Featuring specially commissioned artwork and full-color maps, this
book evaluates the origins, tactics, armament, and combat effectiveness
of the British riflemen and French skirmishers who clashed on three
bloody battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars.
The battles between British and French forces during the Peninsular War
(1807--14) and the Hundred Days campaign of 1815 saw both sides deploy
specialist units of skirmishers trained in marksmanship and open-order
combat. These "light" troops fulfilled several important roles on the
battlefield, such as "masking" large bodies of close-order troops as
they maneuvered in battle, firing upon enemy troops to provoke them into
attacking prematurely, and harassing enemy artillery crews and senior
officers with aimed fire. On occasion, the skirmishers were tasked with
special missions requiring individual initiative, such as the capture or
defense of key battlefield positions, especially those situated in
difficult terrain.
While Napoleon's skirmishers carried the smoothbore musket, notoriously
inaccurate and short-ranged, several elite units fighting for Britain
were armed with the rifle, a far more accurate weapon that was hampered
by a slower rate of fire. As well as the legendary 95th Rifles, Britain
fielded rifle-armed German troops of the 60th Regiment and the King's
German Legion, while France's light troops were fielded in individual
companies but also entire regiments. In this study, David Greentree
assesses the role and effectiveness of rifle-armed British troops and
their French open-order opponents in three very different encounters:
Roliça (August 1808), the first British battle of the Peninsular War;
the struggle for a key bridge at Barba del Puerco (March 1810); and the
bitter fight for the La Haye Sainte farmhouse during the battle of
Waterloo (June 1815).
