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British Experience of Warfare (c.1790-1918) > Britain and the French Wars, the Army (1793-1815) > Flashcards

Britain and the French Wars, the Army (1793-1815) Flashcards

1
Q

What 2 stages were there to the French Wars, and how long did each last?

A
  • The French Revolutionary Wars: 1793-1802
  • The Napoleonic Wars: 1803-1815
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2
Q

What were 4 reasons why Britain and France were fighting in the late 18th century?

A
  • France had aided the American rebels in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
  • Britain viewed the French regime after the French Revolution as a threat to European stability and social order
  • They were competing for:
  • colonies
  • trade and influence in Europe
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3
Q

List 5 advantages Britain had over France.

A
  • Britain was the second most urbanised country (France was far behind)
  • Had a more modern economy
  • Stable and more sophisticated financial system, which helped finance wars
  • Better navy
  • Better tacticians (with the exception of Napoleon)
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4
Q

What were 2 advantages France had over Britain?

A
  • France’s population was twice as large as Britain’s
  • Their army was also bigger, especially since they used conscription
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5
Q

How big was Britain’s army at the start of the French Revolutionary Wars, and why?

A
  • 40,000 men
  • Conscription was seen as going against the rights of Britons, and the army did not have press gangs, so they relied on volunteers
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6
Q

What were 3 reasons why the army did not have enough volunteers?

A
  • Soldiers were paid less than farm workers
  • High death rates during the French Wars
  • Strict army discipline
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7
Q

List the units in the army in order of decreasing size, explaining how each is linked to the next unit of size.

A
  • Division, 3 brigades
  • Brigades, 3 battalions
  • Battalion (called a regiment in the cavalry): 500 to 1000 men
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8
Q

How did promotion work in the British Army? What problem did this cause?

A
  • It was common for the landed gentry to buy commissions, but this meant that few officers received formal training
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9
Q

What were some main tactical formations?

A
  • Line
  • Column
  • Square
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10
Q

List 2 advantages and disadvantages of the line formation.

A
  • More firepower since soldiers are spread out more thinly, so they can all shoot
  • Since soldiers are spread out, they are less vulnerable to artillery
  • They are vulnerable to cavalry
  • They aren’t very manoeuvrable
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11
Q

List 2 advantages and disadvantages of the column formation.

A
  • Less firepower since only the first 2 rows can shoot
  • More vulnerable to artillery
  • Easy to manoeuvre
  • Hard for cavalry to break through
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12
Q

List 1 advantage and 2 disadvantages of the square formation.

A
  • Good protection against cavalry
  • Hard to manoeuvre
  • Vulnerable to artillery
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13
Q

Which formations did the British and French tend to use, and why?

A
  • The French tended to use the column formation, as it required numbers to overwhelm the enemy, and they had these numbers
  • The British used the line formation, as they did not have the numbers for the column formation, and could effectively fight French columns in this formation
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14
Q

Who was in charge of the British forces in the Peninsular War and the Battle of Waterloo? Give their titles and the year that they received them as well.

A
  • Arthur Wellesley
  • Viscount Wellington, 1809
  • Duke of Wellington, 1814
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15
Q

Before the Peninsular Wars, where had Wellington been fighting? What did this mean for him as an officer?

A
  • India
  • He didn’t have a lot of respect, as gaining victories in India was not enough to earn prestige
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16
Q

How had Wellington obtained his positions in the army?

A
  • He has commissioned them (without doing this, he would never have been in a position to command an army)
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17
Q

When was the Peninsular War?

A
  • 1808-14
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18
Q

How did the Peninsular War start? Give 5 details.

A
  • Napoleon was determined to enforce the Continental System to weaken Britain, but Portugal was still trading with Britain
  • He therefore sent Junot to invade Portugal in 1807
  • Although Spain was allied with him, in 1808, Napoleon replaced the King of Spain with his brother, Joseph
  • Napoleon had provoked an uprising and a guerrilla campaign against him in both Portugal and Spain
  • Britain saw this as a chance to fight against Napoleon on land
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19
Q

What was Wellington’s first battle in the Iberian peninsula, and when was it?

