Storm and sack : British sieges, violence and the laws of war in Napoleonic era, 1799-1815 / Gavin Daly, University of Tasmania.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Daly, Gavin, author.

Series:

Cambridge military histories.

Cambridge military histories

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Great Britain. Army--History--Peninsular War, 1807-1814--Destruction and pillage.

Great Britain. Army--History--Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815--Destruction and pillage.

Violence--Great Britain--Colonies--History.

Violence--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Violence--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Siege warfare--History--19th century.

Customary law--History.

Great Britain--History, Military--18th century.

Śrīraṅgapaṭṭaṇa (India)--History--Siege, 1799.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 316 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2022.

Summary:

During the Peninsular War, Wellington's army stormed and sacked three French-held Spanish towns: Ciudad Rodrigo (1812), Badajoz (1812) and San Sebastian (1813). Storm and Sack is the first major study of British soldiers' violence and restraint towards enemy combatants and civilians in the siege warfare of the Napoleonic era. Using soldiers' letters, diaries and memoirs, Gavin Daly compares and contrasts military practices and attitudes across British sieges spanning three continents, from the Peninsular War in Spain to India and South America. He focuses on siege rituals and laws of war, and uncovering the cultural and emotional history of the storm and sack of towns. This book challenges conventional understandings of the place and nature of sieges in the Napoleonic Wars. It encourages a rethinking of the notorious reputations of the British sacks of this period and their place within the long-term history of customary laws of war and siege violence. Daly reveals a multifaceted story not only of rage, enmity, plunder and atrocity but also of mercy, honour, humanity and moral outrage.

Contents:

Sieges in the Long Eighteenth Century

Surrender

Storm

The Fate of Garrisons

On Wellington's Watch

Plunder

Atrocities Against Civilians.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 29 Sep 2022).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-108-87280-8

1-108-87722-2

1-108-86397-3