Peninsular Wars

Question 1

what are the main reasons for British success in Iberia

Answer 1

• coastline geography
• the royal navy
• French weakness
• wellington
• British funding
• duke of york reforms
• assistance from the Portuguese and Spanish troops
• Guerrillas
• coalitions
• making good relations with the natives despite incidents such as the aftermath of Badajoz

Question 2

what were the first three lessons wellington learnt during his time in the Peninsula

Answer 2

• need for accurate and plentiful intelligence/clarity of command - at battle of boxtel he learnt what not to do
• importance of intelligence/value of deception/need for rapid concentration and movement
• caution should not become over caution - he learnt from his mistakes at the battle of Redhina and used this at the battle of Salamanca to dive in with an aggressive attack

Question 3

what were the 4th, 5th and 6th lessons that Wellington learnt during his time in the Peninsula

Answer 3

• the avoidance of delay, importance of effective logistics and the problems posed by unreliable allies and subordinates - Wellington realised the task he set General Beresford in sieging Badajoz was not logistically effective - ladders too short, antique Portuguese canons
• strength of the British square - fuentes de onoro
• need for concentration of of force at optimum time - importance of artillery/infantry - combination/value of surprise attack by elite forces - at Badajoz Wellington initially reluctant to mount full scale infantry attacks - half-hearted attacks resulted in withdrawal

Question 4

discuss how coalitions linked with french weakness led to British success in Iberia

Answer 4

1809, 5th coalition - france very dominant in Europe - only Austria and Russia opposing Napolonic rule

from 1812 - Napoleons power started to drop due to his attack on Russia and through trying to impose power lost favor with heads of state - Napoleon’s support crumbled

• lack of power demonstrated in 6th coalition 1812-1814 - much larger