A
  • Battle of Vimeiro
  • August 1808
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20
Q

How did Wellington become in charge of the forces in Spain/ Portugal?

A
  • The Convention of Cintra
  • Corunna
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21
Q

What was the Convention of Cintra?

A
  • A deal made with the French following the Battle of Vimeiro in August 1808
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22
Q

How was the Convention of Cintra made? Give 4 details.

A
  • An additional 15,000 troops had been sent to the Iberian Peninsula, so it was decided that an officer more senior than Wellington would be in charge of the British soldiers
  • Dalrymple was the new commander-in-chief, and was working alongside his second in command, Burrard
  • After successfully driving Soult back, Wellington implored Burrard to pursue the French
  • He refused and he and Dalrymple made the Convention of Cintra instead
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23
Q

What 2 parts did the Convention of Cintra contain?

A
  • The 24,000 French soldiers would be transported back to France on British ships
  • They would also be allowed to take their loot with them
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24
Q

How did the Convention of Cintra lead to Wellington taking control of the British forces?

A
  • The British public were horrified, an official enquiry exonerated all 3 commanders, but Dalrymple and Burrard never held command again
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25
Q

What happened on the peninsula after the signing of the Convention of Cintra? Give 4 details.

A
  • Sir John Moore, Britain’s most respected soldier, took charge of the forces in Portugal after Dalrymple, Burrard and Wellington were recalled to Britain
  • In October 1808, he marched with them into Spain
  • However, Napoleon had come into Spain with 200,000 troops, and a retreat to Corunna was necessary
  • Napoleon, believing the situation was dealt with, left Soult to pursue the British
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26
Q

When did Moore reach Corunna, and what happened? Give 3 details.

A
  • January 1809
  • He had arrived before his transport, so he had to hold off the French
  • Both sides lost 700-900, including Moore
  • 26,000 British troops escaped, but 7000 had been lost
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27
Q

Describe a main reason why Moore’s retreat to Corunna was successful.

A
  • British skirmishers kept the French from catching up
  • They had the Baker rifle instead of the Brown Bess that the infantry had- the Baker rifle was more accurate and went further, but was slower to reload
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28
Q

What were 4 useful qualities Wellington had?

A
  • Strict and aloof to his men, but minimised losses and made sure they were provided for, which won their respect
  • Did not allow any looting to take place, which would alienate the local population
  • Willing to retreat and do a rearguard action (meanwhile French generals, such as Massena, were not willing to retreat, as seen at the lines of Torres Vedras)
  • He preferred to place his infantry on the reverse of a slope, which made them less visible and protected them from cannon fire
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29
Q

When did Wellington return to Portugal as the head of the British forces? Who were his main adversaries?

A
  • April 1809
  • The experienced French generals Soult, Massena and Marmont
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30
Q

What 2 factors limited Napoleon’s involvement in the Peninsula War, even when he was not fighting battles himself?

A
  • He was preoccupied with political issues, such as his divorce from Josephine
  • His orders to his generals in Spain were usually weeks out of date
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31
Q

Going into the war, what advantage did Wellington have over the French, and how did he create this advantage?

A
  • The Spanish guerrillas co-operated with him against the French
  • He used the Royal Navy for his supplies, rather than living off the land and alienating the population as the French did
32
Q

What support did Wellington have? Evaluate how useful each group was.

A
  • Spanish army (unreliable, poorly organised and poorly led)
  • Portuguese army (very capable under British leadership after British training)
  • Spanish guerrillas (very useful, but hard to control)
33
Q

Give 3 examples of what the Spanish guerrillas managed to do during the war.

A
  • Disrupt French supply lines and give the messages to Wellington
  • They tied down 10,000s of French troops to fight them rather than the British, Spanish and Portuguese forces
  • They killed over a quarter of the 240,000 French soldiers who died in the Peninsular War- more than killed by the armies
34
Q

List the 2 main overall parts of the Peninsula War.

