Walking Napoleonic Battlefields

The Santon

2011-03-29T02:58:00.000-07:00

Its just a short walk from The Post House to The Santon, for one of the best views of the battlefield.

This small conical hill dominates the whole battlefield. Not because it is particularly high, but rather the battlefield is very flat.

Most visitors make for Zuran Hill, which is signposted from the main road as Napoleons HQ. So we had The Santon to ourselves for the hour or so we spent there. We were fortunate to have a warm afternoon, so it was quite comfortable to sit and read up on the battle. Identifying the main parts of the battlefield form our excellent observation platform.

Austerlitz Stara Posta

2011-03-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

For our second visit to Austerlitz we stayed at the historic Starra Posta, or Old Post House. It is an important part of the battlefield, both because it was used by both French and allied staff during the battle and as the centre of the annual reenactment battle.

We knew the historic buildings from our earlier visit. There are large stables, where reenactors sleep each year. They are still occupied by horses, as the owner is obviously a keen horse breeder. The restraurant is an original barn, decorated in a style which makes it look like it must have done in 1804. And the main building is now a very interesting museum.

We expected very basic accommodation, and were not prepared for the very modern, and very comfortable, chalet style buildings. They are decorated to the highest standard, and were spotless when we arrived. There is even an underground car park to keep visitors cars out of sight. Though only a few yards from the historic buildings, they are so well concealed that we had not noticied them during our earlier visit.

I would very much recommend a visit, and overnight stay, for anyone visiting the battlefield.

Wagram

2011-03-16T06:50:00.000-07:00

Markgrafneusiedlung is a small village, which was the extreme left wing of the Austrain army during the battle of Wagram. It was attacked by Marshal Davout, and the scene of desperate hand to hand fighting.

The battlefield is large and very flat, quite similar to Salisbury Plain in UK. So the tower overlooking the village could be seen from most parts of the battlefields, and it served as a marker during the battle.

We spent a day exploring the whole area, and hired bike's for our transport. It had been many years since I last rode a bike, and though I had not forgotten how to ride, I had forgotten how saddle sore you could get. By the time we got to Deutsch Wagram I was riding standing up, because it was too painful to sit on the saddle. And when we walked around the town I did a very reasonable impression of a "John Wayne" walk.

You can read about our visit to Wagram at

The Marchland

2011-03-08T03:02:00.000-08:00

The battle of Wagram was fought over a large area of flat farm land, not unlike Salisbury Plain in the UK. There are few proper roads in the area, and those that are don't go where we wanted to go. All of the villages are connected by farm tracks.

Therefore it was not suitable to explore by car. It was too large to explore by foot. It appeared to be ideal to explore by bike. And indeed it was, the problem was that I had not ridden a bike for about 20 years.

The day was warm and sunny, and at the start it was a delight to ride off into the flat expanse of The Marchland. We could go where we wanted, and stop when we wanted. We seemed to have the whole area to ourselves, except for the singing birds.

But it was not long before I was overheating, and getting very saddle sore. Jan was ok, she used a bike to go to work everyday and was leading the way without any idea of just how difficult I was finding it.

We followed the map, and found the main battle areas with ease. The villages were a little disappointing, as they had changed so much since 1809. But we could approach them through the fields, as the infantry had in 1809, and it was easy to imagine what it must have been like then.

By mid afternoon we had drunk all of our water, and were feeling very hot and thirsty. Each village we approached was empty, and all of the shops closed. It was only as we neared Aspern at the end of the afternoon that we finally found a large, and typical German style, pub. We had two huge glasses (steins?) of ice cold beer which we drank in seconds. As we had our second beer we could feel the first one pouring out in sweat!

An excellent day out, and by far the best way to explore this facinating battlefield.

Aspern and Essling

2011-03-01T01:51:00.000-08:00

It was fortunate that we started our holiday on a Saturday. As soon as we booked in to our hotel we set off to explore the town. Just around the corner was the famous church, with its impressive monument of a wounded lion. Walking around the grounds we came accross a small building with a notice on the door confirming it was a museum and open Sunday morning.

We were waiting for the doors to open at 10am. There were not many visitors, and the lady on the desk was pleased to be able to practice her English. We had planned to visit the Essling Granary after the musuem, and asked her for directions. We were delighted when she told us that there was a small exhibition at the Granary, but it was only open Sunday mornings.

It was almost noon when we arrived at the Granary. We were sad to find it looking very run down and badly in need of renovating. We were the only visitors, and the old boy on the desk seemed less than happy to have two visitors turning up just as he was about to lock up. Despite this he let us in, and allow us to view the large diorama. This was the only exhibit, and we were only allowed in the one large barn like room. Despite his obvious desire for us to leave, we ignored him and took our time viewing the diorama.

Description of our visit at

Lobau Island

2011-02-22T01:19:00.000-08:00

We were delighted to discover that our hotel in Aspern was within 100 yards of the famous church, and only about a mile to Lobau Island.

Our bikes were not ready when we arrived at the hotel, so we set off to explore Lobau Island on foot. It was a very hot afternoon, and we were quite warm and glowing by the time we arrived.

We were also very pleased to find that there is a path around the island with these stone plinths to mark important aspects of the 1809 battle. Unfortunately we were not aware of this before our visit, and had not obtained a printed guide - though I am sure that one must exist.

After a couple of hours we reached the river Danube. By now were hot and very tired, and a riverside bar looked very inviting. As we approached we noticed that all of the customers seemed to be very sun bronzed and weathered. We were sitting at the bar before the truth sunk in - we were in a nudist colony!!

Poor Jan did not know where to look. We drank our beer and left in haste.

Walking Aspern and Austerlitz

2011-02-16T14:07:00.001-08:00

The last of our battlefield walking holidays, at least to date, was in 2002 when we visited Aspern, Essling, Wagram and Austerlitz.

Our first visit to Austerlitz, in 1998, had been spoiled by bad weather. Heavy rain and muddy fields meant that though we walked the area it was not an enjoyable experience. It made us realise that a return visit would be well worth while. But we did not really feel that there was enough to do to keep us busy for a full week.

Aspern-Essling and Wagram are both near Vienna, which in turn is only a few hours drive from Austerlitz. We had never visited these battlefields, and always wanted to. So we decided to do a fly-drive to Vienna. Spend three days exploring Aspern-Essling and Wagram. Drive to Austerlitz and spend another three days exploring there.

