Wellington and the war against Napoleon

Learning Outcomes

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Interrogate documentary systems
• Analyse primary sources
• Contextualise information

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Develop a critical approach to primary sources
• Understand the place of editions of texts and material culture
• Demonstrate the role of techniques of documentary analysis in understanding archival sources
• Balance different categories of evidence and the approaches of historians

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Appreciate the wider context of conflict
• Analyse the pattern of the war against Napoleon
• Understand how military and political reputations are made and the context in which military actions may be fought
• Appreciate the choices and decision-making processes of individuals and organisations

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The role of individuals in leading and organising nations in conflict
• The importance of systems and logistics
• The dynamics of global conflict at the start of the nineteenth century
• How the power of Britain’s armed forces was projected onto the Continent, and the context of their operation, both political and military

In this module you will examine British involvement in the war against Napoleon to understand how and why the country was engaged in this conflict. Britain and her allies were locked in a war of stamina, which was ultimately won because Napoleon made mistakes — but at various points it might have been a war lost. While Britain’s navy performed well against French forces, her army was of much lesser standing – yet that army became crucial in bringing the conflict to a close, and its leader in Portugal, Spain and Southern France, the first Duke of Wellington, became indispensable to the British state in projecting her power onto the continent of Europe.

You will study how Britain’s forces were organised, what made the army work, how forces were composed, trained and put in the field, for example, in terms of logistics and supply, and how troops might be employed on a battlefield. We will examine political relationships, with the British government and parliament on the one hand, and how British forces worked together and with her allies on the other. The Duke of Wellington’s campaigns in Portugal and Spain - and at Waterloo - will form a series of case studies to show how decisions were made, the challenges that were overcome, the performance of armies in the field, and how war might be concluded. You will see the general’s point of view and the experience of the common soldier, the reactions of local populations, the importance of intelligence and communication, and the role of armies of occupation. We will look at reputations: how did Britain regard its military heroes? How did they make the transition to peace? These were matters of moment for tens of thousands of men, not least Wellington himself. In looking at these questions, the module will focus on a series of studies of primary sources.

Britain came through this contest not from military expertise alone, but because ‒ as we will see ‒

war forced change on the state, on its systems for organising and managing its business. Some

of those changes came from a maturing of political judgement and strategic decisions; some came through hard work, imagination and invention. Few people in 1793 can have envisaged the consequences — the expansion of the British colonial empire, a thriving economy (those on the Continent suffered severely), and maritime domination, with control of key harbours and naval bases around the globe, and an army of fine reputation.

Seminar topics will include:

The background to the conflicts Britain at war

The organisation of the British army Putting the army in the field Working with allies

On the battlefield

The campaigns of the Peninsular War Waterloo; making and managing the peace Making the hero

Teaching methods include:

• Lectures and seminars
• Detailed reading and the analysis of primary texts

Learning activities include:

• Preparatory reading and individual study
• Participation in seminars, including short presentations on seminar themes, individually and in small groups
• Studying primary sources

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Presentation

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback:
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.