Wellington's Right Hand

Wellington's Right Hand PDF Author: Joanna Hill
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752492993
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 429

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Book Description
One of the most unlikely soldiers of his day, General Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill of Almarez was imaginative, brave – and perhaps more surprisingly for the period in which he lived and fought – compassionate towards those under his command. This is the compelling story of one of history's forgotten heroes, a man who frequently led from the front in some of the deadliest battles of the Napoleonic Wars. Hill was given his own 'detached' corps and fought his way through Spain, Portugal and France, winning battles against the odds – such at St Pierre, where he defeated the redoubtable Marechal Soult when outnumbered two to one. When ministers at home asked that Hill be allowed to leave the Peninsula and lead an army elsewhere, Wellington dismissed the idea with 'Would you cut off my right hand?' Hill fought at Roliça, Corunna, Talavera, Bussaco, Almarez, Vitoria and Waterloo. He succeeded the Duke in 1828 as Commander-in-Chief of the forces and served as such until he resigned in 1842, a period marked by civil unrest that he reluctantly was obliged to confront. Based upon the Hill papers and a wide range of other primary sources, Wellington's Right Hand is an important addition to the literature of the Napoleonic age and in particular to that of the Peninsular War. Writer and historian Joanna Hill is the great, great, great niece of Rowland Hill and as such has gained unique access to the Hill family archives. In April 2005, she published her first book on the Hill family, The Hills of Hawkstone and Attingham; the Rise, Shine and Decline of a Shropshire Family. Serendipity has sometimes led her life in the footsteps of her illustrious ancestor. While working at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University's post graduate department for the history of art and archaeology, she spent three very hot seasons excavating in the Nile Delta of Egypt, a few kilometres from the site of one of the General's very first battles, at Aboukir in 1801. She currently lives with her husband (and an international champion Skye terrier, Dougal) in a 13th-century hilltop bastide village in South West France. This is just a short distance north of St Pierre d'Irube at the foot of the Pyrenees, where Rowland Hill won his very own general action in the closing stages of the Peninsular War in December 1813. When the victorious British cavalry rode home through France from Toulouse to the channel ports in May the following year, they must have passed by.

At Wellington's Right Hand

At Wellington's Right Hand PDF Author: Alexander Gordon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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Book Description
Alexander Gordon served as aide-de-camp to his uncle, Sir David Baird, in the Coruna campaign of 1808-9, then joined Wellington's staff and remained at his side through to the Waterloo campaign. His letters, presented here, offer a unique insight into the British campaigns in the Peninsula.

Salamanca 1812

Salamanca 1812 PDF Author: Ian Fletcher
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1846036291
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description
Salamanca was the most decisive battle of the entire Peninsular War. This detailed, illustrated volume recounts its progression, alongside full-colour maps and illustrations. Wellington smashed Marmont's French Army and his pursuit of its shattered remnants led to the famous cavalry charge of the King's German Legion at Garcia Hernandez. There would be two more years of sieges and hard fighting before the Iron Duke crossed the Pyrenees into France but from Salamanca the British and their Portuguese and Spanish allies always had the upper hand. Ian Fletcher examines this important battle in detail and also discusses the campaign which led up to it.

Colors for Zena

Colors for Zena PDF Author: Monica Wellington
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101639008
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description
The magic of mixing colors, in a joyous story by a master colorist Zena's world lacks color, so she sets out to find some. On her walk, she first finds one primary color, then another. But red, blue, and yellow aren't enough—Zena wants more colors! Out pops an orange lion, a green frog, and a purple dragon, a combination of the colors she has seen. Zena and her friends then do some color mixing themselves, creating more colors and a bright painting using them all. Vibrant illustrations and simple text make Monica Wellington’s latest a perfect pick for budding young artists and for fans of classics such as The Color Kittens and Mouse Paint.

