Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in a changing world of invasion. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified, in ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek Phrourion was a collection of buildings used as a military garrison. These construction mainly served the purpose of a tower, to guard certain roads, passes. Though smaller than a fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch. The art of setting out a camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castramentation since the time of the Roman legions.
Fortification is usually divided into two branches, permanent fortification and field fortification, there is an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble. Roman forts and hill forts were the antecedents of castles in Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb, Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification, steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations.
Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may be called fortresses, smaller ones were known as fortalices
Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)
The Rifle Brigade was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army. Formed in January 1800 as the Experimental Corps of Riflemen to provide sharpshooters and skirmishers, in January 1803 they became an established regular regiment and were titled the 95th Regiment of Foot. In 1816, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, they were again renamed, the Corps differed in several regards from the Line infantry of the British Army and most significantly were armed with the formidable Baker rifle. The rifle was accurate in an era when it was generally considered impractical for individual soldiers to aim at specific targets. Four months after its formation, the Rifle Corps was judged ready for its first operation, despite this, the expedition was defeated and withdrew on 26 August 1800. During the battle, the Rifle Corps suffered one lieutenant killed, its first officer to fall, in 1802, the Rifle Corps was brought into the line of the British Army as the 95th Regiment of Foot. The 95th subsequently formed the guard on the way to Bremen.
In February 1806, the 95th formed the rearguard for the withdrawal to Cuxhaven, in October 1806, five companies of the 1st/95th and three companies of the 2nd/95th departed for Spanish-controlled South America, Spain being allied with France. It was part of an invasion force that was designed as reinforcements for the first invasion against Buenos Aires. The 95th subsequently saw action in June at San Pedro where they, during the assault on Buenos Aires on 5 July, the 95th and the rest of the British force suffered heavy casualties in bitter fighting to capture the city. The Light Brigade had suffered so heavily that they had to take refuge in a church and were surrendered soon after, after Whitelocke negotiated the withdrawal of British forces, the men were released and they returned home that year. The 95th would go on to fight for near the entirety of the Peninsular War in Spain, in the aftermath of the disastrous expedition and Whitelocke were court-martialed, with Popham reprimanded and Whitelocke dismissed from the Army.
The remaining companies of the 95th were involved in the expedition to Denmark that year and they took part in the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807 as part of Arthur Wellesleys brigade. The expedition, commanded by Lord Cathcart, was intended to capture the Danish Fleet to prevent it falling into the hands of France, the expedition proved to be a thorough success with the Danish Fleet being captured at which point the British withdrew. In 1808 the 1st/95th took part in an expedition to another Scandinavian country, Sweden, in August 1808 the 2nd/95th was part of the immediate forces sent in the Portuguese expedition initially commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley and covered the landings at Montego Bay. The 95th, as part of 6th Brigade which included the rifle armed 5th/60th Foot, took part in the Battle of Roliça, the 1st battalion was part of John Moores campaign which ended with evacuation after the Battle of Corunna on 16 January 1809. After the depletion suffered at Corunna, the two battalions of the 95th based at Hythe in Kent were made up to a strength of 1,000 men each.
However, so many came forward to join the regiment that permission was granted to raise a third battalion in 1809
Battle of Nivelle
The Battle of Nivelle took place in front of the River Nivelle near the end of the Peninsular War. After the Allied siege of San Sebastian, Wellingtons 80,000 British, after the Light Division, the main British army was ordered to attack and the 3rd Division split Soults army into two. By 2 oclock, Soult was in retreat and the British in an offensive position. Soult had lost 4,351 men to Wellingtons 2,450, in the Siege of San Sebastian, the Anglo-Portuguese stormed and captured the port at the beginning of September 1813. In the Battle of San Marcial on 31 August, Soult failed to break through the Spanish defences in his attempt to relieve the siege. The French army fell back to defend the Bidassoa River, at dawn on 7 October the Anglo-Allied army overran the French river defences in the Battle of the Bidassoa in a surprise crossing. During this action, the allies captured several fortified positions in the area of La Rhune mountain, both sides lost about 1,600 men in these actions. Soults lines stretched from the shores of the Atlantic on the French right flank to the pass of Roncesvalles on the left.
