Badajoz 1812: Wellington's Bloodiest Siege (Campaign Series, 65)

By Ian Fletcher

Book Overview

The storming of Badajoz was an epic action which involved Wellington's infantry in some of the most savage hand-to-hand fighting of the whole Peninsular War. At appalling cost in a nightmare assault during the night of April 6, 1812, Wellington's soldiers hacked their way over the bodies of the dead and through the huge medieval walls of the town. These were held with great tenacity, skill and courage by a resolute French and German garrison. Having stormed the town the battle-crazed army lost control and the horrors of the sacking which followed, as much as the courage of the attackers, have passed into legend. Napoleon once said that fortresses would not stop an army, but they would retard its progress. In the case of the mighty Spanish fortress of Badajoz he was absolutely correct. For not only did it prove to be a very sharp thorn in the side of the Allied army's progress in the Peninsula but it cost Wellington the flower of his army in the great assault that finally wrenched it from French hands on the night of 6 April 1812. The assault can hardly be described as successful, accompanied as it was by such great loss of life. Indeed, it was only the sheer determination of Wellington's men, driving themselves on through a maelstrom of fire against the towns massive walls, that won the day. The fall of Badajoz had terrible consequences for the town's population, and the 72-hour period of debauchery, murder and destruction brought down upon it by Wellington's victorious soldiers remains one of the most shameful episodes in the long history of the British army. The story of the siege and storming of Badajoz - and of its northern counterpart, Ciudad Rodrigo - is the subject of this fine volume by Ian Fletcher.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0275986179
• ISBN13: 9780275986179
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Praeger Pub Text
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.8" x 0.5" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Fletcher is THE modern authority on the Peninsular War

Not to take anything away from Jac Weller, who wrote some of my favorite books about Wellington, but Ian Fletcher does spend a significant portion of each year leading battlefield tours around Spain,has written numerous books about the Peninsula War specifically, and has made as his primary business the study of this period of the Napoleonic conflict. For purposes of writing the Osprey Campaign Series title about this battle there is nobody better suited.Fletcher's battlefield descriptions are up to date as he traces out the location of every British battery in relation to contemporary landmarks along with photographs detailing key points of interest. The level of detail is exactly what one has come to expect from the Osprey Campaign Series and, in addition to Badajoz, the seige of Ciudad Rodrigo is also covered in this title. For a greater level of detail than this title permits read "In Hell Before Daylight", also by Ian Fletcher.