After our first visit to Austerlitz I had all the maps I needed. On our return I had read every book I could find, and felt confident that we could explore the battlefield without any further preparation.

On our first visit we had lunch at the Post House in the middle of the battlefield, and I knew that they had excellent accommodation. So we would spend our three days there, in the same building used by the Allied headquarters before the battle and Napoleons headquarters on the night of the battle.

Aspern-Essling and Wagram were a different matter. I had never visited the area, so we would have to research from scratch. The battlefield covered a large area, and would require careful planning to find all the locations. Exploring by car would be difficult, so we decided to hire cycles.

The first blog about our visit deals with the planning, and in particular the books I used to prepare for the visit. It can be found at

Mantua

2011-02-08T14:01:00.000-08:00

The siege of Mantua lasted nine months and resulted in the battles of Castiglione, Caldiero, Arcola and Rivoli. The garrison finally surrendered when they received news of the battle of Rivoli.

Mantua is a lovely city to visit, but there is very little of interest for anyone exploring the siege. The one exception is the citadel. It is in a very run down part of the city and quite difficult to find. It is here that Andreas Hoffer was executed in 1810, and there is a small plaque near the gate to mark the spot.

This was the last Italian battlefield we visited, and you can read about it here

Arcola

2011-02-01T02:50:00.001-08:00

Not one of the biggest or most important of Napoleonic battles, but one of the best known due to Bonaparte's feat of bravery when he grapped a falled flag and led the attack across the bridge. The attack failed, but the incident went down in history.

Arcola is one of the easiest battlefields to visit and explore. The bridge is new, but is in the same location as the one fought over in 1796. It is dominated by a large monument, which can be seen for miles in the flat area surrounding the battlefield.

The dike road used by the French to approach the bridge still runs from Ronco, and can be followed with ease.

I imagine that the area looks much the same, though less marshy than it was then. I suspect that the river is not as wide, because it looked quite fordable when we visited the area. Yet in 1796 the French repeatedly attacked across the bridge for three days. Had it been possible to ford the river surely they would have done so.

More photos of our visit at

Caldiero

2011-01-25T09:15:00.000-08:00

Bonaparte's victory at Caldiero on 12 November 1796 prevented the Austrians taking Verona and led directly to the battle of Arcola three days later. We spent less time exploring the battlefield than I had expected, as there is not a lot to see now. We did drive around the area, and found the main locations, but could find little that had a feel of the period or battle about it.

It may be that we were not as well prepared as we usually are. We had read about the battle in preparation for our visit, and we had a couple of good battle maps of the area. But we were unable to actually find anything of relevance to the battle, other than this church in the small village of Belfiore. This village changed hands many times during the three day battle of Arcola. Massena repeatedly took this town from the Austrians to secure the left flank of Bonaparte’s attack on Arcola.

The record of our visit can be found at

Rivoli

2011-01-19T01:09:00.000-08:00

We were fortunate to have lovely weather for our visit to Italy. It was the first two weeks in September 2000, and the weather was warm but not too hot. Ideal for walking and exploring battlefields.

So a we have many happy memories of the various battlefields, but one of our favourite was Rivoli. The area is lovely, and the battlefield easy to explore - mostly. However we did have problems finding two locations, and were helped by friendly locals in both cases.

The first was the Trombalore Heights, just outside Rivoli. We could see them as we left Rivoli, but could not find a road or track which would take us directly to them. We returned to the musuem in Rivoli to ask for directions, and the curator immediately locked up and took us there himself.

The second was a monument to the battle which we knew was in a field near the village of Ceradino. We had a photograph from an old copy of First Empire, but no directions to the field. We parked in the middle of the village, and looked for friendly looking locals to whom we showed our photograph. We spoke not a word of Italian, and none of the locals we asked spoke a word of English. But one young chap indicated that we should follow him on his motorcycle. He took us on a confusing route on even smaller tracks through cultivated fields past "Private" signs. Eventually we came to the impressive monument which was in need of some care and attention and surrounded by a tangle of overgrown weeds. But we were delighted to find it, and so grateful to the local lad who took the trouble to take a couple of strangers there.

Its always the little things that you remember about any holiday, and one spent walking battlefields is no different.

You can read about our visit here

Monte Baldo

2011-01-12T03:33:00.000-08:00

The town of Rivoli is situated at the southern end of Monte Baldo, just to the west of Lake Garda. In January 1797 general Alvinczy marched his army south through Monte Baldo to attack Bonaparte.

Just north of Rivoli is the small village of La Corona (picture above). It was here that the French attempted to halt the Austrian advance. Their failure led to the close fought battle of Rivoli.

We spend a day exploring Monte Baldo, and in particular La Corona. You can read about it here

Castiligione

2011-01-04T07:57:00.001-08:00

This weeks blog entry is one of the longest of all the battlefield blogs. There are 17 photographs to cover our visit to Castiglione. In fact I could have used more, but I felt that the blog is long enough as it is. I personally find it difficult to concentrate on long blogs, and am sure many of you will feel the same.

Most visitors to this famous battlefield will go straight to Solfernio and climb the La Rocca tower to view the battlefield. The village is famous as the place where the International Red Cross was formed, and consequently it is easy to find. On 5 August 1796 it also formed the right flank of the Austrian army. And the top of La Rocca provides an excellent platform to view the battlefield from the Austrian side.

It is much less easy to find a suitable spot to view the battlefield from the French side. This is where "Castiglione 1796" by Bernhard Voykowitsch came in so useful. This was my guide to the battlefield. It contains a mass of information about all operations in the area throughout 1796, with many photographs and excellent battle maps.

The book advises against visiting Castiglione itself, which is now so overdeveloped that it is not suitable to explore the battle. Instead it recommends a hill overlooking the small village of Girole. The village, which formed the left of the French position, was difficult enough to find. I would never have found the road leading to the hill without the book. But it was well worth the effort, because this hill provides the same sort of excellent views of the Austrian positions as La Rocca does of the French.

The blog can be found at
http://napoleoninitaly.blogspot.com/

Vobarno

2010-12-22T09:32:00.000-08:00

Vobarno is a small and very attractive town in the mountains on the western side of Lake Garda. On 4 August 1796 it was the scene of desperate fighting as the retreating Austrians tried to capture the bridge over the river Chise.

