Tag: Peninsular War
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A selection of Peninsular War letters of the rank and file …
Stamp: (illegible number), FRENCH ARMY IN SPAIN. Mister Even, mayor of Beaufort, Department of Forests, Canton of Echternach, arrondissement of Bitbourg, via Paris. (Medina de) Rioseco, 24 August (1811). Dear father, Your long silence would certainly cause me to have doubts; only the filial love you have always fostered in me makes me think that…
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Sergeant Jean-Gilles Toussaint, an infantryman in the French armies of Spain and Portugal …
On 10 September 1805, a young conscript from the (Belgian) canton of Malmédy sent his parents this sorrowful letter, which we reproduce as it was written: Dearest father and mother, You and I are experiencing twice as much distress at the moment. I met the corporal on my way into Wiwertz, who was on his…
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A cavalry officer’s recollections of the battle of Vitoria, 1813 …
Charles Louis Constant, Count of Agoult (1790-1875), recalls his experiences set during the battle which is considered ‘the Waterloo of the Peninsula’. He was a captain serving in the 4th Dragoon Regiment. Our ‘fortunes’ in Spain were becoming more critical by the day. Reason had long been warning to withdraw behind the Ebro (river). Napoleon…
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Gendarme Bonnart during the final phases of the Peninsular War …
… The appointed committee was untiringly occupied with its operations. After the working hours, having strolled outside the town, I made the acquaintance of a birder who caught, in various ways, many ortolans. I attended his hunting sessions several times, which amused me greatly. I often walked through a small wood, hearing the cannon fire…
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Gendarme Médard Bonnart in Spain (1812)
On 4 August [1812], Generals Charles Lameth and Labadie assembled all the troops, carriages, ammunition and baggage, and issued the order to proceed. On the 5th, at three o’clock in the morning, the escort was divided into various platoons of infantry and were positioned in echelon, who carried out reconnaissance and formed the rear of…