Waterloo: The French Perspective
The French Perspective
Published on 24. October 2012
256 pages
978-1-78337-437-3 (ISBN)
Description
The story of the Battle of Waterloo - of the ultimate defeat of Napoleon and the French, the triumph of Wellington, Blücher and their allied armies - is most often told from the viewpoint of the victors, not the vanquished. Even after 200 years of intensive research and the publication of hundreds of books and articles on the battle, the French perspective and many of the primary French sources are underrepresented in the written record. So it is high time this weakness in the literature - and in our understanding of the battle - was addressed, and that is the purpose of Andrew Field's thought-provoking new study. He has tracked down over ninety firsthand French accounts, most of which have never been previously published in English, and he has combined them with accounts from the other participants in order to create a graphic new narrative of one of the world's decisive battles. Virtually all of the hitherto unpublished testimony provides fascinating new detail on the battle and many of the accounts are vivid, revealing and exciting.
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Andrew Field
Waterloo: The French Perspective
Book
10/2012
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
€30.00
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Content
- Intro
- List of Maps
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Introduction
- Section One
- Setting the Scene
- 1. The French Army of 1815
- 2. Preliminary Moves
- Section Two
- Prelude to Battle
- 3. The Night Before
- 4. The Morning of Battle - 1am to 11.30am
- Section Three
- 11.30am to 1.30pm
- 5. The First Attacks on Hougoumont
- 6. The Grand Battery
- 7. The First Sightings of the Prussians
- Section Four
- 1.30pm to 3.30pm
- 8. Preparations for d'Erlon's Attack
- 9. The First Assault on La Haye Sainte
- 10. The Attack on the Ohain Road
- 11. The Counter-Attack of the British Cavalry
- 12. Hougoumont
- 13. The Second Assault on La Haye Sainte
- Section Five
- 3.30pm to 6.00pm
- 14. The Prussians Arrive on the Battlefield
- 15. The Great French Cavalry Attacks
- 16. The Prussian Pressure Begins to Mount
- Section Six
- 6.00pm to 8.00pm
- 17. The Taking of La Haye Sainte and the Real Crisis
- 18. The Defence of Planchenoit
- 19. The Attack of the Middle Guard
- 20. The Rout Begins
- 21. The Sacrifice of the Old Guard
- Section Seven
- 8.00pm to 1.00am
- 22. The Loss of Planchenoit
- 23. The Disintegration of the French Army
- 24. The Last Squares
- 25. The Road to Genappe
- Section Eight
- Tactical Notes
- Introduction
- Napoleon's Attack Options
- Hougoumont
- The Columns Used in d'Erlon's Attack
- The French Cavalry Attacks
- French Cavalry Tactics at Waterloo
- The Sunken Lane as an Obstacle
- The Killing of Prisoners
- The Attack of the Middle Guard
- The Grenadier Guards
- Section Nine
- Summary: The French Perspective
- Introduction
- Hougoumont
- The Attack of d'Erlon's I Corps
- The Great Cavalry Charges
- The Fighting Around La Haye Sainte
- The Real Crisis
- The Fight Against the Prussians
- The Attack of the Middle Guard
- French Generalship
- Could the French have won the battle?
- Appendix 1: The French Army at Waterloo
- Appendix 2: Anecdotes
- Appendix 3: Eye-witnesses Consulted
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
