SALAMANCA CAMPAIGN 1812

A concise history of perhaps the most decisive campaign of the Peninsula War. The author’s stated intention is to establish a broad framework of the 1812 campaign in Spain so that students of military history can draw from it ‘lessons which may be useful in the future’. He argues that the Salamanca campaign was particularly interesting because the two sides were evenly matched. Marindin sets the scene with a brief account of Wellington’s storming of Ciudad Roderigo and Badajoz and his eventual advance on Salamanca. He then recounts the duel between Wellington and Marshals Soult and Marmont for the Salamanca forts; and the preliminary moves be both sides before the battle itself on July 22nd. The book concludes with a discussion of the lessons to be learned from the battle, and there are appendices on Wellington’s orders to his troops after the battle, the French order of battle, and writings on the engagement by other authorities: Napier, Alison, Marmont and Thiers. The book is well illustrated by detailed maps.