James FitzHugh

I am a newcomer to this Forum but I have followed this story from it's beginning. The beauty of the story is in closeness to reality. If one were to watch the film on "Napoleon" one can clearly see how terrible these battles were. Men were simply pawns and fodder to be disposed of and disposed of they were. Guerrilla warfare was not a new phenomena even in this period. Although the story of EL TORO brings organized guerrilla warfare to a whole new level. As we see with El Toro's Army it is well organized and well trained along military lines. However, when we look at Samoso's band, it is just that a band over which there is a leader who, in Chapter 13, simply takes out 5 men and shoots them as an example rather than as the cause. The British Army of the time was "Peer" driven with the buying of officerships and very little, if any, promotion by merit. Under this method of army leadership there were often cases of atrocious leadership as we saw in the chapter describing the leadership of General Beresford. This "superior attitude" by the British Officers most of whom held or were in-waiting for their titles, actually led to our Thomas distancing himself from the British Military. Yet, the Viscount Wellington knows his worth and his value to the war effort. It was really sad to read of his pitiful offer when they met at the Ball. As someone wrote earlier, this story is a masterpiece for which one waits with baited breath for the next chapter.