11-04-2009, 12:32 PM | #11 | |||
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: Emerging smokepowder weapons in my fantasy
Quote:
Light infantry also fought in line, and in that role it was usually superior to the line companies. Training pays off. Quote:
This doesn't change the fact that if a number of British troops was put against an equal number of French ones, the advantage was with the British. And all of the above battles were victories not because they hammered the enemy, but because they achieved the objectives that the commander set out with. For the most part, they were fought in order to make a retreat feasible, where the strategic situation mandated a retreat. Quote:
It was certainly not because the British 'volunteer' army yielded a superior class of man to the French system of conscription. Famously, the British got jailbirds, drunkards, the unemployed and the Irish. The scum of the Earth. But, as Wellington was fond of adding 'but what fine fellows we have made of them'. The difference between first- and second-rate troops is training. And before we start assuming that the defeat of the French on the Peninsula was foreordained, let's not forget the numerical discrepancies involved. And the fact that the 'perfect' local cooperation forced several retreats when the Spanish could not feed the British army. And 3rd best general of the age? Humbug! From his first steps as a field officer, Wellesley was an inspired general who never lost sight of the objective. He was a master of fighting a battle for limited gains when gambling on decisive victory would have been foolhardy, but he showed several times that when it was warranted, he could act boldly and fast. Assaye was a miracle of generalship (and a brilliant showing by British troops) and Salamanca showed flair and adaptability. But most importantly, the fact that he never overplayed his hand, never got caught out in a way that meant his war was over, puts him above any other general of the age. By their success we shall judge them. And while Napoleon languished on St. Helena, Wellington parlayed his military success into politics.
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