• HOME

  • Bones of Burgos

  • FORUM

  • FRENCH REVOLUTION

    • Origins
    • Events
    • French Revolutionary Wars
    • The Revolution Abroad
    • The Glorious First of June
    • The Battle of Cape St Vincent
    • Occupied Europe
    • Napoleon's Early Life
    • 1793: The Siege of Toulon
    • 1796-7: Napoleon in Italy
    • 1798: Egypt Campagin
    • The War of the Second Coalition
    • The Battle of the Nile
    • Napoleon's Coup
    • War in the West Indies 1793-1801
  • NAPOLEONIC WARS

    • British Politics, 1793-1815
    • Invasion Scares in Britain, 1793-1815
    • The Peace of Amiens, 1802
    • The Redeclaration of War, 1803
    • 1805: The Battle of Trafalgar
    • 1805: Austerlitz
    • 1806: Jena-Auerstedt
    • 1807: Friedland
    • 1809: The Walcheren Expedition
    • 1809: Wagram
    • 1812: Napoleon's Invasion of Russia
    • 1813: Leipzig
    • 1815: Waterloo
    • Expanding Britain's Empire
    • Death, Glory and Legacy
  • PENINSULAR WAR

    • 1808: The War Begins
    • 1809-10: Weathering the Storm
    • 1811: Stalemate
    • 1812: Breaking the Deadlock
    • 1813: Breakout
    • 1814: The Endgame
    • Wellington's Letters
  • LEARN MORE

    • Reviews
    • TEACHER'S ZONE
    • ABOUT
    • CHANNEL
  • Members

  • More

    Use tab to navigate through the menu items.
    To see this working, head to your live site.
    • Categories
    • All Posts
    • My Posts
    Robert Burnham
    May 19, 2020

    Garry Wills' Wellington at Bay. The Battle of Villamuriel

    in Peninsular War

    Garry Wills, author of forthcoming title ‘Wellington at Bay. The Battle of Villamuriel, 25 October 1812’, has produced a video about his book. He explains the battle using wargame figures and photos from the battlefield. It is nicely done!


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM01HhqiTN0&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1UG29fDHjOHuvzXYxaAlZYNYWKyMlrwLAdP9n-zPFPGxi-sN9bTyp1QQI


    12 comments
    12 Comments

    Share Your ThoughtsSign up to leave a comment.

    paul.d.leeson
    Oct 29, 2020

    Gary, thank you for your prompt reply. It is likely then that he joined the 2nd Bn from the Militia when it returned to England in 1813 and then went to the 1st Bn in a draft as he was fully trained. Thank you for checking.

    Regards.

    Paul

    Like

    G
    Garry Wills
    Oct 28, 2020

    Hello Paul,


    Thank you for your kind words. I have had a quick look through my photos of the pay lists for the second half of 1812 for both the 1st and 2nd battalions and can't find a James Leeson, in any rank. I note also that he is not in the medal roll for the Military General Service Medal.


    All the best


    Garry

    Like

    paul.d.leeson
    Oct 28, 2020

    Thank you Zack. Looks like they never caught him, I suspect that he ran of with a French woman! Paul

    Like

    paul.d.leeson
    Oct 28, 2020

    Gary,

    Excellent book, your analysis of each units combat experience and battle casualties is incredible.

    Bit of a cheek I know, but did you come across a James Leeson 4th Foot, in any of your research?

    I have the following on him and would like to know if he served in the Peninsular.

    Many thanks.

    Paul

    1/. From a Muster Roll of 24/3/15 – 24/5/15.

    Cpl James Leeson. No:1 [Grenadier] Coy. In North America and on ship. To Serjeant 25/5/15.

    So he must have been with the battalion for the New Orleans campaign.

    2/. Serjeant James Leeson.

    No:4 Company, 1/4th Foot at Waterloo.

    3/. He was 1 of 5 men who had deserted by June 1816 [whilst part of the Army of Occupation in Paris and later Calais], who’s Waterloo medals were returned.

    Like
    Z
    Zack White
    Oct 28, 2020
    Replying to

    Just a quick note Paul - I have no record of him being tried for desertion (or indeed for AWOL). Given that desertion/absence was the most prosecuted crime in the army during that period, that might be revealing. Sorry to not have more detail than that though.

    Like

    G
    Garry Wills
    Oct 02, 2020

    Thank you so much Paul, I hope you enjoy it.

    Like

    paul.d.leeson
    Oct 02, 2020

    Gary. Your book arrived today. I have had a quick flick through and am so impressed I would say I am stunned by the depth of your study. Next on my list for reading! Well done for such a massive piece of work. Paul.

    Like

    G
    Garry Wills
    Sep 08, 2020

    Thanks Paul, I hope you enjoy it!

    Like

    G
    Garry Wills
    Sep 08, 2020

    Wellington at Bay is now available to buy from Helion at https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/wellington-at-bay-the-battle-of-villamuriel-25-october-1812.php?sid=47f20bf5bde0b7151ca3bdbff25dae54

    Like
    P
    paul leeson
    Sep 08, 2020
    Replying to

    Thanks Gary. I am waiting for it to come from Amazon, I pre ordered it. Looking forward to reading it. Paul

    Like

    paul.d.leeson
    Jun 25, 2020

    Thanks for sharing this. Good video and I look forward to getting the book when life gets back to normal. Paul

    Like

    G
    Garry Wills
    May 20, 2020

    Thanks Bob and thank you also for your help with the research. The members of the Napoleon Series feature strongly in my acknowledgement.

    Like
    12 comments
    Stephen Prentice
    May 26

    KGL Organisation during the Waterloo campaign

    19
    0
    nickscoti
    Apr 01, 2021

    Hi, could someone suggest me bibliogaphy for Bavarian army 1810 - 1863.

    6
    0
    tomholmberg
    Jun 23

    Napoleon's Relatives Sue

    1
    0
    tomholmberg
    4d

    Did Alexander I Sleep with Josephine?

    1
    0
    tomholmberg
    3d

    LA MUERTE DE NAPOLEÓN

    0
    0
    Stephen Prentice
    4d

    Anatomy of Glory - going cheap

    1
    1
    Hans - Karl Weiß
    Oct 16, 2021

    Napoleon's Admiral's - Boney's Boys on the high seas

    11
    2
    Brendan Morrissey
    May 27

    Brunswick horse colours, 1815

    12
    0
    Stephen Prentice
    Jun 24

    Dutch/Belgian carabinier horse furniture 1815

    5
    0
    tomholmberg
    Jun 24

    Napoleon Bonaparte’s Italian Campaign

    0
    0
    Daniel Ross
    Jun 20

    Waterloo and Wellington - The Battle's Name

    7
    0
    tomholmberg
    Jun 23

    Fiction- Sharpe's Command

    0
    0
    david Tomlinson
    Jun 26, 2021

    Belgian attitudes to Napoleon in 1815

    24
    1