Download or read book A Cavalry Officer In The Corunna Campaign 1808 1809 written by Captain Alexander Gordon and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2011-08-22 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Captain Gordon led a troop of the 15th Hussars during the first of the British army’s campaigns into Spain, commanded by Sir John Moore. Unearthed and published many years after it was written by the esteemed Regimental historian Colonel Wylly, his diary bears testimony to the events of the retreat to Corunna. Gordon writes of his adventures with verve, wit and in some places a little venom when talking of his erstwhile commander Moore; he is fulsome in his description of the Portuguese and Spanish people to whom the British had come to aid. For example when relating the qualities of a local wine he could “only compare the taste of it to a mixture of vinegar and ink” On military matters he is no great respecter of rank, and distributes blame and praise where he believes they should be rightly apportioned. He gives a great first-hand account of the famed skirmish of Sahagun, to which he believes started a moral ascendancy of the British cavalry over their French counterparts. Despite some defective equipment and, as Gordon attributes it, dilatory conduct by the commander, he reaches Corunna unlike a number of his comrades and fellow country-men. A fine read, which despite its format as a journal retains some pace, it gives a great view of the retreat from an expert military eye. Author – Captain Alexander Gordon (1781-1872) Editor – Colonel Harold Carmichael Wylly (1858-1932)

Download or read book A Cavalry Officer in the Corunna Campaign 1808 1809the Journal of Captain Gordon of the 15th Hussars written by Colonel H. C. Wylly C. B. and published by . This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like the Dunkirk campaign in 1940, General Sir John Moore's advance and retreat from and to Corunna in the early stages of the Peninsular War, was a defeat that has acquired in hindsight all the glorious aura of a famous victory. This was largely due to Moore's own heroic death at the climax of the campaign; but as Churchill remarked after Dunkirk, 'Wars are not won by evacuations' and any reader of these revealing diaries will be left in no doubt that Corunna was a calamitous defeat for Britain at the hands of a confident, competent French force. The author of these journals - first published in 1913 - was Captain Alexander Gordon, a Scottish aristocrat - (he was the son of the Earl of Aberdeen) - who wrote them up from notes he made at the conclusion of the campaign when the events he describes so vividly were still fresh in his mind. Although a Hussar, the conditions during the retreat on Corunna were so chaotic that Gordon, as he puts it "Enjoyed opportunities of becoming acquainted with the situation and general movements of the [whole] army." His journals cover the complete campaign - from Moore's unwise advance into Spain's interior in an effort to link up with Spanish armies; his encounter with the French under Napoleon himself; and his fighting retreat on the port of Corunna where the Royal Navy was waiting to rescue them. The climax was the pitched battle of Corunna itself, during which Moore was killed by a cannon ball in his chest. The British army of 16,000 succeeded in holding the numerically equivalent French at bay until they had embarked, inflicting 2,000 deaths for their own losses of 900 men. But - as at Dunkirk - they had to abandon much of their equipment o the enemy, including 20,000 muskets. In retrospect it is probably fortunate that by the time of the battle, Napoleon had left Spain to meet an Austrian threat, leaving the battle to the cautious Marshal Soult. This is a valuable eye-witness account of an often overlooked campaign by a perceptive and informed professional observer. IIlustrated with maps and a portrait of the author.

Download or read book A Cavalry Officer in the Corunna Campaign 1808 1809 written by Alexander Gordon and published by . This book was released on 1913 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Sir John Moore s Peninsular Campaign 1808 1809 written by D.W. Davies and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an attempt to present the chief events in the last campaign of Sir John Moore. Enough of Sir John Moore's life, and of life in England, France, and Spain to explain those events has been included. In several instances, perhaps important instances, accounts of events as given here differ from what may be found elsewhere. In such cases the documents upon which the present narrative is based have been indicated. The list of those to whom I am indebted is a long one. The staff of the Public Record Office have been unfailingly helpful, pleasant, and ef ficient on the many occasions when I have used the Record Office. The Librarian and staff of the National Library of Scotland were most help ful when the writer consulted the papers of Sir George Murray and the manuscripts of Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch, in that Library. An especially enjoyable occasion was the time spent in the Scottish United Services Museum working with the Sir David Baird papers. I am much indebted to The Honourable the Marquess of Anglesey for permission to consult the Paget papers in the Library at Plas-Newydd. The Libra rian and the Keeper of Manuscripts of the John Rylands Library have been most kind and generous in making available the papers of Sir Henry Clinton. As always, Mr.

Download or read book March Of Death written by Christopher Summerville and published by Frontline Books. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the bitter winter of 1808, a small British force found itself outnumbered and outmanouevered by a French army led by none other than the emperor Napoleon. Faced with crushing defeat, the British, commanded by Sir John Moore, turned and began a legendary march through the snow and ice of northern Spain to freedom and escape. Napoleon, swearing that he would drive the British leopard into the sea, pursued and an epic was born.

Download or read book A Cavalry Officer in the Corunna Campaign written by Alexander Gordon and published by . This book was released on 1913 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book From Corunna to Waterloo With the Hussars 1808 to 1815 written by John Mollo and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2013-11-14 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Basing his story on contemporary letters, diaries and reports and a comprehensive bibliography, John Mollo takes the reader into the heart of the Hussar Brigade in peace and war, depicting its many colourful characters with a sure hand and describing every facet of day-to-day life, in barracks and on the battlefield. This is a story based on the harsh realities of war in the early years of the nineteenth century. Written with great elegance, the touch of a natural story teller and the imprint of a true lover and student of military history, this is a book to treasure.

Download or read book A Cavalry Officer in the Corunna Campaign 1808 1809 written by Alexander Gordon and published by . This book was released on 1913 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Cavalry Officer in the Corunna Campaign 1808 1809 written by Alexander Gordon (of Ellow, Captain.) and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaign 1809 1815 written by William Tomkinson and published by London S. Sonnenschein 1894.. This book was released on 1894 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Recollections of Rifleman Harris written by Benjamin Randell Harris and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2022-08-18 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Describing narrow squeaks and terrible deprivations, Harris's unflowery account of fortitude and resilience in Spain still bristles with a freshness and an invigorating spikiness' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 'A most vivid record of the war in Spain and Portugal against Napoleon' MAIL ON SUNDAY Benjamin Harris was a young shepherd from Dorset who joined the army in 1802 and later joined the dashing 95th Rifles. His battalion was ordered to Portugal, where he marched under the burning sun, weighed down by his kit and great-coat, plus all the tools and leather he had to carry as the battalion's cobbler - 'the lapstone I took the liberty of flinging to the Devil'. Rifleman Harris was a natural story-teller with a remarkable tale to unfold, and his Recollections have become one of the most popular military books of all time.

Download or read book Bulletin 1908 23 written by Boston Public Library and published by . This book was released on 1914 with total page 894 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Bulletin of the Public Library of the City of Boston written by Boston Public Library and published by . This book was released on 1914 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Macdonald of the Isles written by Anna Maria Wilhelmina Stirling and published by . This book was released on 1913 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The English Catalogue of Books annual written by Sampson Low and published by . This book was released on 1914 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vols. for 1898-1968 include a directory of publishers.

Download or read book The Nation written by and published by . This book was released on 1914 with total page 1128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Saturday Review of Politics Literature Science and Art written by and published by . This book was released on 1913 with total page 892 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: