Overview

Napoleon's Cuirassiers in Spain is the first exhaustive study of French heavy cavalry in Spain, from the early days when provisional squadrons were being mustered to when the 13th Cuirassiers left Spain in 1814. It makes significant use of period sources, including never-before-published memoirs from the cuirassiers themselves. It brilliantly fills a gap in the historiography of the Peninsular War and will be of interest to all with a passion for the Napoleonic period. The nature of the terrain in Spain and the multiplicity of fronts and types of warfare did not favour cavalry actions. Central Europe may have seen the bulk of Napoleonic heavy cavalry charges aimed at breaking massed infantry columns, but the cuirassiers soon adapted to the bitter war that was fought across Spain and delivered the coup de grâce in many actions. All their opponents feared them when the cry of 'cuirassiers are coming' ran through the ranks. AUTHOR: Colonel Olivier Lapray has commanded a fighter squadron and an air base for the Armee de l'Air. He holds a Master's Degree in history and was a teaching professor at the Ecole de Guerre in Paris. His main passion is the cavalry of the French Revolutionary Wars and the First Empire. He is also interested in tactics and military arts of the 18th century. Olivier Lapray has published numerous articles in French and several books on these subjects, including an account of the Battle of Marengo in 1800. 10 b/w illustrations, 12 colour illustrations, 21 b/w maps

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9781806720873

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Yves Martin was born in 1959 and has been passionate about history and the military ever since he can remember. Like so many others of his generation, Napoleon’s birth centennial in 1969 ignited his fascination for the 1792-1815 period. For the last 20 or so years, he has turned what used to be a simple hobby into a more serious endeavour. Amassing a collection of period prints and books - and digging through archives - he has become a regular contributor to French periodicals like Tradition and Gloire et Empire, and was one of the founders of the now-defunct Soldats Napoleoniens magazine. He is not focused only on the French Army, but also enjoys researching the allies and foes of France - especially the British and the Poles. Born into a family which had settled in Algeria in 1848, the French presence in Egypt became an obvious pet topic for him, as that very experience provided a blueprint for the later conquest and colonisation of Algeria. He currently resides in Paris, where he works as an executive for a large US high-tech corporation.

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