Journals of sieges carried on by the army of the Duke of Wellington in Spain during the years 1811 to 1814 PDF
Preview Journals of sieges carried on by the army of the Duke of Wellington in Spain during the years 1811 to 1814
JOURNALS OF SIEGES IN SPAIN, &c. VOL. I. 7 PRINTED BYW. HUGHES, KING'S HEAD COURT, GOUGH SQUARE. 04.02. JOURNAL, OS THE SEIGES TA by the Army vede THE DDAALLKKEE OF WELLINGTON IN SPAIN, Between the Years 13 .. with an Account of THE LINES OF TORRES VEDRAY. BY MAJOR GENERAL SIR JOHN T. JONES , BART KC. 1 Freebarn,sculp In Three Volumes. EDITED BY LIEUT COL: HARRY JONES ROYAL ENGINEERS. LONDON, JOHN WLALг.. THI THE ME THIRD EDITION, EDITED BY LIEUT.-COL. H. D. JONES, R.E. JOURNALS OF SIEGES CARRIED ON BY THE ARMY UNDER THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, IN SPAIN, DURING THE YEARS 1811 TO 1814; WITH NOTES AND ADDITIONS: ALSO MEMORANDA RELATIVE TO THE LINES THROWN UP TO COVER LISBON IN 1810. BY MAJOR-GENERAL SIR JOHN T. JONES, BART., R.E., KNIGHT COMMANDER OF THE BATH. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. London: JOHN WEALE, 59, HIGH HOLBORN. M.DCCC.XLVI. F1481.79.3 HARVARD COLLEGE MAR101925 LIBRARY Starrfend (3vols) " T PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. THE Journals of the Sieges in Spain were originally penned at the commencement of 1813, for the avowed purposeofdrawinggeneralattentiontotheveryinefficient composition and inadequate strength of the siege esta blishments ofthe empire, which certainly at that period had the effect of rendering our attacks of fortified places farless certain and less powerful than our natural advan tages, great resources, and liberal military expenditure, entitledthenationto expect. Thefirst edition was exhausted in a few months; but the attention of those intrusted with regulating the en gineers'branch ofthe army being at that time zealously engaged in giving it due organization and efficiency, any further discussion of the subject would have been mis placed, andno second edition was allowed to appear. Inthetwelveorthirteen yearswhich have since elapsed, a very near approach has been made to perfection, and theJournals would have been left to sink into oblivion, had not many officers pressed for their republication, as themeans of preserving the details of the engineers' and artilleryexertions during operations unlikely to be again equalledinbold and arduous achievement. Under this view, the narrative connecting the several operations, and also the two chapters relating to defi ciencies, happily no longer existing, have been expunged, and the work is now put forth merely as professional VOL. I. b vi PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. memoranda ofthe artilleryand engineers' arrangements at the Siegesin Spain. It should be stated, thatthe additional artillery details introduced into the Journals have been furnished by Colonel Sir A. Dickson and Lieutenant-Colonel Sir J. May, K.C.B., who directed the service of that arm atthe several sieges; but the observations on artillery in the notes canboast of no such authority fortheir correctness, being merelygeneral reasoning onthe properties and use of ordnance, as connected with the science of attacking fortresses,tothe extent essentially necessary to beunder stoodforthe due performance ofan engineer's duty. PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. THE late Sir Lawrence Jones, Bart.,* shortly after the Author's death, having been urgently solicited to allow a third edition ofthe Journals ofthe Sieges in Spain,' and 6 ofthe Memoranda onthe Lines thrown up in 1811 to cover Lisbon,' to be published, consulted me upon the subject, and requested me to undertake the Editorship. I willingly accepted the office, from an anxious desire that the invaluable professional details which they con tain might continue available for the junior members of the Corps of Royal Engineers; and, still further, to extend generallythe benefits to be derived from the study of the operations therein described. Since the period towhichtheyrefer, there have notbeen any sieges under taken bythe British army; the value ofthe Journals is therefore increased rather than diminished bythe length oftime thathas elapsed sincetheir publication. Through outtheworkthe Editor has preserved the text unaltered: his attention has been directed to render the narrative * The melancholy death of Sir LawrenceJones occurredwhile thesheetsofthis edition were passingthroughthepress. Onthe 7th of November last, while travelling in Turkey, not far from Macri, he and his Greekservant were shotbya concealed party ofbanditti, five in number. It is satisfactory to be able to add that, mainly owing tothe energy ofthe BritishAmbassador, Sir Stratford Canning, allthe perpetrators ofthis terrible crime have been apprehended. Sir Lawrence succeeded to his title on the 26th ofFebruary, 1843. viii PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. of those important Sieges as instructive as possible; and with this viewhe has added numerous extracts from the Dispatches of the Duke ofWellington, from French Journals ofthe same Sieges, andalsofromFrench Official Documents; all of which, taken in conjunction withthe text, will, it is hoped, be considered as increasing very materially the value ofthe work. Some of the Dispatches explain the reasons which influenced certain events ; others showthe opinion ofthe General commanding the operations; and from the French authors interesting details are given ofthe duties performed and works executed by the several garrisons previously to and during the Sieges, to strengthen the places, and prolong their defence. 6 The Memoranda on the Lines thrown up to cover Lisbon,' which were originally printed for private circu lation, arenow, with two additional papers bythe Author, formed into athird volume: copious selections have been made from the Dispatches, principally with a view to show what took place during the occupation ofthe Lines, andthearrangementsfor repelling anyattack whichmight be made upon them. H. D. J.
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