We spent a day visiting the town on 6 September 2000.

Our visit is covered at

Lonato

2010-12-14T03:38:00.000-08:00

Lonato is a lovely little town south west of Lake Garda. The narrow streets are dominated by the castle, with its impressive views of the coast and surrounding area.

In 1796 it played an important part in Bonaparte's Italian Campaign. During Wurmster's First Advance the castle was taken by the Austrian army. On 3 August it was retaken by the French, and Bonaparte established his headquarters there.

On 4 August Bonaparte was present in the castle which was held by 1000 men. An Austrian force of 2500 approached and demanded that the castle surrender. Bonaparte bluffed that the Austrians were in the middle of his whole army and gave the eight minutes to surrender of be destroyed. They surrendered!

On 4 September 2000 we spent a very enjoyable day exploring the town and castle. You can read about our visit at

Napoleon in Italy

2010-12-07T07:48:00.001-08:00

The new blog covers our two week holiday in Italy in 2000.

We would never have tackled Italy had we not been fortunate enough to find this book Castiglione 1796 by Bernhard Voykowitsch at a Napoleonic show in London. I can't remember the name of the show, but it was mainly new and second hand books, plus a few reenactors. Bernhard was there in person selling his book. I had never heard of him, or his book, but I was interested in the Italian campaigns so I bought a copy.

It was only when I started reading it that I realised it would be a great battlefield guide. It covers the campaign in great detail, with good descritions of the leading actors and the battles. It also contains a wealth of illustrations and some excellent maps.

It was the first of a new series to be called "Feldzug Series". It was planned to cover each battle from Castiglione 1796 to Wagram 1809. Unfortunately as far as I know only the first one was ever published. A great shame, because I would love to have collected the whole series.

The purchase of this book prompted us to consider a holiday in Italy to walk the battlefields. It would involve about six months planning, and a long car journey to Lake Garda. But it would turn out to be one of our most enjoyable battlefield visits.

You can read the full account of our planning at

Leipzig

2010-11-30T06:57:00.000-08:00

Leipzig was the last battlefield to be visited during our Napoleon's German Battlefield tour.

I was really looking forward to this one, and had done a lot of previous research. I had read all the books I could find and had prepared maps of the different combats such as Libertwolkwitz, Wachau, Connewitz, Lindenau, Mockern and finally Leipzig itself.

This should have been the highlight of the tour, but it proved to be the most disappointing. I am not sure whether it was due to lack of knowledge or preparation by our tour guide, or whether the area is now so developed that it was not possible to find or walk any of the actual battlefields.

Whatever the cause, we only spent the morning visiting the battlefield, and most of that time was spent at the magnificient monument. Then we had a long lunch, followed by a "free afternoon"

I have not read any accounts of visits to this battlefield, either before or since our visit. So I am unable to compare our experience with that of other visitors. Those which I have read have been a brief description, such as at the end of the Osprey Campaign Series Leipzig 1813. There is mention of other memorials, but no details.

It was a shame to end our tour on a disappointing note. Especially as this battlefield promised to be the highlight of the tour.

I did manage to take some good view of the battlefield, and you can find them at

Lutzen

2010-11-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

This small German village was already famous long before Napoleon fought the first major battle of the 1813 campaign there.

In 1632 the famous Swedish general Gustavus Adolphus lost his life here during the first Battle of Lutzen.

The area is largely unchanged since 2 May 1813, when Napoleon defeated the Prussian and Russian armies and sent them in retreat to the east. Due to his lack of cavalry he was unable to mount an effective pursuit, and the allied army retreated through Dresden and formed up on the hills overlooking Bautzen for the second major battle of the war.

For more photographs, and a record of our visit, follow this link

http://napoleoningermany.blogspot.com/

Bautzen

2010-11-17T12:55:00.001-08:00

Bautzen is one of the less well known of Napoleon's victories.

Fought just 20 days after Lutzen, his first victory in the 1813 campaign, Bautzen was a large battle fought over a wide area. Napoleon commanded an army of 200,000 against just 96,000 Prussians and Russians. It should have been a decisive victory, and even ended the 1813 campaign in a French victory. He won, but he allowed the allies to retreat to the east. Or rather Marshal Ney allowed them to retreat, by attacking the right of the allied line instead of arriving behind the right and preventing them from retreating.

The result was the armistice, which ended with the Austrians joining Prussia and Russia, and the complete defeat of Napoleon at Leipzig.

Perhaps that is the real reason Bautzen is not well known. It was a missed opportunity and became overshadowed by the great battle of Leipzig.

We spent a day walking the battlefield and you can read about it at

Festung Konigstein

2010-11-03T03:03:00.000-07:00

Apart from an inspection visit by Napoleon in 1813, the fortress does not appear to have played an active part in the Napoleonic Wars. However its very presence overlooking the river Elbe so near to Dresden made it important enough to have a regular garrison. I was not surprised to hear that there has never been an attempt to capture it by force!

We were dropped off here whilst our guide and the coach went off to recce the next days battlefield walk. However we were not unhappy, as Konigstein is a major tourist attraction and well worth a visit.

There is an interesting museum which includes artillery uniforms and equipment of the Napoleonic period.

But the most interesting part of our visit was exploring the ramparts with their large collection of artillery equipment.

Link to blog

Dresden

2010-10-26T03:40:00.001-07:00

It was fortunate that we had done our research prior to our visit to Dresden, because it was treated as a "free day". I always consider this to be a cop out on a any holiday, but even more so in one which is dedicated to walking battlefields. We were left entirely on our own and later discovered that the guide and coach had gone off to recce Bautzen. I feel quite strongly that this is just not good enough. All recce should be done prior to starting the tour. Paid customers should not be left to explore a city as best they can. This was our first, but not our last, disappointment with this Midas tour.

Due to our preparation we were aware of the main phases of the Battle of Dresden in August 1813. In particular I knew that the Great Garden had played an important part. And even though the city has greatly changed since then, we were able to find the Grosser Garten by joining a city tour bus and asking to be dropped there.

Unfortunately the garden was also a disappointment. It has been completely rebuilt and looks similar to any other park in any other major city.

Link to the Dresden blog

Auerstadt

2010-10-19T02:24:00.000-07:00

The cross roads at the village of Hassenhausen makes this a very easy battlefield to visit and explore. The road junction was the centre of Davout's position, and the flat ground to the south the area of the Prussian attacks.

