'Aussie Rick'’s Comments (group member since Jun 13, 2009)

'Aussie Rick'’s comments from the THE NAPOLEONIC WARS group.

Just got the story on the internet, pretty brazen eh!

Two good posts Betsy! Recapturing Badajoz was going to be a bloody event indeed!

One thing I have noticed in re-reading my book that nearly all of Wellington's early attempts at siege operations show him to be impulsive and believing a quick assault would deliver the fortress to him. In nearly every case his forces suffered horrendous losses and if the place was taken it was by chance or luck. His men started to distrust his handling of siege operations and no wonder when you consider the casualties his men endured.

This is from a Google search - AI overview:

Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (January 1812): Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese army captured the French-held city. The storming of the city resulted in heavy casualties for the Allies, but its fall opened a northern gateway into Spain.

Siege of Badajoz (March–April 1812): After an unsuccessful attempt in 1811, Wellington's forces took the city after a bloody assault. The victory was costly, with significant Allied casualties, and the subsequent sack of the city by his troops was considered one of the worst atrocities of the war.

Siege of the Salamanca forts (June 1812): Wellington's army successfully took the French-held convents in Salamanca after a bombardment. This victory set up the subsequent Battle of Salamanca a month later.

Siege of Burgos (September–October 1812): Wellington's forces besieged the French-held castle, but a shortage of ammunition and a lack of progress forced him to abandon the siege and retreat. This was one of Wellington's rare failures during the Peninsular War.

Betsy wrote: "Question: Was Ney ever referred to as 'the bravest of the brave' before the 1812 retreat? I have seen this in several books, including the one I'm reading, and it is only 1810. As I have always und..."

I found this story that might provide a bit more detail in regard to your question Betsy:

https://www.thecollector.com/michel-n...

Betsy wrote: "Chapter 12 of my book deals with my favorite part of the Peninsular War--the campaign in Portugal and the Lines of Torres Vedras. It starts with a disturbing description of a devastated Portuguese ..."

In my book the author mentioned the devastation upon the Portuguese peasants due to the building and implementation of the Lines of Torres Vedras along with Wellington's scorched earth policy - over 50,000 dead in 1810.

Scott wrote: "The Fatal Knot: The Guerrilla War in Navarre and the Defeat of Napoleon in Spain

I ..."

Guerilla warfare, usually the worst type of conflict!

Betsy wrote: "Not that we'll ever know for sure, but it doesn't seem unreasonable to believe that a man with Napoleon's ego wouldn't believe he could 'do it all' even from a distance. He did seem to like to 'mic..."

Trying to micromanage the Spanish campaign was never going to work, distance, terrain, and guerilla activity making it nearly impossible for Napoleon's orders to have any bearing on the situation by the time they arrived.

Betsy wrote: "Indeed, Scott. One thing my book 'hints' at is the fact that if Napoleon himself had returned to Spain instead of looking for a bride, he might have made the difference. His obsession with his 'leg..."

Your point about Napoleon being distracted by looking for a dynastic marriage was also made in my book Betsy. The author also quoted Wellington after the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro:

"If Boney had been there we should have been beaten!"

Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro:
https://www.britishbattles.com/penins...

Betsy wrote: "Napoleon seemed to encourage rivalry especially among his marshals, and never more so than in the Peninsula. Poor Massena, he did cause many of his own problems, but he had one strike against him a..."

Hard to win any conflict with 'subordinates' like these eh!

"The Spanish Ulcer" - Another Marshal sent to Spain to gain fame or return in disgrace:

"Massena, though a magnificent general who had recently acquired more laurels in the triumphant Danube campaign, was old beyond his fifty-two years and evinced little enthusiasm for his new command. Furthermore, he was to have endless problems with his subordinates: Junot, mindful of his own failure in Portugal, resented him and wished him ill; Reynier disliked him and Ney, never an easy officer to control, became utterly recalcitrant. From the beginning, the headquarters of the 'Army of Portugal' was a mass of bitter factions over which Massena struggled to impose his will - a state of affairs hardly conducive to the efficient running of military operations."

Marshal Massena:
https://www.frenchempire.net/biograph...

Betsy wrote: "Pictures and maps, the two things that really improve books about battles."

Very much so Betsy!

Betsy wrote: "Excellent pictures and description of the battle."

I do like seeing photos of the battlefields being discussed.

"The Spanish Ulcer" - The French cavalry was once again deadly efficient in its role against unprepared infantry, this time during the Battle of Ocaña:

"Milhaud's onslaught proved catastrophic for the 'Army of La Mancha'. Grappling with the hostile infantry to their front, the Spanish foot soldiers suddenly found themselves assailed by cavalry from the flank and rear. Unable to form square, entire divisions were successfully rolled up, routed and slaughtered. Thousands of men perished; still more were captured. The second line of Areizaga's infantry went the same way. Although they had not yet been committed to the fight against Girad's battalions, they were attacked in the flank by Milhaud before they could deploy. Their right-hand formation - Jacome's division - threw down their weapons as one man and surrendered, exposing the rest of the line to the French charges. Assailed on their flank by the enemy and battered by crowds of fugitives from the front, the second echelon of Spanish divisions quickly crumbled and broke into flight."

