Featured battle : Bayonne sortie

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 14 April 1814

The Allies had been besieging Bayonne since the 23rd February. .General Hope's Corps [ two British Divisions and two independent brigades] was detached from the main army to besiege the town. Soult had left General Thouvenot in command of 14,000 troops to hold the city. On the 13th April word reach the area that Napoleon had lost and abdicated. The relaxed atmosphere of the allied camp was shattered when on the 14th April Thouvenot, with 6,000 men, launched an attack on the allied lines. Outposts and front lines quickly fell but determined resistance and then a counter-attack drove the French back into the city. Thouvenot's motives can only be guessed at but over 1,700 lives had been lost to no purpose. The seige continued and Thouvenot finally surrendered the city on the 26th April, twenty days after Napoleon's abdication. This ended the Peninsular Campaign.

The Trafalgar Chronicle, New Series 4

Ed. Peter Hore
The Trafalgar Chronicle is the journal of The 1805 Club which publishes new research into a broad range of subjects connected with the Georgian navy. This edition, new series 4, edited by Peter Hore, contains twenty-one articles many of them with an American interest but with a wide range of subject matter. Among the articles is the intriguingly titled ‘Nelson was an Irishman’, as well as articles on ‘Sin Bo‘suns’, the oldest Admiral of the Fleet ever with a naval service of 96 years, and ‘Jack Punch’ the one black post-captain of the period. The subjects of the non-biographical articles include privateers, the balloon, carronades, the battle of St. George’s Cay and the Russians on the Tagus. I could go on to list all the articles as I enjoyed everyone.
The book is beautifully produced with some rare appropriate illustrations, and extensive references. A rather nice touch are the brief biographies of the contributors.
Every article is well written, extensively researched, informative and a joy to read. We highly recommend it to both expert and layman alike.

Seaforth Publishing, 2019