A
  • By 1812, Wellington had advanced from Portugal to Madrid, but had to return to Portugal
  • In the same year, he went on the offensive again and ended the war with Soult’s yielding of Toulouse in 1814
35
Q

What happened in September 1810?

A
  • Massena was sent to Portugal with 65,000 troops
  • Wellington, outnumbered, chose to retreat to Lisbon
  • In October, Massena reached the lines of Torres Vedras, which Wellington’s troops were now deployed behind
36
Q

What were the lines of Torres Vedras?

A
  • 2 lines of massive fortifications north of Lisbon, that Wellington had ordered to be constructed a year earlier
37
Q

What were 3 advantages the lines of Torres Vedras had for Wellington?

A
  • They were a strong defence for his supply lines
  • In the case of an evacuation from the peninsula entirely, these would protect the British Army
  • The British had employed a ‘scorched earth’ policy in the surrounding countryside, so that starvation and disease would weaken the French as Massena’s pride would not allow him to withdraw
38
Q

How successful were the lines of Torres Vedras at weakening the French? Give a figure.

A
  • Massena withdrew to Spain in March 1811
  • He had lost 25,000 soldiers
39
Q

What happened in 1812 that changed the situation on the peninsula? What were 2 implications of this?

A
  • Napoleon invaded Russia, pulling out 25,000 troops from Spain, many of them veterans
  • This meant that the French forces were severely overstretched
  • This also meant that there would be no reinforcements
40
Q

When did Wellington liberate Madrid, and how had this become possible?

A
  • 1812
  • His success at the Battle of Salamanca left Joseph vulnerable, and so he had to retreat from Madrid
41
Q

When was the Battle of Salamanca?

A
  • July 1812
42
Q

What had Wellington done in preparation for the Battle of Salamanca? How successful was this?

A
  • He had sent a trusted subordinate, General Hill, to destroy the bridge at Almaraz to prevent Soult’s Army of the South and Marmont’s Army of Portugal from joining up
  • Hill managed to burn the bridge and all of its equipment at the cost of just 177 casualties
43
Q

What happened at the Battle of Salamanca? Give 3 details.

A
  • Marmont believed Wellington was overly cautious and wouldn’t risk attacking, but this assumption was wrong
  • Wellington had also used hills to shield his army, which made Marmont believe that he had less troops than he actually had
  • When Marmont’s army became overstretched, Wellington used this opportunity to attack
44
Q

How many casualties did both sides have after the Battle of Salamanca?

A
  • French: 14,000
  • Allied: 5000
45
Q

What changes were there for the British Army in the winter of 1812-13? What effect did they have?

A
  • New equipment, clothes and shoes arrived
  • British and Portuguese reinforcements arrived
  • This increased morale
46
Q

What happened to the French in December 1812? What impact did this have on the Peninsula War?

A
  • Napoleon had suffered huge defeat in Russia, losing tens of thousands of troops in his retreat
  • It was unlikely that reinforcements would be sent to Spain
47
Q

When was the Battle of Vitoria?

A
  • June 1813
48
Q

What led up to the Battle of Vitoria?

A
  • Wellington was marching so that he was constantly threatening Joseph’s right flank
  • As a result, Joseph had to keep falling back
  • When he reached Victoria, this is where he decided to make his stand
49
Q

How had Wellington managed to continue to threaten Joseph’s right flank?

A
  • He went through parts of Spain that the French thought were impassable for a large army, but Wellington was able to do this due to his Spanish allies
50
Q

What valuable information did Wellington have before the Battle of Vitoria, and how? What did he do as a result?

A
  • Thanks to the guerrillas, he was better-informed about the position of 20,000 French reinforcements that were coming to Joseph’s aid than Joseph himself (particularly important as Joseph had 66,000, while he had 80,000)
  • He attacked the day before the reinforcements were due to arrive
51
Q

How did the Battle of Vitoria end?

A
  • The French lost 8000 men and retreated in panic
  • Pursuit of the French, however, became impossible when the soldiers began looting the wagons abandoned by Joseph
52
Q

How severe was the looting that took place at the end of the Battle of Vitoria?

