What is the Strategy of the Central Position?

Introduction The strategy of the central position (French: stratégie de la position centrale) was a key tactical doctrine followed by Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars. Refer to Defeat in Detail and Interior Lines. Outline It involved attacking two cooperating armies at their hinge, swinging around to fight one until it fled, then turning to face… Read More

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What is a Marching Regiment?

Introduction A regiment de marche (roughly ‘marching regiment’ in English) is a French temporary (provisional not permanent), regiment created for a specific campaign or other military purpose. Clayton describes a “batallion de marche” as comprising the ‘fit trained personnel’ of all the battalions from a two to three battalion regiment. This creation of a provisional… Read More

Who was Charles Napier?

Introduction Admiral Sir Charles John Napier KCB GOTE RN (06 March 1786 to 06 November 1860) was a British naval officer whose sixty years in the Royal Navy included service in the War of 1812, the Napoleonic Wars, Syrian War and the Crimean War (with the Russians), and a period commanding the Portuguese navy in… Read More

What was the Radical War (1820)?

Introduction The Radical War, also known as the Scottish Insurrection of 1820 (01 April to 08 April 1820), was a week of strikes and unrest in Scotland, a culmination of Radical demands for reform in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which had become prominent in the early years of the French Revolution,… Read More

What was the Plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise (1800)?

Introduction The Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise, also known as the Machine infernale plot, was an assassination attempt on the First Consul of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, in Paris on 24 December 1800 (Refer to French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars). It followed the conspiration des poignards of 10 October 1800, and was one of many… Read More

What were the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)?

Introduction The Napoleonic Wars (18 May 1803 to 20 November 1815, and preceded by the French Revolution (1792-1802)) were a series of major conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European powers formed into various coalitions. It produced a brief period of French domination over… Read More

What was the Froberg Mutiny (1807)?

Introduction The Froberg mutiny was a mutiny within the British armed forces staged between 04 and 12 April 1807 at Fort Ricasoli, on the island of Malta, then a British Protectorate, by the Froberg Regiment. The regiment had been formed using dubious methods, with personnel recruited from various nationalities in Albania and the Ottoman Empire.… Read More