Corunna

by Christopher Hibbert

Best-selling author Christopher Hibbert offers an absorbing chronicle of the fierce and deadly
confrontation that saved the British army from annihilation during the Napoleonic Wars, but resulted in the death of their fine Sir John Moore. With the aid of eyewitness accounts, modern photographs, battle plans, and maps, Hibbert paints a horrifying picture of the hardships
and sufferings of this bitter campaign, which unfolded in Corunna, Spain on January 17th, 1809. “Fast-flowing, taut and economical...superb.”— Times Literary Supplement

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military History, British Literature

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Christopher Hibbert, MC, FRSL, FRGS (5 March 1924 - 21 December 2008) was an English writer, historian and biographer. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the author of many books, including Disraeli, Edward VII, George IV, The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici, and Cavaliers and Roundheads.

Described by Professor Sir John Plumb as "a writer of the highest ability and in the New Statesman as "a pearl of biographers," he established himself as a leading popular historian/biographer whose works reflected meticulous scholarship.

Reviews

[JoséMaría BlancoWhite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Military history at its best. Having found too many books on military history that are meant for professionals and experts on military matters, this was a more than nice surprise, since it is a very entertaining and accessible story of the battle of Coruña and its upcoming. Not easy to find a history book well written and for the general reader when it comes to the Napoleonic era, but this ones exceeds all my expectations: I shall take a note of finding more of Mr Hibbert's books, as I understand he is, or was, a gifted writer. The author's research is phenomenal, as the end reference testifies. He used lots of minor and major testimonies and accounts of the soldiers who made this story, and he uses it to condense in a regular size book the story of the escape through Spain of the British forces of General John Moore towards La Coruña, and its final battle there in January 1809, with the utmost care to detail, and the presence of a sufficiently good description of the background of the story, never loosing sight of the people on the grounds, whether generals or privates, Spanish campesinos or the wives of the British soldiers who walked behind their men, some carrying babies on their backs. Their ordeal in Spain is the main story here.

The author is to be thanked for the care with which he treated geography as well as the populations, the little towns and villages through which the armies marched, how the Spaniards received the Brits and their participation in the war effort. It's a fine eye to detail, to the man and woman on the ground, that the author has, whether it is an infantry soldier, a wife of a soldier, a general or a tavern keeper in a little town, they all matter to the story because they help bring to life the drama of war, they pull out of the dusty books on military battles the human drama which is made up of names of real people and a huge amount of details that make up their lives, their suffering, their pain, their fight and sacrifice. It seems even hard to believe that such amount of detail is not fiction, come out of the writer's imagination, or history with a taint of fiction, but it is all true. The amount of time and effort that it must have taken the author to bring all this information into one whole story cannot but bring shame to those fiction writers who cannot convey as much interest into their stories as Mr. Hibbert does with reality. Truly it is craftsmanship that Mr. Hibbert has.

Comments and impressions on the land, the war and the Spanish folk are also to be found along the story, but they are not the historian's, they are picked by the writer but belong to the soldiers' testimonies. Strange as it seems, but maybe not as strange if you are Spaniard yourself, the Spanish folk was not at all keen on helping the Brits do their job. War is described in its crudest form, and the people were everyone for himself, only at Coruña -the end of the journey- do the Brits recognize a collective effort done by the citizens, in conjunction with the Redcoats, to help win the battle and save the town from the hated French. So this history of a battle is much more than that, it is plain adventure, history, but most of all -and fr which I am most glad- social history, without intending it. Here is an example of how good history is to be written: find what interests the common folk, pick your story, now tell it to them, instead of 'here is what you need to know. Great book. I will certainly look for more from this writer.

[Joshua Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easily digestible and mercifully concise recounting of the Napoleonic War's very own version of Dunkirk: a desperate evacuation effort. Though not as riveting as Hibbert's 'Agincourt', the author's characteristic relatibility and strong sense of a clear, propulsive narrative are evident throughout. Unlike many other more unwieldy history books, 'Corunna' leaves one with a clear sense of a distinct and well-contextualized event with a definite narrative arc throughout.

