In the Words of Wellington's Fighting Cocks: The After-action Reports of the Portuguese Army during the Peninsular War 1812–1814

By: Moisés Gaudêncio

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Synopsis: The literature of the Peninsular War is rich with vivid source material – letters, diaries, memoirs, and dispatches – but most of it was written by British soldiers or by the French and their allies. As a result the history and experience of the Portuguese forces – which by 1812 composed close to half of Wellington’s Army – have been seriously under-represented. That is why this pioneering book, which publishes for the first time in English the after-action reports written by the commanders of Portuguese battalions, regiments and brigades, is so important. For these detailed, graphic firsthand accounts give us a fascinating insight into the vital contribution the Portuguese made to the allied army and shed new light on the struggle against the French in the Iberian Peninsula. The authors provide an introduction tracing the history of the Portuguese Army prior to the Salamanca campaign of 1812, while tracking its organizational changes and assignment of commanders from 1808 to 1814. They include detailed notes on the after-action reports which set them in the context of each stage of the conflict.