We specialize in hard to find items
All Categories
Albuera 1811: The Bloodiest Battle of the Peninsular War
Share Tweet
*Price and Stocks may change without prior notice
*Packaging of actual item may differ from photo shown
- Electrical items MAY be 110 volts.
- 7 Day Return Policy
- All products are genuine and original
About Albuera 1811: The Bloodiest Battle Of The
Product Description On 16 May 1811, the small town of Albuera was the setting for one of the Peninsular War’s most bloody and desperate battles. A combined Spanish, British and Portuguese force of more than 30,000 men, under the command of Lord Beresford, stubbornly blocked the march of the French Field Marshal Soult, who was trying to reach the fortress of Badajoz, 12 miles north. Beresford, who defended himself with his bare hands against a Polish lancer, was victorious, but at the cost of 6,000 Allied deaths and 7,000 French in just four hours. The battle is best known for the Fusilier Brigade’s charge, made famous by Sir William Napier’s melodramatic description, and because of the tenacity of the 57th Foot that earned them the nickname the ‘Die Hards’. This compelling new book fills this gap by using authentic primary sources to tell the story of the battle as completely as possible and dispels long-standing myths. The book also brings to life the human dimension of the story by using first-person recollections to describe experiences on and off the battlefield. The battle’s drama is intensified by the circumstances of the fighting, which led to extremes of behavior ranging from incomprehensible valor to rank cowardice. The book balances the traditional Anglocentric bias by paying equal attention to Spanish, Portuguese, French, Polish and German soldiers who fought there. About the Author DONALD E. GRAVES is one of Canada’s best-known military historians and the author or editor of more than twenty books dealing primarily with early nineteenth-century conflict and Second World War land and naval subjects. Amongst his more recent publications is Dragon Rampant, a history of the Royal Welch Fusiliers in the Napoleonic Wars. Donald E. Graves’ first volume in The Wehrmacht Archive – Normandy 1944 – received highly favourable reviews. Guy Dempsey is an author and historian.