The view of the battlefield is very similar to Waterloo, and one of the main features of the battle was the ill fates Prussian cavalry attack against the French infantry squares. Again a reminder of the French cavalry attacks against the British squares at Waterloo.

Link to Blog

http://napoleoningermany.blogspot.com/

Jena - Kapellendorf

2010-10-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

The last visit of our day spent on the Jena battlefield, was to the small town of Kapellendorf.

It was here that General Ruchel made his fateful decision to move forward and attempt to save the broken survivors of Hohenloe's defeated army. He had arrived in the town with just 13,000 men to reinforce Hohenloe. On arrival he was advised that the Prussian army was in retreat pursued by the massed French cavalry. He ordered his division to advance towards Jena in an ill fated attempt to stem the French pursuit and save the Prussian army. In the event he was promptly crushed and joined the rout.

Link to blog

http://napoleoningermany.blogspot.com/

Jena - Vierzehnheilligen

2010-10-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

Vierzehnheilligen church

Vierzehnheilligen is the village where the Prussian infantry formed line in the open to exchange fire with the French infantry who were behind all available cover in the village! Not surprisingly it went badly for the Prussians.

The whole area is very unspoilt and it is not too difficult to picture the destruction of the Prussian infantry, and the gallant charge led by Marshal Murat which followed and led to one of Napoleon's most famous victories.

Link to blog

Jena Landgrafenberg

2010-09-25T14:15:00.001-07:00

Jena Napoleonstein

The best views of the battlefield and surrounding area is from the Napoleonstein on the plateau of the Landgrafenberg overlooking the town of Jena.

This is the area held by Marshal Lannes throughout the night before the battle, when he faced overwhelming numbers of Prussians. A determined attack would have bundled the French down the hill into the town below.

This is an excellent spot to survey the battlefield with the aid of a good map or even a battle diagram. We used copies of the maps from the West Point Napoleonic Atlas and read a description of the area from Loraine Petre's "Napoleon's Conquest of Prussia 1806". Both of which I would strongly recommend to anyone planning a visit to this most interesting of Napoleon's battlefields.

Napoleon in Germany

2010-09-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Napoleon museum Cospeda

Just started a new blog for our visit to Napoleon's Battlefields in Germany.

This was the second of our holiday's with Midas Battlefield Tours. It would cover Jena, Auerstadt, Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden, Leipzig and even a visit to Colditz.

This would be our last holiday with Midas. Our first one was overshadowed by the poor weather, this time it would be poor planning and preparation. It would convince us that we could do better on our own, and we would subsequently prove this to be so.

However there were highs on the holiday, and our visit to Jena on the first day would be one of them.

You will find it all here

Some thoughts on Walking Napoleonic Battlefields

2010-09-13T02:43:00.001-07:00

Torres Vedras 1994

I have just finished the Summary on Austerlitz

http://walkingnorterneurope.blogspot.com/

This has prompted me to review the progress so far.

I started this blog in April 2009, with our visit to Waterloo - the first battlefield of many we were to walk.

Since then I have written a blog pretty well every week, and covered our visits to

Spain and Portugal with Holts
Spain and Portugal on our own
Northern Spain
The Pyrenees

Its been great fun writing up the blogs. The research has involved looking back through our old photograph albumns and reading the old diaries written during the visits. It has been very nostalgic and at times emotional.

And its not over yet.

The next blog will cover our visit to Napoleon's Battles in Northern Germany with Midas Tours. Then will come our 10 days in Italy on our own. Finally another 10 days around Vienna and a longer stay at Austerlitz.

So if you have enjoyed them so far, you are in for a treat in the coming months.

Thanks for following the blog.

Austerlitz and Vienna

2010-09-05T02:39:00.000-07:00

Pratzen heights from Zurlan Hill

The highlight of our last day at Austerlitz was to revisit Zurlan Hill, Napoleons command post during the battle. On our first day we could see little due to low clouds and heavy rain!

Today was much better. Not exactly bright and sunny, but dry and clear. Its the ideal spot to take panoramic photographs of the battlefield. Unfortunately my camera was not quite up to the job. But I did the best I could, and you can see the results at:

We then visited the wonderful military museum in Vienna before catching our late afternoon flight back to UK. If you are interested in Napoleonic exhibits and have not yet visited this museum I would highly recommend it.

Austerlitz - Sokolnitz

2010-08-28T02:35:00.000-07:00

The last of the Austerlitz villages we visited during this tour was Sokolnitz.

Sokolnitz was the scene of the most savage fighting of the whole battle.

The battle opened with the attack on Telnitz, but quickly spread to the adjoining village of Sokolnitz. The village has a small castle, a large walled garden and a number of large stone buildings. All changed hands many times during the battle.

Austerlitz - Telnitz

2010-08-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

For a casual visitor Tenitz has little of interest. This village was the southern hinge of Napolens battle line, and was the scene of desperate fighting throughout the battle. Despite this we could find no plaque or acknowledgement of its deserved place in history.

Of course it is ten years since we were there, and things may have changed.

We were fortunate that we were on a guided tour, and Alan Rooney brought the history alive with an excellent description. He also took us through the village to the fields beyond which were the scene of the intiial fighting.

For the first time on this tour, the sky cleared and we were able to sit and soak up the athmosphere.

More photos at

The Pratzen Heights

2010-08-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

Without the huge Peace Memorial it would be difficult to identify the Pratzen Heights from any distance. I had expected the heights to dominate the battlefield, but in fact we found it difficult to see them even from Zuran Hill.

The memorial dominates the Pratzen in much the same way that the Lion dominates Wellington's ridge at Waterloo. But at least here the hill was not reduced to build a mound.

From the Pratzen there is an excellent view of the French positions opposite, just as Zuran Hill provided great views of the allied positions.

An easy walk along the ridge covers the area of the main French attack and the desperate allied counter attack.

More photographs of our visit at

Austerlitz Castle

2010-08-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

The castle did not play any significant part in the battle, it was well behind the allied battle line. I believe that the armistice was signed there, and no doubt Napoleon would have spent a night or two there, as it is the most impressive building in the area.

Our battlefield tour included an evening meal at Austerlitz Castle, but we were not expecting the artillery drill display that went with it. Jan even got the opportunity to fire the gun. Next came a display of sword fighting and finally the meal itself.

