Название: Wellington’s Hidden Heroes: The Dutch and the Belgians at Waterloo
Автор: Veronica Baker-Smith
Издательство: Casemate
ISBN: 161200332X
Год: 2015
Формат: PDF (conv)
Страниц: 208
Для сайта: litgu.ru
Размер: 5,0 МБ
Язык: Английский
The Duke of Wellington described the Battle of Waterloo as ‘the most desperate business I ever was in. I was never so near being beat’. The courage of British troops that day has been rightly praised ever since, but the fact that one-third of the forces which gave him his narrow victory were subjects, not of George III, but of the King of the Netherlands, has been almost completely ignored. This book seeks to correct a grave injustice through the study of Dutch sources – both primary and secondary – the majority of which have never been used by English-speaking historians.
The Dutch-Belgians have been variously described as inexperienced, incompetent and cowardly, a rogue element in the otherwise disciplined Allied Army. It is only now being tentatively acknowledged that they alone saved Wellington from disaster at Quatre Bras.