[Grim Tidings · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was never a historian in this period of history to match Christopher Hibbert. He writes with immense knowledge and passion for his subject, webbing it with the humour that paints the people involved in his retellings along with the tragedy that comes with any war.

The book is 200 pages long and 90% of it is on Sir John Moore's campaign into Spain and then back out again, the climax of which lead to Corunna. As it turns out, the battle is no Waterloo or Austerlitz however this was still a great read.

It is interesting how Corunna has become iconic of Sir John Moore's bravery and brilliance, framed even in the blurb of this book as: 'the French had been checked and his [Sir Moore's] own army would be able to embark in safety'. Really, as we learn in this brief venture through Sir Moore's time as CinC, the whole campaign is a disaster and it was treated as such by the press at the time. The retreat as I understand it was constantly undermined by the officers' ignorance (and rage) at the reasons for the retreat along with the Spaniards' unreliability and the commissariat's inefficiency. It's easy to see how everything added up to the disaster and that in the face of extreme odds, Corunna really was an impressive feat by the figures involved.

There is a great index at the back with a count of the divisions involved, their commanders, and their related brigades.

I thought it was interesting Hibbert didn't end with Charles Wolfe's famous poem on the burial of Sir Moore ('Slowly and sadly we laid him down,/ From the field of his fame fresh and gory;/ We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone,/ But left him alone with his glory') which is oft quoted however it was a nice touch that Hibbert emphasised Wellington's respect for the great man instead.

As with any of Hibbert's books I am constantly taking pictures of interesting/funny anecdotes throughout the book, a smattering of which I'll include below:

To add to Moore's irritation, in the midst of the confusion the energetic General Slade had ridden up to him to make a report which, he said, he had been asked to do by one of his officers, Colonel Grant. Moore looked at Slade with cold disdain and asked him sarcastically how long he had been Colonel Grant's aide-de-camp

The food, the Hon. Berkeley Paget of the 7th Hussars thought, was not much better... 'A touch of garlick I have no object to, but my breath was taken away when one dish was put on the table which was a sausage as large as a line-of-battleship's main yard cram full of garlick, a dish of macaroni poisoned with saffron and a salad dressed with lamp oil.'

The ignorance and gullibility of the Spaniards occasionally lead to serious misunderstandings... 'Being the only regiment here at this time that wore the Highland garb,' Sergeant Roberts of the 92nd indignantly wrote, 'the people were struck with the novelty of the dress and wished to know to what country its wearers belonged. The 71st from having been in South America possessed a smattering of the Spanish language and they told the credulous natives that the 92nd were a set of cowards and transported felons who were doomed to wear that costume as a badge of disgrace. The Spaniards were quite indignant... so far did the matter go, that the mayor of the town actually refused to supply us with rations'.

[Mick Scrimshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable read. It wasn’t just about the battle of Corunna but about the early part of the war as well as the nightmare retreat from Astorga as well. Well written with lots of firsthand accounts woven together to give a really good account of the retreat and the battle. My only criticism was this was written before referencing became the norm so there are lots of unattributed quotes and often no mention of the original sources, but a great read for anyone interested in the Peninsular War.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important battle of the Peninsular War in 1809. The British are in full retreat from the Napoleonic Army under Marshal Soult. Sir John Moore heads back to Corunna through Winter weather and near starvation to embark for safety and home. Being harried by the French, the delay of his transport ships necessitates Moore fighting a defensive battle, which costs him his life, but saves his army from annihilation. Hibbert is my kind of historian, balancing rigorous research with readability, erudition and explanation with enjoyability.

[Doug Gibby · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intetesting read for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. Dunkirk 1.0.

[Ian Spiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastically written book which makes use of a nice range of sources.

[Michael Heath-Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book on Ann Heath's cousin, General Sir John Moore leading up to the Battle of Corunna in North West Spain and John's death.