An excellent evening, and a very enjoyable addition to the tour.

Austerlitz - The Santon

2010-07-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

This small round hill was at the extreme left of Napoleon's battle line. It came under infantry attack during the battle, but was held throughout.

After a cold, wet and muddy morning tramping the fields we were reluctant to leave the warmth and comfort of the Post House, where there was a plentiful supply of local wine to wash down our excellent Santon Cannonball lunch.

It was only when we were offered a lift in the minibus that we agreed to carry on with the afternoon tour. The delay meant we had to abandon the walk to the Santon, but everyone had more than enough of muddy fields to last a lifetime - let along a day.

Once on the Santon we were full of enthusiasm for the tour, and a little guilty that we had missed part of it.

More photos here

Austerlitz - Post House

2010-07-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

The Austrian and Russian General Staff used the Post House on the night before the battle. No doubt the scene of the staff briefing at which Kutuzov fell asleep which was so well described in "War and Peace". On the following night Napoleon met there with his Marshals to issue orders for the pursuit of the beaten allied army.

We arrived there wet, tired and cold after a long morning walking the battlefield in the rain and mud. We were soon seated on one of the long wooden tables in front of a roaring fire with a "Santon Cannonball" and a bottle of local wine in front of us. Those of you who have had the delight of a meal at the Post House will, I am sure, remember the "Santon Cannonball". Its a large, round, white bread loaf with the inside removed and replaced with a very tasty goulash. Just what we needed.

Austerlitz - Zuran Hill

2010-07-14T03:59:00.000-07:00

The view of the battlefield from the Zuran Hill, which was Napoleon's command post during the early stages of the battle, are to Austerlitz what the Lion Mound is to Waterloo. Not an eyesore, but an excellent viewing platform.

Despite the far from perfect weather the whole of the left and centre of the battlefield was laid out before us. From the Santon on our left, to the Post House directly in front and the Pratzen Heights on our right. True the area around Telnitz on the far right were out of sight, and true also that in the early stages of the battle this was a critical area. But the main French attack would be launched on the Pratzen Heights and this was an ideal observation platform for the coming attack.

This week covers our visit to Zuran Hill and the walk accross the battlefield to the Post House a mile or so away.

Austerlitz - Schlapanitz

2010-07-07T06:43:00.000-07:00

Having spent four holidays walking Wellington's battlefields in Portugal and Spain we were in need of a change. We had wanted to visit Austerlitz for a long time, so when we heard that Midas Battlefield Tours were offering a four day walking holiday of Austerlitz we signed up. This is the first of a series of visits to Napoleon's battlefields in Austria, Germany and Czechoslovakia.

The new blog is called Walking Northern Europe

Last day in the Pyrenees

2010-07-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

The last walk of our holiday was a return visit to the Maya Pass. We had put this one off twice during the previous week, waiting for better weather. It did not arrive, so we went anyway. It was cloudy and overcast as we arrived, and it got worse. We spent a couple of hours walking the area, but then the light rain turn heavy, and we were forced to abandon the visit.

The weather had been less than perfect throughout our two week stay in Sare. We had a few good days, but more often than not it was grey skies and light rain. Not what I was expecting in the south of France in July.

We do a lot of hill walking in the UK. We have walked in Scotland, Wales and the Lake District. So we are not strangers to exploring the great outdoors in dismal weather. So it would not be true to say that the weather had spoiled our holiday, though it had made it more challenging.

This was our last visit to Portugal and Spain, or so we thought. We had spent four holidays walking Wellington's Battlefields in the Peninsula, and felt we had done the job quite well. We had never been to Spain on a "normal" holiday, and when we left Sare on 5 July 1996 we quite expected it would be the last time we would see it. Little did we know that ten years later we would be living here as residents.

Our next battlefield tour would be to Austerlitz.

Orthez

2010-06-25T03:05:00.000-07:00

The bridge at Orthez

Orthez is a battlefield we had long wanted to visit, and one which I had done more preparation prior to our visit than normal. I had managed to get hold of a very good map showing not only unit locations but also contour lines. So I felt confident that we would have a successful and enjoyable visit.

However it proved less than a complete success. We managed to find the church of St Boes and the main French position. We also found the Roman Camp, which had been Wellington's command post during the battle. From here I had planned to follow the route of his attack. Unfortunately the Roman Camp was completely covered by a dense woods and a thick undergrowth. Despite walking around the base of the whole hill we were unable to make our way to the summit or indeed any point which would give us a view of the battlefield.

We expended so much time and energy on trying to reach Wellington's command post that we had little left to explore the rest of the battlefield. By mid afternoon we had enough, and settled for a visit to the town of Orthez instead. It had not played any part in the battle, but is a very attractive and interesting town in its own right.

More photographs, and a description of our visit, at:

Return to Bayonet Ridge

2010-06-16T01:26:00.001-07:00

We had planned to visit Orthez, but changed our plans due to light drizzle which promised to turn to heavy rain. Instead we decided to revisit the Bayonet Ridge above Vera. It would be just as wet, but would be a much shorter drive.

The ridge is now home to a collection of duty free shops, and has an excellent car park. Last time we climbed the hill behind Vera and followed the route taken by the Light Division. This time we took the route followed by hundreds of visitors to the duty free shops each day.

The path from the car park was appropriately called Commissari Ridge, and leads to the scene of the fighting in 1813. By the time we arrived the rain was heavy, and soon joined by thunder and lighting. We returned to the car park and a much needed hot drink.

Not for the first time we had to abandon a battlefield walk due to bad weather.

Roncesvalles Pass

2010-06-09T05:40:00.000-07:00

Redoubt de Chateau Rignon

This was our second visit to this battlefield. On our previous visit we had parked on the Pass itself, where roland had fought his famous rear guard action in 778, and explored the scene of the major fighting on 25 July 1813. This was between the Pass and the Altobiscar hill.

For our second visit we wanted to follow the area of the French advance, and explore the intiial contact at the Redoubt de Chateau Rignon and then the light infantry action at Pic de Leizar Atheka.

