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Wars and ConflictsΒ  permalink

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• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by ritajoh (U10855204) on Wednesday, 11th February 2009

  
  The penisular war of the early 18 hundreds, reading historical novels and they always mention this war, so where was it fourt and who against, i am sure there is someone out there who will put me right.

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  Posted by FormerlyOldHermit (U3291242) on Wednesday, 11th February 2009

  Fought in Spain against the French by British, Portuguese and Spanish forces. The Allied nations eventually won, lead by the Duke of Wellington.
  
  That's very basic. Look at wikipedia for it.

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  Posted by craigd1973 (U2853338) on Wednesday, 11th February 2009

  ritajoh
  
  The peninsular war was fought in the Iberian Peninsular (Spain and Portugal) during the napoleonic wars and lasted from 1807-1814.
  
  The reasons for the war are many and complex but the war basically started when Napoleon sent a French army to invade Portugal but really ignited when he then occupied Spain and seized the throne from the ruling Bourbouns and made his own brother King.
  
  Spain rose in revolt and Britain sent an army to the Peninsular eventually commanded by Arthur Wellesley the future Duke of Wellington to support the Portugese and Spanish.
  
  Napoleon left most of the fighting to his Marshals and Wellesley beat them every time and eventually drove the French out of Spain in 1814. The war played a major part in the downfall of Napoleon and Napoleon called it his "Spanish Ulcer".
  
  I'm not sure which historical novels you are referring to but if you enjoy historical novels then you could start with Bernard Cornwells Sharpe series of books which are set in the Peninsular War and then progress to factual history books on the Peninsular war if it takes your interest. There's loads of them out there.
  
  
  
  
  

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  Posted by LairigGhru (U5452625) on Thursday, 12th February 2009

  Another relevant book you could look for is Mark Urban's 2001 book 'The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes : the story of George Scovell'. He naturally gives the history of the Peninsular War in the course of telling his tale.

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  Posted by Caro (U1691443) on Thursday, 12th February 2009

  For a lighter read but with plenty of historical action you could try Georgette Heyer's The Spanish Bride which talks of Harry Smith (later Sir Henry Smith and seemingly ubiquitous wherever there was a war on) and his young 14-year-old bride.
  
  Cheers, Caro.

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  Posted by ritajoh (U10855204) on Thursday, 12th February 2009

  
  Thanks everyone will try some of those books you all recomended, another question other than the war of independence in america have we ever had a dispute with USA.

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  Posted by LongWeekend (U3023428) on Thursday, 12th February 2009

  ritajo
  
  The infamous War of 1812 (which went on until 1815). The official reason for hostilities was the Royal Navy's habit of impressing American seamen (well, we were fighting Napoleon at the time). Most of the land action took place on the Canadian border, and there were a number of sea actions, with the new US Navy acquitting itself well, but the US Merchant Marine being devastated.
  
  Many of Wellington's veteran Peninsular regiments were sent to America. Infamously, a British landing force burnt the White House (and other bits of Washington". The US anthem was inspired by the sight - "Rocket's Red Glare" refers to the Congreve rockets used by the attackers. The Americans make much of the Battle of New Orleans an American force defeated the British - but the battle was actually fought after peace had been signed.
  
  Mercifully, since then hostilities between UK and USA have been avoided.

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  Posted by Steelers708 (U1831340) on Thursday, 12th February 2009

  Ritajoh,
  
  As you said disputes not wars, besides the War of 1812 there was also the:
  
  Chesapeake-Leopard Affair
  
  Which is also known as the Chesapeake Affair, which occurred on June 22, 1807, the British fourth-rate warship Leopard attacked and boarded the American frigate Chesapeake.
  
  Little Belt Affair
  
  The Little Belt Affair was a naval battle on the night of May 16, 1811. It involved the American frigate USS President and the British sixth-rate HMS Little Belt, a sloop-of-war, which had originally been the Danish ship Lillebælt (Little Belt, after a strait in Denmark), before being captured by the British in the 1807 Battle of Copenhagen. The incident took place off the North Carolina coast. The Little Belt Affair was one of many incidents and events that led to the War of 1812.
  
  The Fenian Raids
  
  The Fenian raids were attacks by members of the Fenian Brotherhood based in the United States on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada in order to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland, between 1866 and 1871.
  
  

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