Spying for Wellington

Spying for Wellington PDF Author: Huw J. Davies
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806162139
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 459

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Book Description
Intelligence is often the critical factor in a successful military campaign. This was certainly the case for Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, in the Peninsular War. In this book, author Huw J. Davies offers the first full account of the scope, complexity, and importance of Wellington’s intelligence department, describing a highly organized, multifaceted series of networks of agents and spies throughout Spain and Portugal—an organization that was at once a microcosm of British intelligence at the time and a sophisticated forebear to intelligence developments in the twentieth century. Spying for Wellington shows us an organization that was, in effect, two parallel networks: one made up of Foreign Office agents “run” by British ambassadors in Spain and Portugal, the other comprising military spies controlled by Wellington himself. The network of agents supplied strategic intelligence, giving the British army advance warning of the arrival, destinations, and likely intentions of French reinforcements. The military network supplied operational intelligence, which confirmed the accuracy of the strategic intelligence and provided greater detail on the strengths, arms, and morale of the French forces. Davies reveals how, by integrating these two forms of intelligence, Wellington was able to develop an extremely accurate and reliable estimate of French movements and intentions not only in his own theater of operations but also in other theaters across the Iberian Peninsula. The reliability and accuracy of this intelligence, as Davies demonstrates, was central to Wellington’s decision-making and, ultimately, to his overall success against the French. Correcting past, incomplete accounts, this is the definitive book on Wellington’s use of intelligence. As such, it contributes to a clearer, more comprehensive understanding of Wellington at war and of his place in the history of British military intelligence.

Wellington

Wellington PDF Author: Christopher Hibbert
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0586091092
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Book Description
This single volume study of Wellington's life and times is based on modern research. Wellington achieved fame as a soldier fighting the Mahratta in India. His later brilliant generalship fighting the French in Spain was rewarded by a dukedom and a grant from the house of Commons which would today be worth some u8 million. After his defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo he embarked on his second career as a politician. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the army for life, became Prime Minister in 1827 and a byword for High Toryism while presiding over the emancipation of Roman Catholics and the formation of the country's first police force. Unhappily married, he had several mistresses and many intimate friendships with women."

Wellington’s Guns

Wellington’s Guns PDF Author: Nick Lipscombe
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472804686
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
Written in the same engaging style of Mark Urban's Fusiliers and Rifles, this is a brilliant study of the Gunners who revolutionised warfare during the course of the Napoleonic Wars despite the opposition of their commander-in-chief. Dismissive, conservative and aloof, Wellington treated his artillery with disdain during the Napoleonic Wars – despite their growing influence on the field of battle. Wellington's Guns exposes, for the very first time, the often stormy relationship between Wellington and his artillery, how the reluctance to modernize the British artillery corps threatened to derail the British push for victory and how Wellington's views on the command and appointment structure within the artillery opened up damaging rifts between him and his men. At a time when artillery was undergoing revolutionary changes – from the use of mountain guns during the Pyrenees campaign in the Peninsular, the innovative execution of 'danger-close' missions to clear the woods of Hougomont at Waterloo, to the introduction of creeping barrages and Congreve's rockets – Wellington seemed to remain distrustful of a force that played a significant role in shaping tactics and changing the course of the war. Using extensive research and first-hand accounts, Colonel Nick Lipscombe reveals that despite Wellington's brilliance as a field commander, his abrupt and uncompromising leadership style, particularly towards his artillery commanders, shaped the Napoleonic Wars, and how despite this, the ever-evolving technology and tactics ensured that the extensive use of artillery became one of the hallmarks of a modern army.

Wellington

Wellington PDF Author: Rory Muir
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300198604
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 693

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Book Description
The leading Wellington historian’s fascinating reassessment of the Iron Duke’s most famous victory and his role in the turbulent politics after Waterloo. For Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington, his momentous victory over Napoleon was the culminating point of a brilliant military career. Yet Wellington’s achievements were far from over: he commanded the allied army of occupation in France to the end of 1818, returned home to a seat in Lord Liverpool’s cabinet, and became prime minister in 1828. He later served as a senior minister in Peel’s government and remained commander-in-chief of the army for a decade until his death in 1852. In this richly detailed work, the second and concluding volume of Rory Muir’s definitive biography, the author offers a substantial reassessment of Wellington’s significance as a politician and a nuanced view of the private man behind the legend of the selfless hero. Muir presents new insights into Wellington’s determination to keep peace at home and abroad, achieved by maintaining good relations with the Continental powers and resisting radical agitation while granting political equality to the Catholics in Ireland rather than risk civil war. And countering one-dimensional pictures of Wellington as a national hero, Muir paints a portrait of a well-rounded man whose austere demeanor on the public stage belied his entertaining, gossipy, generous, and unpretentious private self. “[An] authoritative and enjoyable conclusion to a two-part biography.” —Lawrence James, Times (London) “Muir conveys the military, political, social and personal sides of Wellington’s career with equal brilliance. This will be the leading work on the subject for decades.” —Andrew Roberts, author of Napoleon and Wellington: The Long Duel