This involved a long drive from St Jean de Pied de Port to the crest of the Pyrenees. There is a very good road, but narrow and very winding. At the end of this road we reached the Redoubt de Chateau Rignon

We were tempted to follow the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostella which follows the French advance from St Jean. But we estimated it would have taken about 5 hours from St Jean to the Pic de Leizar, and then the same distance back. We considered this was just a little too long to walk, particularly as it would involve a steep climb. However when we saw how beautiful the countryside is, we were quite sorry we did not do so. Perhaps we will return in the future and try again.

The diary entry for the day, and some more photographs, are at:

Amotz Bridge and Ainhoa Redoubt

2010-06-02T07:33:00.000-07:00

Today the bridge is in a sad state of repair and overgrown with weeds. It is now only used by local farmers. There is a new road from Sare to Ainhoa, and a new brigde over the river Nivelle. The reglected bridge is well back from the new road, and can easily be missed when travelling between Sare and Ainhoa by car.

In 1813 it was a different matter entirely. This bridge was the only communication link between the left and right wings of Soult's army during the battle of the Nivelle. Its capture by the Third Division forced the French to withdraw to their next line of defence on the Nive.

Walking the five miles from the bridge to the line of redoubts overlooking Ainhoa is a delight. The path is a rutten farm track and throughout the day we spent there we only passed three young men on mountain bikes.

The area must look exactly the same as it did in 1813, and enjoying the peace and quite we had plenty of time to relfect on the battle and how difficult it must have been for Marshal Soult to exercise control over his army over such a wide area.

Diary entry and more photographs at:

The Bayonet Ridge

2010-05-27T02:13:00.000-07:00

Bayonet Ridge by Captain Robert Batty who took part in the battle

The French held a very strong fortified position on The Rhune, which is the dominating mountain in this part of the Pyrenees. On 7 October 1813 the Light Division crossed the river Bidassoa and stormed the enemy fortifications on the Bayonet Ridge. The attack was a complete success and secured the Greater Rhune for Wellington, forcing the French to retire to their second line of defences on the lower Le Petit Rhune.

It was yet another overcast morning when we arrived at the village of Vera to climb through the woods to The Bayonet Ridge. We had about four hours to explore the area before the rain arrived and forced us to give us and seek shelter in the collection of tax free shops which now clutter the area.

More photographs at:

La Rhune

2010-05-21T03:29:00.000-07:00

La Rhune is a large mountain on the Spanish-French border between the rivers Bidossa and Nivelle. It consists of two peaks the higher is Grande Rhune and in November 1813 was occupied by Welllington and the Light Division. The lower peak is Petite Rhune, and was strongly defended by Soult and the French. The battle of the Nivelle opened with the light division assault on La Petite Rhune.

It was one of those desperate hand to hand battles, which make such stirring reading. There is a detailed account in "Wellington, the Bidassoa and Novelle" by Major Gneeral F C Beatson, which was our companion during our visit in 1996.

A full account of the day we spent on La Petite Rhune, together with more photographs, can be found at

Ainhoa and the Pass of Maya

2010-05-12T02:45:00.001-07:00

Another overcast day, but a very enjoyable first visit to Ainhoa and a return visit to the Pass of Maya.

On our previous visit to Maya we had failed to find Mount Gorospil, and had done more research in preparation for this visit to avoid another disappointment. We found this sign post which led us to the path used by the French in 1813 and then to Gorospil.

Louis XIV and Signal Redoubts

2010-05-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Wet and miserable weather returns, not at all what we had expected from the South of France in June! Despite the weather we set off to explore the hills behind Sare, and in particular The Louis XIV and Signal Redoubts, which had played such an important part in the battle of the Nivelle on 10 November 1813.

This walk on a dull and cold June day would bring home to Jan and I just how difficult it must have been to campaign with Wellington. It was difficult enough to climb the muddy paths leading to the hills, and the redoubts, behind Sare. But to imagine how much more difficult it would have been to do so when hungry, wet, cold and carrying all your personal belongings on your back. And to then have to fight to capture these strong redoubts from the determined French who were defending their own country.

The area held by Marshal Soult covered 20 miles from St Jean du Luz on the coast inland to Urdrax, and consisted of a whole series of defended villages, barricades and strong redoubts on the crest of the hills.

Our visit is covered in this weeks Walking Napoleonic Battlefields.

Saint Barbe Redoubt

2010-04-28T06:01:00.000-07:00

Sare from the Saint Barbe Redoubt

It was a great relief to awake to blue skies and we planned our second day over breakfast with “Wellington , The Bidassoa & Nivelle” by F C Beatson. Our objective was to find the Saint Barbe Redoubt, which formed part of Marshal Soult’s defensive works attacked by Wellington during the battle of the Nivelle in 1813.

We were spending two weeks exploring Wellington’s 1813 battlefields, and had based ourselves just outside the small French village of Sare. We were fortunate to have a detailed diagram of the area in November 1813 and both our Gite and the Redoubt were marked on it.

Our plan was to walk into Sare and then around the area until we found the Redoubt.

The Petite Rhune

2010-04-22T04:01:00.000-07:00

Our first day in the Pyrenees did not start well. Waking to light rain we set out to walk up The Petite Rhune. However we were directed to the wrong path, the rain turned from light to heavy and we climbed The Grande Rhune - the wrong mountain! Things could only improve, and they did. Returning to Sare the rain stopped and we felt much better after a hot meal. We were directed to the correct path, and followed it far enough to confirm that it went to The Petite Rhune.

You can read the full story at:

Salisbury to Sare

2010-04-13T03:05:00.000-07:00

The first two days of the holiday cover the journey to Sare and a brief introduction to the Battle of the Nivelle, in which Sare played an important role.

Unlike the previous blogs about Walking Napoleonic Battlefields, this one will be a diary of our 16 day walking holiday in 1996. The aim was to explore the whole area, and in particular the Rhune, Vera, Maya and Roncesvalles.

This time we would have plenty of time to wander at will, and try to find some of the less well known locations. Some would be worth the effort, others not really.

We would also have time to revisit Maya and Roncesvalles and try to find paths and locations which we had failed to find the previous year.

Walking the Pyrenees

2010-04-07T03:23:00.000-07:00

The latest blog in Walking Napoleonic Battlefields will deal with our 17 day holiday in the Pyrenees in 1996. The previous holidays were designed to visit as many battlefields as possible and involved a lot of driving to reach each one. This time we were based in the small French village of Sare for the whole holiday, and the aim was to spend more time on each battlefield and explore them in great detail.

