Wellington

Chancing to open my biography of Wellington the other day (reference 1), at Chapter XI covering the campaign of Salamanca (see reference 2 for a more up to date version), I came across three striking facts.

First, the prodigious volume of Wellington's dispatches. I believe the custom was to keep copies of all dispatches, even those written in the heat of battle: it was important to keep a record, not least to provide a bit of cover in the event of a witch-hunt. With the result that we have 12 volumes of military dispatches proper; 15 volumes of supplementary dispatches, correspondence and memoranda; and, 8 volumes of civil dispatches, correspondence and memoranda.

Second, the rate of sickness. Wellington had around 75,000 men under his command, British, Spanish and Portuguese - and of these, around 20,000 were sick, leaving him 55,000 effectives. It would be interesting to know what sort of sick, but I guess that a lot of this was to do with lack of proper sanitation and hygiene. Noting that the French totals were much larger, although spread across a number of more or less independent armies.

Third, the plan had been for one Lord Bentinck to create a diversion to the northeast by landing a considerable force - some 10,000 men - in Catalonia. In the event he decided to effect a landing in Italy. Not clear whether Bentinck got into any kind of trouble over this: perhaps he was within his rights with his independent command. Perhaps he had good friends at court. A cursory read of reference 3 leaves me none the wiser on this particular point, although there was clearly lots going on to the east of Spain.

PS 1: Bing says the illustration above comes from reference 4, but I can't find it there, although there are plenty like it. So none the wiser about what is going on. Did the artist know, or did he compose the scene in the comfort of his own studio?

PS 2: but I did read of the death of General Le Marchant, according to Wikipedia at reference 5, one of the finest cavalry commanders of his generation. A name familiar to me from having passed the Le Marchant barracks at Devizes on various occasions, at the back end of the last century.

PS 3: it also struck me this morning, my eye lighting on my copy of Dr. Zhivago, that the war in the Ukraine is a rather dismal way to mark the centenary of the civil war in Russia after the 1917 revolution. A civil war involving much barbarity on both sides, barbarity which perhaps fed what followed in the 1920's and 1930's.

References

Reference 1: The life of Wellington: The restoration of the martial power of Great Britain - Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., M.P., F.R.S - 1900. Volume 1, second edition. Originally owned by a parson whose name I can't make out from his book plate. Defeated by the ornate script.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Salamanca.

Reference 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_William_Bentinck.

Reference 4: https://www.britishbattles.com/peninsular-war/battle-of-salamanca/.

Reference 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Le_Marchant_(British_Army_officer,_born_1766).