Although biographies of Duke of Wellington abound, there few biographies of the generals that fought alongside him and executed his orders (or in some cases disobeyed them).
Following the abortive campaign in Egypt, Napoleon collected a number of men from the Mamelukes to serve in his household and a further number in his Imperial Guard.
Following the destruction of Napoleon's huge armies of 1812 in the wintry wastes of European Russia, his hegemony of Europe was teetering on the abyss.
Numerous Irishmen joined the British army during the Napoleonic Wars, a great number distinguishing themselves in the heat of combat; a further few wrote memoirs or recollections such as the rogueish Mr O'Neil of Dundalk.
Field-Marshal Gomm's letters and journals provide a first-rate account of the numerous actions, battles and events that he was involved in during the Napoleonic wars.
Prussia had sat on the sidelines in 1805 whilst Napoleon hammered the Austrian and Russian armies in a dazzling series of victories culminating at the battle of Austerlitz.
Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack - 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities.
Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack - 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities.
Sir John Fortescue holds a pre-eminent place amongst British military historians, his enduring fame and legacy resting mainly on his life's work "e;The History of the British Army"e;, issued in 20 volumes, which took him some 30 years to complete.
The Kings Royal Rifle Corps, or the 2nd Battalion the Royal Green Jackets as they are now known, had a long and proud fighting tradition that they would exchange with no other regiment in the British Army.
Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack - 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities.
Includes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack - 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities.
Edward Fraser contributed a number of works on the Napoleonic period ranging from the Eagle-bearers of Napoleon to the sailors of the fleets of Nelson, Gravina and Villeneuve at Trafalgar, this volume focuses on the exploits of the soldiers who fought under Wellington in the Peninsular War between 1808 and 1814.
The lot of a prisoner of war is well documented in more recent conflicts such as the Second World War, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf conflicts, however the British prisoners of war during the Napoleonic period have received scant attention as whole.
Of the many facets of the Napoleonic wars there are a vast number of books written in English on the climatic battle of the age of sail, perhaps only eclipsed by the wealth of material written on the Waterloo Campaign of 1815 as a single subject.
Robert Blakeney was by modern standards a callow youth at the age of fifteen, in the standards of the time in which he lived he was a gentleman and a soldier.
Having survived a posting to the disease ridden West Indies, the young ensign Steevens returned to Europe for further service with the XXth Regiment of Foot of the British Army, known as the "e;Old and Bold"e;.
Baron von Muffling was a prominent figure during the campaign of 1815, as a former Quarter-Master General of the Prussian army of Silesia in 1813-1814, he was appointed to be the Prussian Liaison officer with the Anglo-Dutch army under the Duke of Wellington.
Sergeant-Major Cotton retired from the British army after long and hard service that saw him fight in numerous engagements and battles, none more memorable than his last, that of Waterloo.
In November 1864, Abraham Lincoln penned what is known as the "e;Bixby Letter"e; offering his condolences to the mother of five soldiers who had fallen in the service of their country.
Written at the promptings of friends and family, the story of Midshipman Boys captivity and escape from Napoleonic France stands as an adventure yarn par excellence, it is however the true story of his trials after capture by the French in 1803.
Following on from the Author's "e;Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany"e;, Petre's closely researched and well argued account of the 1814 campaign, which would see some of the finest strategical manoeuvres of Napoleon's entire career.
Many memoirs of the Napoleonic period are recounting, more or less interesting dependant on the author, of the events of their service interspersed by anecdotes of interesting events, Elzear Blaze eschewed that style of reminiscence and left a singular view of his time in the Grande Armee.
The Duke of Wellington was faced by numerous problems as the head of the British Army in the Peninsular War from 1809, not least of which were the number and quality of the sub-ordinate generals that he was sent by the powers that be at Horse Guards.
Baron von Muffling was an eye-witness to some of the most decisive events of the Napoleonic Wars, born into a noble family he went into the Prussian service, and saw action in the early campaigns of the Revolutionary wars in Holland and Belgium, during which he said he learned very little.
At the beginning of 1806, Napoleon could feel rather satisfied with his conquests, although the Russian Bear had been brutally beaten and the Austrian Eagle damaged beyond repair after the carnage of Austerlitz.
Born into a well-known and respected family in Dublin, William Grattan has left no sketch of himself or his reasons for joining the 88th Regiment of Foot, the most Irish of all the Irish regiments according to Oman, as a subaltern in 1809.
Born into a well-known and respected family in Dublin, William Grattan has left no sketch of himself or his reasons for joining the 88th Regiment of Foot, the most Irish of all the Irish regiments according to Oman, as a subaltern in 1809.
A rarity amongst Peninsular accounts, are those that come from the medical services of the British army, Boutflower's journal was printed sixty years after his death but remains even now fresh and interesting.
Edward Costello enlisted into his local militia regiment in Ireland in 1806, and transferred, not without having a few adventures in his native Ireland, to the 95th Rifles.
Captain Gronow, joined the Grenadier guards as a young subaltern in 1812, having completed his studies at Eton and was widely know in England and the Continent thereafter as a raconteur and a fine pistol shot.
Captain Gronow, joined the Grenadier guards as a young subaltern in 1812, having completed his studies at Eton and was widely know in England and the Continent thereafter as a raconteur and a fine pistol shot.
Captain Gronow, joined the Grenadier guards as a young subaltern in 1812, having completed his studies at Eton and was widely know in England and the Continent thereafter as a raconteur and a fine pistol shot.
Robert Batty, wrote a number of books on his battlefield experiences as a young subaltern, in the 1st battalion Grenadier Guards during the Napoleonic wars, notably this volume concerning the period 1813-1814.
Major-General Lord Andrew Thomas Blayney although previously a successful commander of his own regiment the 89th Regiment of Foot of the British through-out the early stages of the Peninsular war, he is best known for his narrative of events after his capture by Polish forces fighting under the flag of Napoleonic France.
Major-General Lord Andrew Thomas Blayney although previously a successful commander of his own regiment the 89th Regiment of Foot of the British through-out the early stages of the Peninsular war, he is best known for his narrative of events after his capture by Polish forces fighting under the flag of Napoleonic France.
Napoleon, died on the lonely island of St Helena in 1821, his life, his actions and thoughts have been written about, re-written and revised ever since.
A thoughtful account from the ranks of the Rifle Brigade, by a former enlisted man who raised himself to the rank of quarter-master and served throughout the Peninsular War and the expedition to America which met with a disastrous end at New Orleans.