On the previous blogs each entry covered a different battlefield, with a brief description of the battle and our visit. This one will be more like a journal of the holiday, and will go into more detail about our exploration of each site.

The first entry covers the planning and preparation for the holiday and can be found at

San Sebastian

2010-03-27T04:50:00.001-07:00

On the last day of our holiday we had to drive the 140 miles from Fuentearrabia to Santander to get our ferry back to UK. On the way we paid a short visit to San Sebastian to visit the site of the 1813 siege.

San Sebastian is now a very popular holiday resort, and like many Spanish towns not the easiest of places to find your way around. We had a battlefield map, but that proved of little help as we drove down the fast two lane road along the river into the town. At one point we found ourselves on the wrong side of the river!

Our destination was the Castle of La Monta which sits on a very large hill which in turn dominates San Sebastian. We followed the road as far as we could go, and were relieved to find we had arrived in the castle car park.

We climbed to the top of Mount Orgullo and were rewarded with spectacular views of San Sebastian, and were at last able to orientate ourselves. Unfortunately the small musuem was closed, but we were able to explore the castle for a couple of hours.

We then walked back to the car park and found that we were in the old town. Another hour rambling around the narrow streets and we had found a lovely cafe in an old square where we had lunch and read a description of the siege in Jac Weller's "Wellington in the Peninsula".

You can read about our visit at :

2010-03-19T03:51:00.000-07:00

The battle of the Nive is a complicated battle fought over a wide area south of Bayonne.

In December 1813 Wellington moved against the city with 64,000 men. Marshal Soult held Bayonne with 67,000 men.

To drive Soult away from the city, and open the way to invade France, Wellington split his army in two, either side of the river Nive, and advanced against the city from the south and south west.

The battle raged for five days. The French held the bridges at Bayonne and could reinforce either side of the river at will. Wellington relied on a bridge of boats, which were damaged and left Rowland Hill exposed on the right bank without support.

Soult held Bayonne, and Wellington was forced to screen the city to advance into France. Bayonne would not surrender until Napoleon was forced to abdicate.

The story of our visit is at:

San Marcial

2010-03-12T06:41:00.000-08:00

The monastry on San Marcial

The battle of San Marcial is one of the lesser known of Wellington's battles.

On 31 August 1813 the French held city of San Sebastian was about to fall to the allied siege. Marshal Soult determined to make one last effort to raise the siege. The most direct road to the city from Bayonne was along the coast, however the road bridge had been destroyed.

Two French divisions stormed the heights of San Marcial, which was held by three Spanish divisions under General Freire, and supported by a British division. The Spanish held the ridge against the determined French attack. At the crisis Friere sent a request to Wellington to send the British reinforcements. Wellington was convinced that the French were already beaten, and wanted the Spanish to take full credit, so he declined to use the reinforcements.

The Spanish held. By mid morning the French were in full retreat back over the river Bidassoa into France.

Our visit to the battlefield in 1995 is described here:

The Crossing of the Bidassoa

2010-03-04T13:35:00.000-08:00

Fuenterrabia would not be one of the first names to spring to mind if asked to list Wellington’s Peninsular Battlefields. However on the morning of 7 October 1813 it was to be the scene of one of his most daring battles.

The cities of San Sebastian and Pamplona has finally fallen and were now occupied by the Spanish army. The French had been forced to abandon Spanish soil and retreat into France.

The river Bidassoa formed the border between France and Spain. Marshal Soult had 55,000 men deployed on the French side from Vera to the sea. Wellington had 44,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops with which to force a crossing and secure the northern bank.

The French believed that the estuary of the river at Fuenterrabia could not be forded. However local fishermen advised Wellington that it was possible to ford the river at low tide.

At first light on 7 October 1813 the First and Fifth British divisions crossed the estuary at a point where it was never more than waist deep. The French were completely surprised and their earth works and fortifications were over run before they could be reinforced. By nightfall Wellington was in command of the north bank and the French in retreat.

You can read about our visit to Fuenterrabia at

http://northernspainandpyrenees.blogspot.com/

Vera

2010-02-26T06:27:00.000-08:00

On 31 August 1813 a small party of 80 men from the 95th Rifles held a bridge to prevent a full division of about 10,000 French infantry from crossing the river Bidassoa. I am not sure what it would be called. Certainly not a battle, probably not a combat but perhaps an action.

I first heard about this gallant feat way back in the early 1970s. I had just become interested in wargaming, and subscribed to the only magazine then available in UK called Wargamers Newsletter by Don Featherstone. One edition contained an article called something like "Action at Vera". It caught my eye because my sister is also called Vera, and because it was about the Napoleonic period. The combination meant that I may have forgotten the details of the article, but not the name of the village.

So when we were planning a visit to Wellington's 1813 battlefields in the Pyrenees I was determined to make time to visit the village. Vera played an important part in the campaign because it had one of the few bridges over the strategically important river Bidassoa.

It was easy to find Vera, less easy to find the bridge. Although in a good state of repair, the main road now runs about a mile from the bridge. Fortunately we found a local lad who spoke a little English and he was able to give us general direction which eventually led to the bridge.

You can read about our visit at:

Sorauren

2010-02-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

The fourth battlefield we visited during our visit to northern Spain and the Pyrenees was Sorauren. This was the major battle fought over three days in July 1813 to protect the siege of Pamplona.

Sorauren is an attractive village a few miles north of Pamplona. The area is little changed since 1813 and is a very easy battlefield to explore. The ridge which formed Wellington's position overlooks the village, and is an easy climb.

The bridge where Wellington scribbled his orders to change the direction of march of his reinforcements is also easy to find. Best of all there is a very pleasant inn beside the river where you can sip a cool beer within sight of the famous bridge.

Pamplona is also well situated to visit four Napoleonic battlefields. Sorauren, Maya, Roncesvalles and Vitoria. So there is a lot to recommend it as a base to explore this part of Wellington's 1813 campaign.

You can read about our visit to Sorauren at:
http://northernspainandpyrenees.blogspot.com/

Maya

2010-02-09T06:06:00.000-08:00

In the previous blog I recalled our visit to the Pass of Roncevalles, which Soult stormed in his bid to raise the siege of Pamplona. On the same day, 25 July 1813, he also attacked the Pass of Maya. Separated by 25 miles, these two passes in the Pyrenees commanded roads leading from France to Pamplona.