A
  • Out of the 5 million gold francs left by Joseph, only 5% was recovered by army officials
53
Q

What happened to Napoleon after the Peninsula War, and why?

A
  • The War of the Sixth Coalition had ended with his defeat, shortly before Wellington won the battle for Toulouse
  • He was forced to abdicate and go into exile on the island of Elba in April 1814
54
Q

What was the Hundred Days?

A
  • It was the period between Napoleon’s arrival in Paris in March 1815 after his escape from Elba and the return of Louis XVIII to Paris in July 1815
55
Q

What happened after Napoleon returned to France as emperor?

A
  • Britain, Prussia, Russia and Austria declared war on him
56
Q

How did Napoleon plan to deal with his adversaries?

A
  • He planned to win a major victory against the British and Prussian forces before dealing with the Austrian and Russian forces that were gathering on his eastern border
  • He therefore marched north, planning to fight both the British and Prussian forces separately
57
Q

What were 2 problems Wellington had with his army in 1815?

A
  • Many of the veterans from the Peninsula War were still crossing the Atlantic after fighting in America
  • He was uncertain of some of his troops, since he commanded a combined Anglo-Belgian-Dutch-Hanoverian army
58
Q

What happened on 16th June 1815?

A
  • Battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras
59
Q

What happened at Quatre Bras?

A
  • Marshal Ney attacked Wellington, who managed to hold his position
60
Q

What happened at Ligny? What did Napoleon do as a result?

A
  • Napoleon beat the Prussians (under Blücher)
  • He then sent a third of his army, under Grouchy, to pursue the Prussians as he marched towards the British Army and Brussels
61
Q

When was the Battle of Waterloo?

A
  • 18th June 1815
62
Q

How many troops did Napoleon and Wellington have? What was Wellington’s plan as a result?

A
  • Napoleon: 72,000
  • Wellington: 68,000 (evenly matched)
  • He planned to hold out until Blücher could arrive
63
Q

Where did Wellington position his troops?

A
  • On a low ridge
64
Q

What were 3 problems Napoleon faced on the morning of the Battle of Waterloo?

A
  • He was unwell
  • HIs men would have to attack uphill
  • The ground was waterlogged, which made moving troops and cannon difficult
65
Q

What did Napoleon do due to the ground being water-logged? What issue did this later create?

A
  • He delayed his attack until 11:30 am
  • It gave the Prussians more time to reach the battlefield
66
Q

What happened in the early afternoon?

A
  • Napoleon became ill and left the battlefield
  • Marshal Ney was left in charge
67
Q

What mistake did Ney make?

A
  • When Wellington moved his troops back to better protect them from the artillery, Ney mistakenly thought he was retreating
  • He sent the French cavalry in pursuit
68
Q

What happened when Ney sent the French cavalry towards the Wellington’s troops?

A
  • The allied infantry formed squares, and could therefore fire volleys into the French horsemen
69
Q

At what time did the Prussians reach the battlefield, and when in the sequence of the battle did this happen?

A
  • 1.30pm
  • This was after Ney’s disastrous cavalry charge, and Napoleon had returned to the battlefield
70
Q

How did Napoleon respond to the arrival of the Prussians?

A
  • He had to divert the bulk of his reserves to fighting them
71
Q

How did the Battle of Waterloo end?

A
  • Napoleon sent his best troops, the Imperial Guard, to attack
  • They broke and retreated, causing the French Army to disintegrate
72
Q

How many casualties did each army have?

A
  • French: 25,000
  • British: 15,000
  • Prussian: 7000
73
Q

What happened to Napoleon after the Battle of Waterloo?

A
  • He abdicated again
  • He was exiled to the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic
74
Q

How difficult did Wellington find it to win the Battle of Waterloo?

A
  • He said it was ‘a close run thing’
75
Q

What did Wellington believe was the biggest reason for Britain’s success in the French Wars?

A
  • Their maritime supremacy

British Experience of Warfare (c.1790-1918) (6 decks)

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