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Charge the Guns! Wellington's
Cavalry at Waterloo
ISBN
978-1-907212-11-6
Paperback
11" x 8.5"; 312 pages;
col. and b &
w photographs, line drawings
Price £23.99 + p & p:
UK £2.70
Europe £10.35
Rest of the world £16.35
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Tent Publications to: Black Tent
Publications, 145 Durham Road,
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Charge the Guns!
Wellington's Cavalry at Waterloo
Waterloo is
perhaps one of the most famous battles in
history and one of the least researched. In
this bicentennial year, is there anything
new to say on the battle? Paul L Dawson
thinks so. His new and often ground-breaking
research shows that well-known Waterloo
events are often myth and not fact, and
presents the results of over a decade’s
research in archives and libraries across
Europe, presenting many first-hand accounts
which add new insights to the battle.
Discover the role played by the
British/French cavalry during the Waterloo
campaign, from period eye-witness accounts
and testimonies, as well as what it was like
to be in the cavalry and what it took to be
a cavalry trooper. Paul Dawson’s four books
bring vividly to life the hows and whys of
life as a cavalry trooper, the training they
underwent and the horses they rode and cared
for, as well as showing how this training
was put into practice on the field of
Waterloo.
This unique
series, using over 400 archival accounts of
Waterloo, many not being in print before,
brings the battle of Waterloo to life in a
dramatic way in the two volumes that deal
with the British and French cavalry forces
in the battle. We see how the Allied light
cavalry provided one of the hammer blows
that defeated Napoleon when it rode down the
Old Guard. Many cherished myths of Waterloo
are also examined, and we see that perhaps
the Eagle of the French 45th Line was taken
by Trumpeter Hugh Hutchinson, before
Sergeant Ewart took the trophy off the
field; and that the Imperial Guard heavy
cavalry charged under orders, contrary to
Napoleon’s own take on the battle; the lack
of training and experience of the British
heavy cavalry is cruelly exposed in its poor
battlefield performance – this is examined
in detail in the author’s companion volume
Boots and Saddles! Horses and Riders of
Wellington’s Army, which shows how badly the
British rode compared to the French and how
little command and control the British
actually had in the charge; this was down to
poor training and lack of experience. The
French training system, as demonstrated in
the author’s book Au Galop! Horses and
Riders of Napoleon’s Army shows that the
French were superior horsemen with a
training regime that gave the French
superior battlefield manoeuvrability, so
that the French cavalry could charge time
and time again, a trick the British only
seem to have partially learned through hard
fighting in Spain. It is obvious that the
lack of training for the British was the
death knell for the Union and Household
Brigades – they had not been in action in
some cases for over a decade, and this was
exposed at Waterloo when the French rode
over the Union Brigade and the King’s
Dragoon Guards.
This series of
four complementary books by Paul L Dawson
brings to light new ground-breaking research
into the study of cavalry in the Napoleonic
wars. No similar study has been undertaken
since Valentine Wood’s partial study at the
turn of the 20th century. The author’s work
goes far deeper, and using material
overlooked by Wood, primarily British and
French as well as archive sources, overturns
a lot of the received wisdom on Napoleonic
cavalry, its battlefield performance and
theoretical training.
Not Paul L Dawson
is a post graduate of the University of
Leeds holding an MA by research in History,
and is also a graduate of the University of
Bradford, holding a degree of Bachelor of
Science. He is a professional field
archaeologist and horseman. In 2003 he was
made a Fellow of Honour of the International
Napoleonic Society in recognition of his
research into the armies of Napoleon. He is
co-author of Napoleonic Artillery, published
in 2008, which received praiseworthy reviews
in First Empire magazine. In addition he has
written over 50 academic papers on
Napoleonic subjects and equine nutrition as
well as writing three books on the history
of West Yorkshire. Since 2000 he has been
commandant of the Association Britannique de
la Garde Impériale, the oldest Napoleonic
re-enactment society in Europe, which
specialises in the recreation and research
of artillery and cavalry of the epoch.
Equestrian-wise, he began riding in the
early 1980s, and since 2008 he has ridden
and volunteered for the Riding for Disabled
Association, as well as competing in
dressage within the RDA, being a class
winner in 2010. He now works alongside
Gwydyr Stables in North Wales, as a groom,
trek leader and historical rider for film,
TV work and live shows as well as
concentrating on research and writing
.another
Waterloo Book? Waterloo is perhaps one of
the most famous battles in history and one
of the least researched. In this
bicentennial year, is there anything new to
say on the battle? Paul L Dawson thinks so.
His new and often ground-breaking research
shows that well-known Waterloo events are
often myth and not fact, and presents the
results of over a decade’s research in
archives and libraries across Europe,
presenting many first-hand accounts of the
battle which add new insights to the battle.
Discover the role played by the French
cavalry during the Waterloo campaign, from
period eye-witness accounts and testimonies.
This unique series, using over 400 archival
accounts of Waterloo, many not being in
print before, bring the battle of Waterloo
to life in a dramatic way in the two volumes
that deal with the British and French
cavalry forces in the battle (see the
companion volume Charge the Guns!
Wellington’s Cavalry at Waterloo). We see
how the Allied light cavalry provided one of
the hammer blows that defeated Napoleon when
it rode down the Old Guard. Many cherished
myths of Waterloo are also examined, for
example that the Imperial Guard heavy
cavalry charged under orders, contrary to
Napoleon’s own take on the battle. The
French training system, as demonstrated in
the author’s book Au Galop! Horses and
Riders of Napoleon’s Army, shows that the
French were superior horsemen with a
training regime that gave the French
superior battlefield manoeuvrability, so
that the French cavalry could charge time
and time again, a trick the British only
seem to have partially learned through hard
fighting in Spain. It is obvious that the
lack of training for the British was the
death knell for the Union and Household
Brigades – they had not been in action in
some cases for over a decade, and this was
exposed at Waterloo when the French rode
over the Union Brigade and the King’s
Dragoon Guards (see the companion volume
Boots and Saddles: Horses and Riders of
Wellington’s Army).
This series of four complementary books by
Paul L Dawson, a postgraduate of the
University of Leeds with an MA in historical
research as well as being an noted
equestrian, brings to light new
ground-breaking research into the study of
cavalry in the Napoleonic wars. No similar
study has been undertaken since Valentine
Wood’s partial study at the turn of the 20th
century. The author’s work goes far deeper,
and using material overlooked by Wood,
primarily French as well as archive sources,
overturns a lot of the received wisdom on
Napoleonic cavalry, its battlefield
performance and theoretical training.