Maya is not quite so impressive as Roncevalles, but is still a lovely and impressive location. On this, our first visit, Jan and I spent an enjoyable but frustrating day trying to locate the main points of interest.

You can read about our visit at

Roncesvalles

2010-01-31T11:46:00.000-08:00

Less than five weeks after his defeat of the French at Vitoria, Wellington's army was spread over a wide area of the southern Pyrenees from the coast to Roncesvalles. He has laid siege to Pamplona and San Sebastian and deployed the remainder of his army to prevent Marshal Soult from raising either siege.

There are two roads through the mountains to Pamplona. The western one is through the Pass of Maya and the eastern one through the Pass of Roncesvalles.

This weeks battlefield is the latter - Roncesvalles.

You can read about our visit at:

Vitoria

2010-01-12T02:45:00.000-08:00

Tres Puentes bridge over the river Zadorra

Vitoria is a large battlefield and, unfortunately, much changed since 1813. We spent a full day exploring it by car and managed to find many locations of interest, including Tres Puentes bridge with its picnic table.

Despite a lot of preparation we found Vitoria to be a difficult battlefield to explore, largely because of a large motorway right through the centre of the field, plus a large expansion of the city itself. We managed to find all of the locations in the southern part of the field, but as we got nearer to Vitoria itself it became increasingly difficult.

You can read about our visit here:

Burgos

2009-12-16T03:55:00.000-08:00

1812 was a very mixed year for Wellington, as indeed it was also for Napoleon. And for both it ended in a terrible retreat. Wellington started the year with the capture of Cuidad Rodrigo, quickly followed by Badajoz. Then his stunning victory at Salamanca, which led to his liberation of Madrid. Then came the siege of Burgos.

Due to variety of circumstances, such as a strong fortress, a determined garrison, a lack of suitable siege materials and a strong French army of relief Wellington would end the year back at Cuidad Rodrigo on the border of Spain and Portugal.

Burgos was the first of our Walking Napoleonic Battlefields for our third visit to Spain. Unlike most of our battlefields the city of Burgos is well established on the tourist trail. The ruined castle was our main interest, but the city also has a beautiful cathedral containing the bones of El Cid.

You can read about our visit here:

Northern Spain and the Pyrenees

2009-12-11T14:21:00.001-08:00

Our fourth holiday Walking Napoleonic Battlefields was for 10 days in June 1995.

We would cover 1200 miles and visit 13 battlefields including Burgos, Vittoria, Roncevalles, Maya, Vera, Bidaossa, San Marcial, The Rhune, The Nivelles and The Nive.

I have started a new blog to cover this holiday and you can read the first entry which covers the planning for the holiday here

http://morewalkingportugalandspain.blogspot.com/

Oporto

2009-12-05T00:50:00.000-08:00

Oporto was the last stop on our second visit to Portugal and Spain to walk Wellington's battlefields. It started at Lisbon, the first city of Portugal, and finished at Oporto, the second city.

Oporto is a lovely city, but we did not see it at its best. Due to a map reading error on my part we entered the city on the wrong road, and were soon completely lost. I had a city map and the booking slip with the name of the hotel, but I could not find any of the suburb roads we were driving on.

Neither of us spoke any Portuguese, so we had a real problem. In desperation we just stopped at the next road junction, showed the booking slip to a pedestrian and following their hand signals. After about an hour of this we were no closer to finding the hotel, indeed we had passed one square twice.

We parked the car and set off on foot. We soon found the hotel, and that it was in the middle of a pedestrian only zone, which we had been driving around for the past half hour or so.

The rest of the visit was spent on foot. But the hotel was very central, and we could easily find the main locations we were looking for. And there is no better way to explore a city than on foot.

You can read about the visit and see the photographs at:

Return to the Coa

2009-11-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

This is one of those battlefields which reward plenty of time to wander and ponder or just sit and think or read. Our previous visit was with a coach load of tourists, when we had little time to appreciate the finer points of the battlefield.

This time we had a full afternoon and evening, and we came prepared with many descriptions of the battle, including some first hand accounts. We also had time to ramble around the area and take lots of photographs.

You can see them all here:

http://morewalkingportugalandspain.blogspot.com/

Almeida

2009-11-18T02:10:00.001-08:00

Jan and I returned to Almeida and spend a couple of days exploring the town and surrounding area. To read about the visit and see the photographs taken click on "Walking Portugal and Spain Two" on the right

Fort Conception

2009-11-12T01:01:00.000-08:00

This week deals with our visit to this isolated and abandoned fort on the Spanish and Portuguese border, which was a temporary home to the Light Division between 1810 and 1813.

You can read the blog by clicking on the link to Portugal and Spain Two on the right.

Cuidad Rodrigo

2009-11-04T00:55:00.000-08:00

We had enjoyed our first visit to Cuidad Rodrigo that we included it in our second visit to Portugal and Spain. This time we were on our own, and had more time to explore the town and the area where the allied guns were positioned to bombard the town.

This is the first new blog since I reorganised the Walking Napoleonic Battlefields blog. You can read about this visit by clicking on Portugal and Spain Two on the right

New Links for Walking Napoleonic Battlefields

2009-11-03T13:27:00.000-08:00

When I started the blog I did not realise that it would be running out of space so quickly, but I now find that I have already used 75% of the storeage capacity for photographs on this blog. One of the main reasons is the large number of photographs on the Walking Napoleonic Battlefields blog. So I have started a new blog for all future reports. I have also taken the opportunity to move alll of the old ones, and arrange them in three seperate blogs as follows:

Walking Waterloo
http://walkingwaterloo.blogspot.com/

Brussels
Ohain
Quatre Bras
Ligney
Plancenoit
La Haye Sainte
Hougoumont
The Left Flank

Walking Portugal and Spain with Holts
http://walkingportugalandspain.blogspot.com/

Lisbon
Elvas and Fort Christoval
Badajoz
Albuera
Alcantara
The Coa
Fuentes de Onoro
Salamanca
Talavera
Madrid

Walking Portugal and Spain on our own

http://morewalkingportugalandspain.blogspot.com/

Torres Vedras
Vimiero
Obidos
Rolica
Busaco
Poco Velho
Fuentes de Onoro
Cuidad Rodrigo
Fort Conception
Almeida
The Coa
Oporto

Northern Spain and the Pyrenees