Peninsular War V - The Armies of 1809-13 (Orders of Battle)

Towards the end of 1808, Napoleon had realised that the war in the Iberian Peninsula required a more committed effort to subdue resistance, as well as his own intervention and leadership. He had achieved his objectives by the start of 1809 and therefore entrusted French operations to his marshals while he returned to France to prepare for an expected show down with Austria.Following the evacuation of the main British army after Corunna, Soult began the second invasion of Portugal and soon captured the city of Oporto on the Douro River. Here, he let his troops rest and refit in preparation for a march on Lisbon. Britain saw an opportunity to go back on the offensive with troops still remaining in the Lisbon area. Sir Arthur Wellesley landed in Portugal in April 1809 and made ready to drive the French out of the Peninsular. A month later, this force had clashed with Soult’s troops at Grijó before driving on to make a daring crossing of the Douro and recapturing Oporto on 12th May. An advance into Spain would follow before a withdrawal to the safety of the Lines of Torres Vedras. A series of sieges would take place during 1811-12 before the notable victory at Salamanca and a follow up at García Hernández.By 1813, the French were on the defensive and after the victory at Vitoria, Wellesley, now Marquess of Wellington, pushed into the French Pyrenees to gain a series of victories including Sorauren before leading an invasion of southern France in 1814. The Portuguese and Spanish armies had by now evolved into efficient fighting forces and would take their place alongside the British as the French were finally driven from Spain.This thirty-fourth volume in the Orders of Battle series covers the French and allied armies present at four of the key confrontations that took place between 1809 and 1813, Grijó, The Douro, García Hernández and Sorauren. As with previous volumes in the series, an outline of the armies and a brief synopsis of the battles are included along with a detailed representation of the corps, commanders, battalions, squadrons and artillery batteries present. Use has been made of numerous available orders of battle to ensure accuracy by cross referencing and drawing on the best elements of each to produce the most complete record. Extensive research has also been made of the uniforms worn and the flag standards carried by the individual units to give an accurate visual interpretation of the way each would have appeared on the battlefield. A scale of 1:10 has been used to help visualise a precise image of the comparative size of each unit. Finally, the text describing the units, their strength and commanders completes what it is hoped will be the most informative record available. Read more