Hussar in Winter - A British Cavalry Officer in the Retreat to Corunna in the Peninsular Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars [Hardcover]

Alexander Gordon (Author)

Price:	CDN$ 28.54 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
	o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Usually ships within 1 to 3 weeks.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca. Gift-wrap available.

Formats	Amazon Price		New from	Used from
Hardcover	CDN $28.54		--	--
Paperback	CDN $14.26		--	--

Product Details

Hardcover: 188 pages
Publisher: Leonaur Ltd (July 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1846770807
ISBN-13: 978-1846770807
Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14 x 1.4 cm
Shipping Weight: 381 g

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

HUSSAR IN WINTER - A CAVALRYMAN'S EXPERIENCE OF A HARSH CAMPAIGN Alexander Gordon witnessed the Peninsular War against Napoleon's French Army from the saddle of a light cavalry mount. His was a campaign of patrols and piquets, scouting and skirmishing. Caught up in the gruelling winter campaign that was the retreat to Corunna, where the pressures of the constantly pursuing French were made worse by the privations of short rations, appalling weather and difficult terrain, Gordon tells a story of fighting withdrawal, but never of defeat. These pages also bring to life the fury and action of the Napoleonic cavalry charge that was the ambition of every horse soldier. Hussar in Winter is an essential Napoleonic memoir for anyone interested in the British Cavalry

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.ca

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Share your experience with this product with others

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 3.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Need more background, and a map would help, July 5 2009

By David Wilkin - Published on Amazon.com

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Hussar in Winter - A British Cavalry Officer in the Retreat to Corunna in the Peninsular Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars (Paperback)

This is an autobiography about a very difficult time by a person of course living through those times. The best army in the world, is how the author describes his comrades in the quest to liberate Spain during the Napoleonic Wars.

What happened was totally unplanned and the liberation took many more years then they had wished. There were no plans to be home by Christmas, for the invasion started for our author at the end of October. He, along with twenty-five thousand others thought all was well as they marched through Portugal and into Spain, but they found that this was not the case.

Napoleon himself had got wind that things were not doing well in the Iberian Peninsula and rushed to personally oversee this part of his empire (His brother he had made King, but what kind of King needs his brother the Emperor to keep him on his throne?) The presence of Napoleon and several hundred thousand French troop meant our Brits were greatly outnumbered.

An advance turned into a retreat. And that is what is described from the views of a Cavalry Captain. Instead of a broad overview of all that happens, you see the journal of a man on the ground. How villages had food, or didn't. When there were beds to sleep in, or not. How horses had to be put down, how shots and action was engaged in with the French.

A good book to get the feel for the action, our narrator embarks aboard ship shortly before the final action at Corunna and so we have a great deal about the retreat, with supplemental material of letters and orders regarding it. We don't have the battle though, where the British were able to save the army against tremendous odds. That would have been a great and winning addition, elevating the entirety. We are left with the need to find another source to learn more about what happened beyond Captain Gordon's nose and this is why I rate the book middle of the pack.

› Go to Amazon.com to see the review 3.0 out of 5 stars