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War Room XXIV: The Retreat to Corunna- 1808 is out for Patrons!
🕑 Added 2025-08-08 07:34:55 +0000 UTCLots of maps again, not really happy with the conclusion now that I've finished it but well, 5600 words and 32 minutes of footage in four days really jacks up the sunk-cost impression!
That said, I think one of the contributing factors is the fact that the most interesting element of the campaign is really simple. Moore and the British army turn up at the right place at the right time to totally throw Napoleon off, then march off to the coast. That's it, nothing complex, just strategic effect by manoeuvre. There's not that much to talk about really.
That's going to be the end of the little Peninsular War mini-series for now: we've done 4 Peninsular War War Rooms in a row now, I'm pretty everyone (me included) could do with something less muskety for the next. Maybe planes. Or ships. Or tanks. I'll think of something.
Comments
Matthew Redfearn
Yeah, it panned out for Moore in this case. The peninsular war would have gone very differently if the British had been up at the line of Ebro and gotten smashed by Napoleon
Ray L
I loved this series, enhancing as it did my Portugal vacation from 2024. Your pointing out the happenstance of Baird’s delay and the cavalry/artillery delay in recombining with Moore caused me to reflect: Luck and coincidence are ever-present in military conflict, tipping the scales for good or bad in equal measure.
Matthew Redfearn
Napoleon really doesn't come out looking that impressive from Oman's History of the Peninsular War. Whether that's because of Oman, or because Napoleon... wasn't at his best, is probably in the YMMV category.
GLG
Very interesting bit from an operational art perspective. Really underscores the advantage staff work had taken on at this point in time. By the 19th century battles were already parts of a war rather than the War. Sounds like Moore was more lucky than anything. It probably helped that Napoleon was too busy putting on a huge production for the invasion of Spain to really be focused on, well, the job. I had no idea Napoleon was that self-absorbed. I'm not a fan of Napoleonic warfare overall so learned a new thing!
Ben Kerry
I remember J F C Fuller wrote a book about how Moore trained his troops
Matthew Redfearn
I honestly don't know enough. For now, at least.
Matthew Redfearn
That's an excellent shout!
Jimmychanga
Hey Hapless! I was wondering if you would be able to make some “unit guides” for some of the British army regiments involved in this campaign or throughout the Napoleonic Wars? I’ve been curious about the Guards regiments and the different Highland regiments.
Ray L
How about the WWII Alaskan Campaign, you know, to complement St. George Island?
