Featured battle : Blockades and Sieges

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 24 October 1813 - 14 May 1814

Many major fortified places were held by the French and only surrendered on hearing of Napoleon's abdication or later. They tied up some 98,000 French soldiers many of the highest quality. The figures for the besiegers are less accurate because they exercised the option of changing the size and composition of the besieging forces. Actual casualties in battle are low but many garrisons lost many men to sickness, the besiegers less so. Six main blockades were: Würzburg [Marienburg] 24/10/1813 to 2/5/1814 Antwerp 14/1/1814 to 4/5/1814 Mainz 21/11/1813 to 4/5/1814 Wesel 18/12/1813 to 10/5/1814 Hamburg 24/12/1813 to 12/5/1814 Magdeburg 15/9/1813 to 14/5/1814

The Power and the Glory

Steve Dunn
This is a novel view of the Royal Navy over most of its existence. Naval Reviews were the pulling together of the fleet to show the nation’s power and might ostensibly [even ostentatiously] to the monarch but to friends and potential enemies alike. The author has brought together a fascinating array of information not only about the ships but material ranging from the strategic background to the lunch menus. The result is a brilliant overview of our changing navy with a bonus of insight into the society of the time of change.
Photographs abound throughout the book and the text is lucid and engaging .
However for those, like me, who love the Royal Navy the full story is a tragedy. The book tells the nation’s story of increasing power until its zenith and then the steady decline to today’s level. This is also the navy’s story.
We highly commend this novel approach to naval history to all readers.

Seaforth Publishing, 2021