810, when the French were consolidating their hold on Spain, crushing resistance and attempting to drive the British out of Portugal. However, they could not wholly defeat their opponents. The forces of the Spanish Regency Council, with British and Portuguese aid, held out against the siege of Cadiz. Wellington's Allied army fought a model defensive battle at Bussaco, stalling the French drive into Portugal and enabling the British and Portuguese forces to retire to the shelter of the Torres Vedras fortifications. Here the Allies' defence led to a strategic victory, blunting the French offensive, and ultimately forcing the French to abandon their invasion.

Download or read book A History of the Peninsular War Vol 3 of 7 written by Charles Oman and published by AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. This book was released on with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This, the third volume of the History of the Peninsular War, covers a longer period than either of its predecessors, extending over the sixteen months from Wellington’s arrival at Badajoz on his retreat from Talavera (Sept. 3, 1809) to the deadlock in front of Santarem (Dec. 1810), which marked the end of Masséna’s offensive campaign in Portugal. It thus embraces the central crisis of the whole war, the arrival of the French in front of the Lines of Torres Vedras and their first short retreat, after they had realized the impossibility of forcing that impregnable barrier to their advance. The retreat that began at Sobral on the night of Nov. 14, 1810, was to end at Toulouse on April 11, 1814. The armies of the Emperor were never able to repeat the experiment of 1810, and to assume a general and vigorous offensive against Wellington and Portugal. In 1811 they were on the defensive, despite of certain local and partial attempts to recover their lost initiative. In 1812 they had to abandon half Spain—Andalusia, Estremadura, Asturias, La Mancha, and much more,—despite of Wellington’s temporary check before Burgos. In 1813 they were swept across the Pyrenees and the Bidassoa; in 1814 they were fighting a losing game in their own land. Rightly then may Masséna’s retreat to Santarem be called the beginning of the end—though it was not for a full year more that Wellington’s final offensive commenced, with the investment of Ciudad Rodrigo on Jan. 8, 1812. The campaign of Bussaco and Torres Vedras, therefore, marked the turning-point of the whole war, and I have endeavoured to set forth its meaning in full detail, devoting special care to the explanation of Wellington’s triple device for arresting the French advance—his combination of the system of devastation, of the raising of the levée en masse in Portugal, and of the construction of great defensive lines in front of Lisbon. Each of these three measures would have been incomplete without the other two. For the Lines of Torres Vedras might not have saved Portugal and Europe from the domination of Napoleon, if the invading army had not been surrounded on all sides by the light screen of irregular troops, which cut its communications, and prevented it from foraging far afield. Nor would Masséna have been turned back, if the land through which he had advanced had been left unravaged, and if every large village had contained enough food to subsist a brigade for a day or a battalion for a week. The preparations, the advance, and the retreat of Masséna cover about half of this volume. The rest of it is occupied with the operations of the French in Northern, Eastern, and Southern Spain—operations which seemed decisive at the moment, but which turned out to be mere side-issues in the great contest. For Soult’s conquest of Andalusia, and Suchet’s victories in Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia only distracted the imperial generals from their central task—the expulsion of Wellington and his army from the Peninsula. Most readers will, I think, find a good deal of new information in the accounts of the siege of Gerona and the battle of Ocaña. The credit due to Alvarez for the defence of the Catalonian city has never been properly set forth before in any English history, nor have the details of Areizaga’s miserable campaign in La Mancha been fully studied. In particular, the composition and strength of his army have never before been elucidated, and Appendices V, VI of this volume consist of absolutely unpublished documents. To be continue in this ebook...

Download or read book The Pacific Unitarian written by and published by . This book was released on 1909 with total page 870 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The English Catalogue of Books written by Sampson Low and published by . This book was released on 1911 with total page 1630 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volumes for 1898-1968 include a directory of publishers.

Download or read book A Dictionary of Napoleon and His Times written by Hubert N. B. Richardson and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Athenaeum written by and published by . This book was released on 1911 with total page 860 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Bulletin written by and published by . This book was released on 1907 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Notes and Queries written by and published by . This book was released on 1908 with total page 664 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Publishers Circular and Booksellers Record written by and published by . This book was released on 1910 with total page 900 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Bussaco 1810 written by René Chartrand and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-03-20 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By 1810, Napoleon reigned supreme over most of continental Europe. But the Iberian Peninsula remained unsubdued, particularly Portugal, which continued to resist. Napoleon ordered Marshal Masséna to crush this resistance with the Army of Portugal. Greatly strengthened, Masséna's army would drive the Portuguese and British into the sea. Facing the French were 60,000 British and Portuguese troops. No-one knew how the Portuguese would perform in battle, but on 27 September 1810, they received their baptism of fire. This title details the gruelling Bussaco campaign as French attempts to subdue Portugal reached their climax.

Download or read book The English Catalogue of Books annual written by Sampson Low and published by . This book was released on 1909 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vols. for 1898-1968 include a directory of publishers.

Download or read book Catalogue written by Bernard Quaritch (Firm) and published by . This book was released on 1908 with total page 1008 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Bookseller written by and published by . This book was released on 1908 with total page 822 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Publisher written by and published by . This book was released on 1908 with total page 856 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Publishers Circular and Booksellers Record of British and Foreign Literature written by and published by . This book was released on 1891 with total page 716 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Book News Monthly written by and published by . This book was released on 1908 with total page 1510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: