Rifles: Six Years with Wellington's Legendary Sharpshooters (udgave 2004)

The origins of the modern day infantryman as one who aims as well as utilizes cover. Excellent research, illustrations and personal vignettes make this a very readable history book. The perfect companion to the outstanding Sharp Series by Bernard Cornwell. ( )

Bueno, se lee como una novela. ( )

The drawback of the book is that it is centred far too much on the first battalion of the 95th foot, and many interesting anecdotes are missing. I'm sure more about the light battalions of the King's German Legion would have drawn sales just as well. ( )

This one was enjoyable giving you a gritty realistic view of what life was like for men of the legendary 95th Rifle Regiment during the Peninsula campaign and Waterloo. The reading was engaging and made you forget that you were reading a history book. I was especially interested at the similarities I found between the average soldier in the 1800's and ones I read about in other memoirs, such as E.B. Sledges With the Old Breed. Even though they were a century apart, you find these soldiers had the same problems of being supplied, dealing with abrasive officers, and the bloody business of fighting. You also become engrossed with the main people who are mentioned in the book; I found myself up late into the night wanting to find out what happened next to 2nd Lieutenant Simmons, or Privet Ned Costello. I also found it interesting how at this time you start to see the emergence of the modern soldier who was proficient in marksmanship, selected his target, and used cover to fire from instead of forming a line and firing in volley. If there was one problem it was that I wish there were a few more maps to make it easier to see were the names of towns and battles were located. In all a very good, even if you do not usually read history books I would say give this one a read. ( )

In view of the prominent Peninsular War book and TV series Sharpe (starring Sean Bean), I resisted reading Mark Urban's account of the 95th Rifles. I feared a further lionization of Wellington's redcoats and greencoats, downplaying the Spanish and Portuguese contribution. In fact, my fears were wrong. Not only does Urban point out that British successes were often due to French voluntary force reductions, he also treats many aspects of war that are often ignored in conventional military history. His discussion of corporal punishment, desertion, drunkenness, promotion and demotion as well as a darker topics such as rape is outstanding. The poor Spanish civilians had to endure the depredations of two foreign armies on overstretched logistics.

The 95th Rifles as part of the Light Brigade/Division was fortunate in having both colorful protagonists and writers who captured their adventures. Given their prominent role in Wellington's tactical approach, the Rifles were in the thick of many of the classic battles of the Peninsular War. Skirmishing and aimed fire in the best Jäger tradition, the 95th were both modern and un-British. They remain a greencoated exception to the "their's not to reason why" tradition of the British Army, probably one of the causes why they still are admired. A great read. Highly recommended. ( )