Featured battle : Bautzen

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 20 May 1813 - 21 May 1813

The Allies formed up on the heights to the east of the river Spree near the town of Bautzen. They anticipated Napoleon's main attack would come on their left and made dispositions accordingly. On the first day of the battle Napoleon merely held the Allied left, in sufficient strength to suggest that maybe the main attack would develop there, while strongly attacking the centre of their line. On the second day, with all reserves having been drawn into the centre or to the left wing, Napoleon brought up Ney's and Lauriston's Corps to out-flank the right wing of the Allies. In spite of Ney's tardiness the move was successful in causing the Allies to withdraw. However the Allies were able to pull out in fairly good order thanks to their superiority in cavalry which they had not exploited earlier in the day.

Marching Fighting Dying.

Gareth Glover
This is a super read and those who, like me, are Gareth Glover fans will welcome this as a classic. The author has undertaken wide ranging research into primary sources and most of the text consists of excerpts from letters home from the Peninsular. There is very little about the battles as the bulk of the book is about activities off the battlefield e.g. the journey by ship or the entertainment when in winter quarters. The stories are entertaining and fascinating and lead one to gain a deeper insight into life in Wellington’s army. Here is the unvarnished detail of what the troops did and felt about it.
It would be enough to be an ‘interesting’ book but it is more important than just that. The substance of the correspondence brings into question many previously held ‘understandings’ of soldiering in the Napoleonic wars. The brief concluding paragraphs to each chapter and the summary Conclusion chapter are valuable correctors to many ‘widely accepted views’. This book is a big step towards historical truth.
We highly recommend it to all levels of readership.

Pen & Sword Military, 2021