Product Description

The British Army that faced Napoleon in the Peninsula was small by continental standards, but it consistently out-fought larger French armies, never losing a major open-field action. Its cavalry and artillery were standard; but its infantry achieved unique results, as their tactics were brought to a peak of professional perfection by Wellington. Using contemporary instruction manuals, first-hand accounts and in-depth analysis of individual actions, this book examines exactly how Wellington was able to convert a rabble of volunteers and criminals into a well-oiled, highly disciplined and professional war-winning machine. With a detailed look at the effective use of terrain, line rather than column manoeuvres and fortification assaults, Philip Haythornthwaite reveals the crucial tactics of Wellington's army, illustrated with comprehensive maps, images and full-colour artwork.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56107 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

About the Author
Philip Haythornthwaite is an internationally respected author and historical consultant specialising in the military history, uniforms and equipment of the 18th and 19th centuries. His main area of research covers the Napoleonic Wars. He has written some 40 books, including more than 20 Osprey titles, and innumerable articles and papers on military history - but still finds time to indulge in his other great passion, cricket.

Customer Reviews

Excellent Introduction to a difficult subject
I really enjoyed this book. Like its 'companion' volume by Paddy Griffith on French Napoleonic Infantry tactics, this book is very well illustrated (It's worth buying both as I did as they compliment each other well). Good illustrations are a serious advantage for what can be a complicated subject on occasion with a picture being worth a thousand words as they say.

Haythornthwaite writes in a very informative and engaging style, which is invaluable when trying to explain complicated military manoeuvres. I found the explanations of the famous reverse slope tactic to be particularly good, especially when accompanied by illustrations of the tactic at different stages. Haythornthwaite also gives a good description of light infantry skirmishing tactics. Having been aware of the influence of Sir John Moore on British tactics, I was pleased to see an examination of the contribution from lesser known figures such as Dundas in this book as well.

Although I've read studies that go into this subject in greater depth, this provides a great introduction to British Infantry tactics for the period. It proved to be a timely reminder for me about certain concepts and aided my understanding of some of the more difficult to comprehend manoeuvres. This is an excellent book.

Nice pictures, disappointing text
This book is an easy read, but readers will get few new insights. The first part is a fairly detailed review of drill, as developed by Dundas. This is quite interesting, but it doesn't have all that much to do with tactics. There is too much detail on some issues (the many moves possible only on the parade ground), but perhaps not enough on others (the issues around moving by files, and so on, that so heavily influenced French methods). The book then moves onto tactics proper. The author displays his entensive knowledge and reading, but, like so much writing about the Napoleonic era, it drops quickly into analysis by anecdote, when the main insights are likely to come from taking a fresh analytical look at the various battles. Paddy Griffiths's volume on French tactics is much better in this repect. It would have been interesting, for example, to contrast the tactical successes with the (small number) of failures (like Cole at Salamanca), as well as putting a bit more context around the quotations (didn't the British cavalry have a lot do do with the success of Leith's attack in the same battle, used as an illustration?).

The pictures are a delight - trying to show how things might have looked in real life, with aerial views of formations and combats. If you are used to wargaming with miniatures this is a wonderful corrective. There is a silly mistake on the picture of an oblong-square, which unfortunately makes it onto the front cover, though. The sides should be much more equal (there were 2 companies on front and back faces, and 3 to each flank, not the 1 to 4 shown). There is an interesting depiction of a reverse slope defence - but this is not taken from any particular battle, and I'm very suspicious of anything this abstracted - it tends to perpetuate myths (again the companion on French tactics is much better here).

British Napoleonic tactics are covered in a dense mythology that started in contemporary accounts and has evolved since. It's a pity that so few writers are interested in unravelling it. Mr Haythornthwaite writes fluently, but he does not attempt to take this on.