Osprey Military Campaign S.
4 primary works
Book 2
This all-new volume chronicles the events that climaxed on the field of Austerlitz in one of the most famous battles of history. Not only was it the first campaign Napoleon waged as Emperor of France, but also the first great test for his Grande Armee. The Emperor himself regarded it as his greatest victory and it undoubtedly won him a mastery of Europe that would remain unbroken for almost a decade. Most accounts of the campaign have until now been based almost exclusively on French sources, but following extensive research in the Austrian archives Ian Castle is now able to provide a far more balanced account of Austerlitz.
Book 33
The 1809 campaign on the Danube was to break the spell of Napoleon's invincibility. Indeed Wagram - the largest battle in history at the time - was Napoleon's revenge for his first personal defeat on the battlefield - at Aspern - Essling. In gaining this revenge the French commander was not wholly successful. Although the French won the battle as the Austrians eventually quit the field, the victory was an extremely hollow one. Both these epic battles are expertly described by Ian Castle, chronicling the many changes of fortune as each side captured, lost, then recaptured key positions.
Book 45
In 1881 the tension between Britain and the Boer farmers of southern Africa that had existed for 75 years boiled over into open conflict. The British entered the war full of confidence, yet in a few short weeks they had suffered three separate reverses before suffering their final humiliating defeat on the isolated summit of Majuba. George Colley's force were swept off their 'unassailable' position and into headlong retreat. It was a defeat that sent shock waves reverberating around the Empire. Ian Castle examines not only the battle at Majuba, but also the previous engagements at Laing's Nek, Schuinshoogte and Bronkhorstspruit.
Book 56
In the Spring of 1809, the Austrian army, buoyant and full of new-found patriotic fervour, rolled across the frontier with Bavaria. The time had come to exact revenge for the humiliating defeat suffered at Austerlitz. But ten days later, harassed by ceaseless rain, they were streaming back from the Abens river with Napoleon in hot pursuit. Napoleon had not been in the front line when Austria had launched its campaign and the French and their German allies had blundered backwards and forwards across the Bavarian countryside. But, with the appearance of Napoleon, Archduke Charles lost the initiative. Based for the first time upon the Austrian primary sources, this title takes the reader through the various clashes of this significant campaign.