Battle of Ocaña:
https://www.napoleon-empire.org/en/ba...

Keep us posted Betsy. I will Google it and see if its available here in Australia.

Betsy wrote: "Although guerilla warfare became one of the best known aspects of the Peninsular War many observers such as Thomas Sydenham thought that, "the guerrillas did as much much mischief to the country as..."

This was a very observant statement:

"the guerrillas did as much much mischief to the country as they did to the French, but, in as much as they did considerable damage to the enemy, they were on the whole useful to the common cause."

Betsy wrote: "Good line about the two sides massacring each other at close range. Very apt description for much of the Peninsular fighting."

That's what caught my eye as well Betsy!

"The Spanish Ulcer" - The battle of Talavera was hard-fought and a British victory was not always assumed to be a sure thing:

"Flinging every available man into the fight, Wellington rallied the remnants of Sherbrooke's brigades as Mackenzie led forward his three battalions. Sebastiani's men came on with tremendous elan and soon a terrible exchange of musketry was under way with whole companies mowing each other down at point-blank range. To the left of Mackenzie's defence, the situation was even more critical: Brigadier Langwerth had been killed and half his troops wiped out, the other two brigades - those of Low and Cameron - had each lost a third of their strength, and all three were streaming back across the Portina in wild disorder. With no reserves left, Wellesley pulled a strong battalion down from the cerro and with these troops and a battery of six-pounders, succeeded in buying time for the three routed brigades to rally.

Like Sebastiani's men, Lapisse's division attacked with determination and the fire-fight was soon raging along the whole front of Wellesley's centre. With incredible tenacity, the two sides massacred each other with close range musketry for about twenty minutes until Sebastiani - assailed on his left flank by Cotton's cavalry - sullenly retired. Lapisse's men, their general dead, joined this retreat and slowly the fighting in the centre came to an end, both sides having lost over 1,700 men.

Battle of Talavera:
https://www.britishbattles.com/penins...

Betsy wrote: "I have just finished the description of Gerona in my book. Pyrrhic victory is apt. Too many of those 'victories' and what happens to your army?"

A point that a few of Napoleon's marshals are coming to realise!

"The Spanish Ulcer" - Another siege and another pyrrhic victory for the French - the fall of Gerona:

"Retreat turned into rout as Alvarez's men were driven at bayonet point from one position after another. By late afternoon on 7 December not only the City Redoubt but also the Chapter and Calvary fortifications had fallen. Completely cut off from Gerona, with no independent supply depots, it could only be a matter of days before the remaining outlying strongholds surrendered. Tired, sick and despondent, Alvarez resigned, and the morale of the Geronese finally broke, A pact of surrender was concluded and, on 11 December, 3,000 walking scarecrows dragged themselves from the ruined city and laid down their weapons. In addition to the 5,000 deaths the garrison suffered, half the town's 13,000 civilians had perished, and thousands more joined the 1,200 soldiers wounded in the fray. The French losses were no less horrific; being around 14,000 men, for which Augereau found himself in possession of a smoking ruin, so disease-ridden that he hardly dared to occupy it.

Thus, the French succeeded in taking Gerone at the third attempt. However, it had taken them seven months and 14,000 casualties to crush this symbol of the national resistance, and the story of the heroic defence of the city became an inspiration to all who resisted Napoleon's legions. Gerona even came to rival Saragossa as the embodiment of Spanish patriotism. To the French, the capture of the city represented a major triumph, but to the Catalans and the rest of the indigenous population of the Peninsula went a moral victory which further strengthened their resolve to drive out the invaders."

Fall of Gerona:
https://www.historyofwar.org/articles...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_s...

Betsy wrote: "With regards to Joseph, Napoleon simply did not trust his brother:
'Joseph has intelligence...but he does not like work...He knows nothing; he loves pleasure....What a curious notion you have of y..."

Not a very inspiring speech eh!

"Why you are not even as good as the corporal of light infantry posted at your door. If you found yourself at the head of...a hundred men in front of the enemy...you would not know what to do. You would probably run away like a coward."

Betsy wrote: "That second siege was brutal, and in the end did little for the French, except to harden the Spanish resolve to fight back. That's why I don't understand why Napoleon couldn't recognize what he was..."

It's an interesting question as to why Napoleon was blind to the difficulties in the Peninsula or was it the case he knew but could not admit the mistake?