Badajoz 1812: Wellington's bloodiest siege

Description

The storming of Badajoz was an epic action which involved Wellington's infantry in some of the most savage hand-to hand fighting of the whole Peninsular War. At appalling cost in a nightmare assault during the night of the 6 April 1812, Wellington's soldiers hacked their way over the bodies of their dead and wounded and through the huge medieval walls of the town. These were held with great tenacity, skill and courage by a resolute French and German garrison. Having stormed the town the battle-crazed army went berserk and the horrors of the sacking which followed, as much as the sublime courage of the attackers, have passed into legend.

Ian Fletcher has established a reputation as a Napoleonic historian of the first rank, particularly on the British army in the Peninsular. He has been widely published and among his several titles for Osprey are Elite 52 Wellington's Foot Guards and Campaign 59 Vittoria 1813. Bill Younghusband was born in 1936. He was educated in Devon and studied at Newton Abbot College of Art. He has been interested in all things military since childhood, and this interest was compounded through the reading of authors such as G.A. Henty. In 1954 he joined the Life Guards and saw service in Egypt and Cyprus. Bill is a respected military illustrator of more than 15 years experience, and has illustrated many Osprey books including Men-at-Arms 299 Austrian Auxiliary Troops 1792-1816 and Campaigns 48 Salamanca 1812 and 59 Vittoria 1813. He is married with one daughter and currently lives in Ireland.