The army commanded by the Duke of Wellington at Quatre-Bras and Waterloo included two infantry divisions and three cavalry brigades of the newly-unified Netherlands (or 'Dutch-Belgian') army. The part played by these troops in the two battles of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), under experienced officers many of whom had seen long service in Napoleon's campaigns, has often been unjustly dismissed by British commentators. The organisation, uniforms, and battle record of the Belgian units are explained here in detail by an experienced researcher in Continental archives, and illustrated by a...

Osprey's examination of the first of Sir Arthur Wellesley's string of victories in the Peninsular War (1807-1814). On 2 August 1808, a British army of 14,000 men began landing north of Lisbon under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington. They were coming to assist the Portuguese, Britain's oldest ally, to liberate their country from its French occupiers. Within a month Wellesley was to win two victories over the French at the battles of Rolica and Vimeiro. General Andoche Junot, the French commander, was forced to surrender and evacuate Portugal."

This Osprey title examines the crucial campaign culminating in the hard-fought battle that finally drove the French from Portugal during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). In October 1810 the Allied position in Portugal appeared precarious. Despite defeating Marshal Massena's French army at Bussaco, Wellington had been forced to retreat to within a few miles of Lisbon. Here the French encountered a massive line of fortifications stretching from the River Tagus to the sea. Built amid great secrecy and on Wellington's specific orders, these Lines of Torres Vedras were the French high-water mark....

One of the least understood of Napoleon's corps were the four regiments of Gardes d'honneur, raised in 1813 during the frantic rebuilding of the French cavalry after the huge losses in Russia. Recruited from the leading social classes, uniformed and equipped at their own expense, and accompanied by servants to take care of such unpleasant chores as stable duty, these men were promised commissions as officers after a year's service in the ranks. Though spectacularly unready for combat upon their arrival with the army, the Guards of Honour would gain skill and confidence while serving alongside...

The legendary Dutch 'Red' Lancers - the 2nd Light Horse Lancers of Napoleon's Imperial Guard - were formed in 1810, during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), after the emperor annexed Holland and its army to France. The former hussars of the Dutch Royal Guard got a handsome new uniform, a new weapon, and a hard-driving new colonel in Baron Edouard Colbert. His lancers distinguished themselves in Russia in 1812, at huge cost; in Germany in 1813, and in the Low Countries in 1814. When Napoleon returned from exile in 1815 the Red Lancers were with him until night fell over Waterloo. Ronald Pawly...

Osprey's study of the German commanders of World War I (1914-1918). The turn of the 20th century saw Imperial Germany as essentially a militarist state, whose growing industrial resources and wealth were harnessed to the task of increasing German military power, at a time of aggressive expansionist diplomacy in competition with Britain and France. After her victories over Austria in the 1860s and France in 1870, Germany's General Staff enjoyed tremendous professional prestige throughout Europe, and was the model for all aspects of command and control. The German army was essentially that of...

The years immediately following the French Revolution of 1789 saw an extraordinary transformation of the French army. From a distrusted instrument of the feudal power of the king and nobility, it became the symbol of liberty and citizenship. The transition was complex and painful, as the remnants of the old professional army were joined by a flood of civilian volunteers and conscripts, of whom even the best were short of everything except republican fervour. This book describes the stages of the rebirth that produced an army capable of beating off half the monarchies of Europe, thus laying...

Osprey's examination of one of the key campaigns of the French and Indian War (1754-1763). On 9 July 1755 amid the wilderness of North America, Britain suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in her history. General Braddock's army, a mixture of British regulars and American militia, was shattered, losing over 900 men from a force of 1,300. Braddock was killed and the remnants of his army rescued by his aide, Colonel George Washington. The origins of this defeat can be traced back to the death of a junior French officer little more than a year before in a relatively minor skirmish with a...

The two privileged regiments of Carabiniers survived the Napoleonic Wars (1977-1815) with their elite status intact. They covered themselves with glory at Austerlitz, Friedland, Ratisbonne and Wagram - where their bloody losses shocked Napoleon into ordering them new helmets and cuirasses. Re-formed after near annihilation in Russia in 1812, they fought at Leipzig and in many actions of the 1814 French campaign, and made one of the final charges at Waterloo in 1815. lllustrated with rare early prints and meticulous colour reconstructions, this book details their story, and their unique...

Osprey's detailed study of the entourage which enabled Napoleon to move hundreds of thousands of troops right across Europe during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). The 'military machine' by which Napoleon and his indispensable chief of staff Marshal Berthier commanded and controlled his huge armies on campaign numbered some 1,500 officers and men, organized in the different bureaux of his military and civilian 'households' and the army general headquarters. This essential tool of the Emperor's power was designed to provide him, even in a front-line camp, with all the information, technical...