Fighting Napoleon. Guerrillas, bandits and adventurers in Spain, 1808-1814
Editorial YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Mainland Spain
- Publisher YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
- ISBN13 9780300101126
- ISBN10 0300101120
- Type BOOK
- Pages 272
- Published 2004
- Language English
- Bookbinding Cloth
Subjects
Universal History ContemporaryFighting Napoleon. Guerrillas, bandits and adventurers in Spain, 1808-1814
Editorial YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Mainland Spain
Book details
Alongside the Spanish army in the campaign against Napoleon (1808-1814) was an assortment of freebooters, local peasants and bandits, who were organised into ad hoc regional private armies. These 'guerrillas' -- a term introduced to the English language during the Peninsular War -- ambushed French convoys, attacked French encampments, and pounced upon, dodged and fought French columns, often with extreme brutality. This book investigates for the first time the irregular Spanish forces and their role in resisting Napoleon.
Delving deeply into previously untapped archival resources, Charles Esdaile arrives at an entirely new view of the Spanish guerrillas. He shows that the Spanish war against Napoleon was something other than the great popular crusade of legend, that many guerrillas were not armed civilians acting spontaneously, and that guerrillas were more often driven by personal motives than high-minded ideology. Tracking down the bandit armies and assessing their contributions, Esdaile offers important insights into the famous 'little war' and the motives of those who fought it.