This is a story set within actual history - fictional characters in actual events. On 2nd May 1808 Napoleon Bonaparte imprisoned the Spanish Royal Family and proclaimed his brother Joseph the new King of Spain. The Spanish rose up at the insult and so, with Spain in foment, the British Government saw the opportunity for a British army to once again set foot on European soil. Therefore, in August 1808, a small force led by General Sir Arthur Wellesley came ashore through the pounding surf of Mondego Bay to land on the Portuguese coast. This is the story of that army, how they confronted the hitherto victorious French, beginning with the very first exchange of fire at Brilos and the victories of Rolica and Vimeiro. Wellington was recalled and then came the advance into Spain under General Sir John Moore, which soon turned into a winter retreat of appalling hardship, but the army turned and stood at Corunna to inflict one last defeat on their pursuers, before returning home. The tale is told through the eyes of the characters of the fictional 105th Foot, The Prince of Wales Own Wessex Regiment, but all the events are actual history.

Close to the Colours

Science & Math

McDowell, Martin

Mathematics

FeedARead.com

The year is 1805 and Nelson has robbed the French of their way across The Channel, but Napoleon''s Grande Armee remains a potent threat. Faced with this, the Secretary of State for War gathered all possible forces to resist invasion. This included sweeping up into Detachment Battalions the surviving soldiers of various minor disasters and combining them together with a very less than re-assuring mixture of recruits. This is the story of one such Battalion, a collection of veterans, social outcasts, untried Militia, volunteers, criminals and poachers who march and train together until the desperate British military deem them fit to be part of General Stuart''s army that invades Calabria to support one the few allies Britain has, the King of Naples. There they confront a veteran French army on the plains of Maida for the first set piece confrontation between the armies of Great Britain and Napoleon's all-conquering forces. At the campaigns end, as a Detachment Battalion, usually considered as inherently inferior, they could be broken up and sent to reinforce under strength, well established, Regiments. Or, perhaps, by their own deeds and prowess, they deserve to be recognised as a numbered Regiment, and be""Worth Their Colours."

Worth Their Colours

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

This is the fourth book in the saga of the 105th Foot, The Prince of Wales Own Wessex Regiment, known throughout Wellington's Army as the 'Rag and Bone Boys', a nickname they earned after their first battle against the French. They have been in the Peninsula since 1808 and it is now 1811. The twelve months between March 1811 and March 1812 was the time of decision, when Napoleon swelled the armies of Marshalls Soult and Marmont with French veterans, this with the aim of ridding Spain and Portugal once and for all from the tiresome British . As a consequence, during this period the Allied army under the Duke of Wellington fought more battles and sieges and suffered more casualties than all the other years of the war combined. Within this twelve months, came the most severe encounters of the whole campaign, the dreadful battles of Albuera and Fuentes d'Onoro, then the two sieges Cuidad Rodrigo and Badajoz, each appalling for their hardships, the severity of the assaults and their aftermath. The story begins with the advance through Santarem after the winter inactivity, harrying the French North and East. It ends at the walls of Badajoz, with the Southern corridor into Spain now open and free of French. In the interim months, conflict between the two sides is almost weekly, either skirmishing, minor battles or simply standing and staring, one side waiting, the other deciding, either to attack or to hold their ground. Throughout all, the 105th Foot, the Prince of Wales Own Wessex Regiment march on, the 'Rag and Bone Boys', always either in the van or stood tense and ready in the second line. Within their number, their characters live, fight, suffer and die; Henry Carr, now an experienced Major, alongside Senior Major O'Hare and Lieutenant-Colonel Lacey, both now feeling the strain of four years of continuous campaigning. The men in the ranks maintain their bonds of comradeship, despite the dangers, the hardships, overbearing Officers and the ill-tempered characters of some amongst them. Their Followers support, to both feed, mend and tend as and when their men return to them, either just hungry, sometimes badly wounded or sometimes not at all. Thus the 105th continues both as a family and as a formidable fighting unit, one of Wellington's most trusted, which brings extra duties and accompanying dangers. However, old rivalries and jealousies continue, not least from Captain Lucius Tavender, especially when Carr's younger brother, Willoughby, joins Tavender's own Regiment, the 16th Light Hussars, as a Cornet. Elsewhere, Lord Frederick Templemere, a sworn enemy of Henry Carr, but now a Politician and a paroled prisoner of war, has his own and very different, furrow to plough.

The Walls of Badajoz (105th Wessex Foot. The Prince of Wales Own.)

FeedaRead

To the Walls of France (105th Wessex Foot. The Prince of Wales Own.)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McDowell, Martin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by McDowell, Martin