British and French Wars - Wellington and the war on land Flashcards
Wellington arrived in Portugal in
July 1808
Battle of Vimeiro
21st August 1808
Wellingtons first victory against Junot
Won before he was superseded in command by Dalrymple and Burrard who halted Wellington’s pursuit of the French
Convention of Cintra
31st August 1808
Allowed Junot to evacuate his troops back to France on Royal Navy ships with all their weapons and booty, instead of being taken as prisoners of war – causing public outcry in Britain
Moore takes command of the BEF
Battle of Corunna
January 1809
Sir John Moore importantly saves the BEF and it is evacuated back to Britain
When Wellington returned to the peninsula in
April 1809
Replaced Moore after his death
As although he had signed the Convention of Cintra along with Dalrymple and Burrard, he had previously beaten the French
Wellington embarked on a long campaign of invasion, retreat, sieges, and attrition in Spain from
1809-1814
against Massena, Marmont, and Soult
Battle of Talavera
September 1809
Spanish regular army were ill-equipped and let down by incompetent leaders meaning Wellington was only able to narrowly achieve victory
the Portuguese army would be… by … they were trusted enough to be integrated alongside the British
-retrained and commanded by British officers
1810 - by which time they had also become half of Wellington’s army
-Wellington had to use his local allies in..
the Portuguese regular army, the unreliable Spanish army, and the hard to control Spanish guerrillas
Spanish Guerrillas
-hampering French by severing communications, attacking small detachments, ambushing convoys, picking off sentries
-intercepting couriers - resulted in 200 calvarymen needed for a messenger and 1000 men for a General
Quality of British troops and armaments
-The standard ‘Brown Bess’ musket could manage up to 4 shots per minute
-There were also skirmishers (riflemen) who were equipped with the new Baker rifle which took longer to reload and therefore shot up to 2 shots per minute but was more accurate
-British troops fought in lines to maximize firepower rather than the French columns which maximized momentum
Organisation of supplies
-Wellington closely organised his military supplies from the merchant navy in order to not turn the local populace against them by living of the land like the French, meant un-hampered supply lines
-Shifted base of supply of supply from Lisbon to Santander to shorten and secure supply and communication lines
Effect of the Lines of Torres Vedras and scorched earth policy
Massena approached them in 1810 but after probing the lines in the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro 1811 decided they were too strong
Massena had to retreat in 1811 due 21,000 losses from hunger and disease
Wellington built the Lines of Torres Vedras from
Built three lines of fortifications North of Lisbon
Built in complete secret
To protect his supply lines
1809-1810
Wellington used a scorched-earth policy
-As the British withdrew behind the Lines in September 1810 due to Massena’s advance
-They destroyed any food or other supplies that remained in the countryside
-Many locals abandoned their villages and fled to Lisbon
-The French were harassed by guerrillas, with the soldiers being hungry and cold throughout the winter
By … Napoleon had beaten and therefore made peace with Russia, Austria, and Prussia meaning the Peninsula was the only remaining land theatre of war
1811
Napoleon invaded Russia
1812
with ½ a million men, pulling out veteran troops from Spain to join his vast army with Wellington no longer outnumbered
Wellington’s failure in sieges
Siege of Badajoz in March 1812
-Over 40 attempts were made at storming the fort and there were horrendous losses
-Eventually the city was taken but at the cost of 30% of the total force
Siege of Burgos in September 1812
-suffered from lack of heavy guns and other siege equipment and every assault utterly failed
-Every assault utterly failed and he was forced to abandon the siege due to a large French force converging to relieve the city
Battle of Salamanca
July 1812
Wellington used hills to shield his army and took the French by surprise on the march, and the French under Marmont were scattered with heavy losses
Wellington invaded Southern France
1814
Didn’t have total success, Napoleon abdicated mostly due to the rest of the coalition approaching Paris
Napoleon was forced to abdicate
April 1814
Napoleon escaped exile on the island of Elba
February 1815
Battle of Quatre Bras and Battle of Ligny
16 June 1815
Quatre Bras - Wellington attacked by Marshall Ney but held position
Ligny - Blucher lost to Napoleon and pulled back as the French head for Brussels
Battle of Waterloo - Beginning
18 June 1815
-Wellington had just under 70,000 men and just over 150 guns, Napoleon had just over 70,000 men and just under 250 guns
-Ground was wet so French guns in the ‘grand battery’ didn’t begin firing until 11 o’clock
-Wellington was on the move most of the day, whereas, Napoleon was static and Ney was too often galloping with the cavalry
-Blucher had promised Wellington he was coming
Battle of Waterloo - Marshall Ney’s failure
18 June 1815
-Napoleon was ill and so left the field, leaving Ney in command
-Wellington moved his troops back out of artillery range which Ney mistakenly believed to be Wellington retreating, and sent all of the French cavalry in pursuit
-allied infantry formed squares and fired volleys into the French cavalry
-Napoleon returned to see his cavalry being destroyed and news that Prussian soldiers were close
Battle of Waterloo - Marshall Grouchy’s failure
18 June 1815
-Marshall Grouchy, sent with 30,000 men to keep the Prussians away, had failed to prevent the arrival of Blucher’s army
Battle of Waterloo - Collapse of the French Army
-In Napoleon’s final move, he committed his elite Guard, with the less experienced Young Guard to hold up the Prussians and the Old Guard Veterans to break the British line
The French columns marched uphill, under heavy British fire and when the French wavered, Wellington ordered the British to charge with bayonets and the Old Guard broke
-Many soldiers on both sides could see the Old Guard run and see the Prussians arriving
-The French army disintegrated
