In the Peninsula with a French Hussar: Memoirs of the War of the French in Spain (The Napoleonic Library)

By: A.J.M. de Rocca

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Synopsis: Albert Jean Michel de Rocca gives a riveting account of the Peninsular War from an entirely different perspective. Albert Rocca was a junior officer in Napoleon's 2nd Regiment of Hussars, and describes such early events as the march to Madrid and Napoleons entry into the city, followed by the subsequent battles and the pursuit of Sir John Moore to Corunna. For him Spain was not just alien but totally hostile as well. Where British chroniclers of the Peninsular berate the qualities of the Spanish armies Rocca knew that his life was constantly under threat from not only the enemy armies but also from a population who would kill an unwary or isolated Frenchman in a moment. The Peninsular War was a bitter struggle by the Spaniards to liberate their country from the French invaders and in this essential memoir Albert de Rocca describes the fighting in uncompromising detail.