Recollections of the Storming of the Castle of Badajos

Download or read book Recollections of the Storming of the Castle of Badajos written by Captain MacCarthy and published by Spellmount, Limited Publishers. This book was released on 2001 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The siege and storming of Badajos, from 18 March to 6 April 1812, was one of the bloodiest episodes of the Peninsular War. In conditions resembling the trenches of the First World War, Wellington's infantry dug their way towards the huge medieval walls of the Spanish frontier fortress before storming the place on the night of 6 April. The town had denied them on two previous occasions and it is little wonder that once inside the men went berserk and embarked upon an orgy of rape, pillage and destruction that lasted for a full seventy-two hours. Even the iron hand of Wellington himself could not stop it, and, in the words of one of the great historians of the war, "the disorder subsided, rather than it was quelled." The storming of Badajos was not achieved without huge cost to Wellington, however. Indeed, he watched, helpless, as the flower of his army was smashed upon the breaches. Over forty times did the 4th and Light Divisions attack, and forty times were they beaten back with heavy loss. Fortunately, two other attacks, intended only to distract the French, succeeded. One of them was made by the 3rd Division, who took the Castle of Badajos by escalade, the men scaling the forty feet high walls by means of flimsy ladders. The 3rd Division was guided to its point of attack by James MacCarthy, whose own vivid account of the siege and storming is reproduced here in this facsimile, the latest in the acclaimed Spellmount Library of Military History series. As well as being a graphic account of the siege, MacCarthy's book is both extremely rare and is much sought after by students of the Peninsular War and by book collectors alike. -- Dust jacket.