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Boots and Saddles! Horses and
Riders of Wellington's Army
ISBN
978-1-907212-10-9
Paperback 11" x 8.5";
248 pages;
col. and b &
w photographs, line drawings
Price £23.99 + p & p:
UK £2.70
Europe £8.60
Rest of the world £13.30
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Or send a cheque
(sorry, UK currency only) made out to Black
Tent Publications to: Black Tent
Publications, 145 Durham Road,
Stockton-on-Tees, TS19 0DS.
To read Robert Burnham's excellent review of
Boots and Saddles, click
here
Boots and Saddles!
Horses and Riders of Wellington's Army
The British cavalry of the Napoleonic Wars
earned a reputation for its bravado and lack
of command and control. This book seeks to
explore the truth behind this by looking
critically at the horses used by the British
Army, their training and also, crucially the
training of the riders. Unlike the French
army of the same period, Wellington’s
cavalry lacked a single universal training
manual for the rider and horse, with a
standardisation only of regimental and
brigade tactics. Many new skills such as
picket and patrol work were learned the hard
way, on campaign. Many regiments that served
in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo had
not seen action for a number of years. With
officers more at home on the hunting field
than on the battlefield, and concentration
on the charge and not the vital rallying of
men and horses after a charge, it is easy to
see why the British cavalry was often a ‘one
trick pony' in as much as it could charge
once, and then potentially become a spent
force. The book does not seek to explore the
British cavalry's role in the Napoleonic
wars battle by battle and indeed this is not
its aim. Instead it seeks to present the
training of horse and rider of Wellington’s
army, following on from the author’s
ground-breaking and critically acclaimed
work
Au Galop! Horses and Riders of Napoleon's
Army. Chapters deal with the horses of
the cavalry and other mounted arms, and how
the horses were cared for, trained, and
transported to the area of operations. Other
chapters look at the men of the cavalry,
establishing who they were and how they were
trained and clothed. There is also a
discussion of the tack and saddles used by
the British cavalry. Meticulously
researched, much of the information in the
book has not appeared in print before; using
mainly primary sources,
Paul Dawson brings his subject to life with
a wealth of detail and illustrations. He
presents a portrait of Wellington's cavalry
from hoof to tack,
giving an in-depth view of what life was
like in the British cavalry for horses and
their riders. This book is a must for
serious historians of the period, amateur
enthusiasts and war gamers alike.
Paul L. Dawson
is a post graduate of the University of
Leeds holding an MA by research in
History, and is also a graduate of the
University of Bradford, holding a degree
of Bachelor of Science. He is a
professional field archaeologist and
horseman. In 2003 he was made a Fellow
of Honour of the International
Napoleonic Society in recognition of his
research into the armies of Napoleon. He
is co-author of
Napoleonic Artillery, published in
2008, which received praiseworthy
reviews in
First Empire magazine. In addition
he has written over 50 academic papers
on Napoleonic subjects and equine
nutrition as well as writing three books
on the history of West Yorkshire. Since
2000 he has been commandant of the
Association Britannique de la Garde
Imperiale, the oldest Napoleonic
re-enactment society in Europe, which
specialises in the recreation and
research of artillery and cavalry of the
epoch.
Equestrian wise, he began riding
in the early 1980s, and since 2008 he
has ridden and volunteered for the
Riding for Disabled Association, as well
as competing in dressage within the RDA,
being a class winner in 2010. He now
works alongside Gwydyr Stables in North
Wales, as a groom, trek leader and
historical rider for film, TV work and
live shows as well as concentrating on
research and writing.
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