With only 60,000 men, Soult was stretched to an almost impossible point and this means that he could not hold troops back as reserves, something which may have turned the tide of the battle. As Soult moved back to his base at Bayonne, his position strengthened but he was not quick enough, the French position was dominated by the Greater Rhune, a gorse-covered, craggy mountain nearly 3,000 feet high. Separated from the Greater Rhune by a ravine, roughly 700 yards below it, is the Lesser Rhune along the precipitous crest of which the French had constructed three defensive positions. If the French defences on La Rhune could be taken Soults position would become dangerous as it would open him to attack from all elements of the British three point pincer plan. Wellingtons plan was to distribute troops along the whole of Soults line, any breakthrough in the centre or the French left flank would enable the British to cut off the French right Flank. So, Wellington ordered that the British left would be led by Sir John Hope and would involve the 1st, Wellington decided to attack on the 10th of November.
The battle started just before dawn as the Light Division headed towards the plateau on the summit of the Greater Rhune, the objective of the division was to sweep the three defensive forts the French had constructed out of the battle. They moved down into the ravine in front of the Lesser Rhune and were ordered to lie down, after the signal from a battery of cannon, the offensive began. It started with the men of the 43rd, 52nd and 95th - with the 17th Portuguese Caçadores in support - storming the redoubts on the crest of the Rhune. Despite this being a move and the men being almost exhausted
Brigadier general
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general, when appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000 troops. In some countries a brigadier general is designated as a one-star general. The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a general, or simply a brigadier. An alternative rank of general was first used in the French revolutionary armies. Some countries, such as Brazil and Japan, some of these countries use the rank of colonel general to make four general-officer ranks. The naval equivalent is usually commodore and this gallery displays Air Force brigadier general insignia if they are different from the Army brigadier general insignia. Note that in many Commonwealth countries, the equivalent air force rank is Air Commodore, the rank of brigadier general is used in the Argentine Air Force.
Unlike other armed forces of the World, the rank of general is actually the highest rank in the Air Force. This is due to the use of the rank of brigadier and its derivatives to designate all general officers in the Air Force, brigadier-major, and brigadier-general. The rank of general is reserved for the Chief General Staff of the Air Force. The Argentine Army does not use the rank of brigadier-general, instead using brigade general which in turn is the lowest general officer before Divisional General, see Argentine Army officer rank insignia. When posted elsewhere, the rank would be relinquished and the former rank resumed and this policy prevented an accumulation of high-ranking general officers brought about by the relatively high turnover of brigade commanders. Brigadier general was used as an honorary rank on retirement. The rank insignia was like that of the current major general, as in the United Kingdom, the rank was replaced by brigadier. Prior to 2001, the Bangladesh Army rank was known as brigadier, in 2001 the Bangladesh Army introduced the rank of brigadier general, however the grade stayed equivalent to brigadier.
It is the lowest ranking general officer, between the ranks of Colonel and Major General, Brigadier General is equivalent to commodore of the Bangladesh Navy and air commodore of the Bangladesh Air Force. It is still popularly called brigadier
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established as a sovereign state on 1 January 1801 by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. The growing desire for an Irish Republic led to the Irish War of Independence, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom, and the state was consequently renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain financed the European coalition that defeated France in 1815 in the Napoleonic Wars, the British Empire thereby became the foremost world power for the next century. The Crimean War with Russia and the Boer wars were relatively small operations in a largely peaceful century, rapid industrialisation that began in the decades prior to the states formation continued up until the mid-19th century. A devastating famine, exacerbated by government inaction in the century, led to demographic collapse in much of Ireland. It was an era of economic modernization and growth of industry and finance.
Outward migration was heavy to the colonies and to the United States. Britain built up a large British Empire in Africa and Asia, India, by far the most important possession, saw a short-lived revolt in 1857. In foreign policy Britain favoured free trade, which enabled its financiers and merchants to operate successfully in many otherwise independent countries, as in South America. Britain formed no permanent military alliances until the early 20th century, when it began to cooperate with Japan and Russia, and moved closer to the United States. A brief period of limited independence for Ireland came to an end following the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the British governments fear of an independent Ireland siding against them with the French resulted in the decision to unite the two countries. This was brought about by legislation in the parliaments of both kingdoms and came into effect on 1 January 1801, King George III was bitterly opposed to any such Emancipation and succeeded in defeating his governments attempts to introduce it.
