Life and Correspondence of Field Marshal Sir John Burgoyne, Bart. - Vol. I (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

Sir John Fox Burgoyne, illegitimate child of General John Burgoyne, started life with few prospects of greatness but ended his life as a hugely respected Field Marshal of the British army; his funeral in 1871 was attended by no less than “Her Majesty the Queen, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, H.R.H. Prince Arthur, His Majesty the King of the Belgians… Among the British Officers assembled, were two Field-Marshals, ten full Generals, of whom seven wore the insignia of Grand Cross of the Bath, three Lieut.-Generals, fifteen Major-Generals, including Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar…”Destined for a military career from birth, he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers on 29th August 1798. At the time the Royal Engineers were a small body of men with specialized knowledge, primarily commissioned officers with few enlisted men - even a new Lieutenant was a person of consequence due to his rarity and skills, and the paucity of advancement that relied purely on seniority of service.He did not have to wait long before being flung into action during the blockade of Malta and then the invasion of Denmark. However, the majority of this book consists of letters and journal entries of his experiences during the Peninsular War. As one of the few engineers with the Duke’s army, he was given important assignments during the sieges that dominated the movements of the Allied forces; his notes are all the more important for their commentary of the siege operations such as Badajoz and Ciudad Rodrigo that were undertaken from his expert knowledge. Notwithstanding the high casualty rates amongst the Engineers, Sir John survived the War to be employed on the disastrous expedition to New Orleans in 1814.His post-Napoleonic career was stunted by lack of potential advancement, so much so that he became involved in civil engineering and work on fortifications. He was posted to Ireland where he endeavoured to improve the conditions of the poor, particularly straining all his influence during the disastrous potato famine. Whilst doing this he was also a frequent correspondent with the military establishment over improvements and clashed with the indifference of politicians and their budgets. The first volume ends with the beginnings of the tension with Russia and his coming employment in the Crimea.