Wellington's Foot Guards at Waterloo

Wellington's Foot Guards at Waterloo PDF Author: Robert Burnham
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1526709880
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
During the Waterloo Campaign, Wellington had only one division that was composed entirely of British infantry, the 1st Division. This consisted of two brigades of the most famous regiments of the British Army the three regiments of Guards.The exploits of the Guards at Waterloo have passed into legend. On that day, Wellington entrusted the most crucial part of his line to the men he knew would hold their position at all cost. That vital position was the Chteau d'Hougoumont, and those men were the Guards.As the great battle unfolded, the French threw more and more troops at the walls of Hougoumont, setting some of the Chteaus buildings on fire and almost forcing their way in through its northern gateway. Though almost an entire French corps was engaged in the struggle for Hougoumont, the detachment of the Guards valiantly resisted every attack.Then, as the battle reached its climax, Napoleon launched his Imperial Guard at the centre of Wellingtons line. Just as the French believed that victory was in their grasp, up stood the 1st Guards Brigade to deliver a devastating volley, followed by a ferocious bayonet charge from which the French never recovered.The experienced duo of Robert Burnham and Ron McGuigan have compiled the first comprehensive study of the Guards Division throughout the entire Waterloo campaign, from the initial deployment in Belgium to the Occupation of Paris. The book also includes an explanation of the organisation and composition of the two brigades and personal details of many of the Guards officers the men who saved the day at Waterloo.

Napoleon and Wellington

Napoleon and Wellington PDF Author: Andrew Roberts
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0297865269
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
A dual biography of the greatest opposing generals of their age who ultimately became fixated on one another, by a bestselling historian. 'Thoroughly enjoyable, beautifully written and meticulously researched' Observer On the morning of the battle of Waterloo, the Emperor Napoleon declared that the Duke of Wellington was a bad general, the British were bad soldiers and that France could not fail to win an easy victory. Forever afterwards historians have accused him of gross overconfidence, and massively underestimating the calibre of the British commander opposed to him. Andrew Roberts presents an original, highly revisionist view of the relationship between the two greatest captains of their age. Napoleon, who was born in the same year as Wellington - 1769 - fought Wellington by proxy years earlier in the Peninsula War, praising his ruthlessness in private while publicly deriding him as a mere 'sepoy general'. In contrast, Wellington publicly lauded Napoleon, saying that his presence on a battlefield was worth forty thousand men, but privately wrote long memoranda lambasting Napoleon's campaigning techniques. Although Wellington saved Napoleon from execution after Waterloo, Napoleon left money in his will to the man who had tried to assassinate Wellington. Wellington in turn amassed a series of Napoleonic trophies of his great victory, even sleeping with two of the Emperor's mistresses.

Wellington’s Voice

Wellington’s Voice PDF Author: Gareth Glover
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783378670
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 499

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Book Description
John Fremantle was on Wellington's personal staff through the later years of the Peninsular War and Waterloo campaigns. He had a uniquely privileged view of the general and tells of his exploits – good and bad. The letters were written to his uncle, who was effectively his guardian, an army man and no shrinking violet. Fremantle deals with military matters in detail and gives a great insight into Wellington's honest views of matters – not the sanitized diplomatic versions Wellington allowed to be published in later life. He also talks a great deal about the personalities in ‘Wellington's family' and the 'Great Man', giving very honest, forthright views of their strengths and failings and brings many little-known incidents to light. An exposé of what life was like working with Wellington and an honest portrait of the man warts and all – this is a truly remarkable find and will certainly cause debate in the Napoleonic community.