When the Treaty of Amiens ended the war, Britain agreed to return most of the territories it had seized, in May 1803, war was declared again. In 1806, Napoleon issued the series of Berlin Decrees, which brought into effect the Continental System and this policy aimed to eliminate the threat from the British by closing French-controlled territory to foreign trade. Frances population and agricultural capacity far outstripped that of the British Isles, Napoleon expected that cutting Britain off from the European mainland would end its economic hegemony. The Spanish uprising in 1808 at last permitted Britain to gain a foothold on the Continent, after Napoleons surrender and exile to the island of Elba, peace appeared to have returned. The Allies united and the armies of Wellington and Blucher defeated Napoleon once, simultaneous with the Napoleonic Wars, trade disputes, arming hostile Indians and British impressment of American sailors led to the War of 1812 with the United States. The war was little noticed in Britain, which could devote few resources to the conflict until the fall of Napoleon in 1814, American frigates inflicted a series of defeats on the Royal Navy, which was short on manpower due to the conflict in Europe
Major general
Major general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the rank of sergeant major general. In the Commonwealth, major general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral. In some countries, including much of Eastern Europe, major general is the lowest of the officer ranks. In the old Austro-Hungarian Army, the general was called a Generalmajor. Todays Austrian Federal Army still uses the same term, see Rank insignias of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces General de Brigade is the lowest rank amongst general officers in the Brazilian Army. AGeneral de Brigada wears two-stars as this is the level for general officers in the Brazilian Army. In tha Brazilian Air Force, the two-star, three-star and four-star rank are known as Brigadeiro, Major-Brigadeiro, see Military ranks of Brazil and Brigadier for more information. In the Canadian Armed Forces, the rank of major-general is both a Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force rank equivalent to the Royal Canadian Navys rank of rear-admiral, a major-general is a general officer, the equivalent of a naval flag officer.
The major-general rank is senior to the ranks of brigadier-general and commodore, prior to 1968, the Air Force used the rank of air vice-marshal, instead. In the Canadian Army, the insignia is a wide braid on the cuff. It is worn on the straps of the service dress tunic. On the visor of the cap are two rows of gold oak leaves. Major-generals are initially addressed as general and name, as are all general officers, major-generals are normally entitled to staff cars. In the Estonian military, the general rank is called kindralmajor. The Finnish military equivalent is kenraalimajuri in Finnish, and generalmajor in Swedish and Danish, the French equivalent to the rank of major general is général de division. In the French military, major général is not a rank but an appointment conferred on some generals, usually of général de corps darmée rank, the position of major général can be considered the equivalent of a deputy chief of staff. In the French Army, Major General is a position and the general is normally of the rank of corps general
Battle of Orthez
The Battle of Orthez saw the Anglo-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington attack a Imperial French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France. The outnumbered French repelled several Allied assaults on their right flank, at first the withdrawal was conducted in good order, but it eventually ended in a scramble for safety and many French soldiers became prisoners. The engagement occurred near the end of the Peninsular War, in mid-February, Wellingtons army broke out of its small area of conquered territory near Bayonne. Moving east, the Allies drove the French back from several river lines, after a pause in the campaign, the western-most Allied corps surrounded and isolated Bayonne. Resuming their eastward drive, the remaining two Allied corps pushed Soults army back to Orthez where the French marshal offered battle, in subsequent operations, Soult decided to abandon the large western port of Bordeaux and fall back east toward Toulouse. The next action was the Battle of Toulouse, the Battle of the Nive ended on 13 December 1813 when Wellingtons army repulsed the last of Soults assaults.
This ended the fighting for the year, Soult had found the Allied army divided by the Nive River but failed to inflict a damaging defeat. The French pulled back within Bayonnes defenses and entered winter quarters, heavy rains brought operations to a standstill for the next two months. After the Battle of Nivelle on 10 November 1813, Wellingtons Spanish troops had gone out of control in seized French villages, since his men were paid and fed by the British government, Pablo Morillos Spanish division remained with the army. Wellingtons policy paid dividends, his soldiers found that guarding the roads in his armys rear areas was no longer required. In January 1814, Soult sent reinforcements to Napoleon, transferred to the Campaign in Northeast France were the 7th and 9th Infantry Divisions and Anne-François-Charles Trelliards dragoons. Marshal Soult commanded 7,300 gunners and wagon drivers plus the garrisons of Bayonne, stapleton Cotton commanded three British light cavalry brigades under Henry Fane, Hussey Vivian and Edward Somerset.
There were three independent infantry brigades,1,816 British led by Matthew Whitworth-Aylmer,2,185 Portuguese under John Wilson and 1,614 Portuguese directed by Thomas Bradford. Wellington planned to use the greater part of his army to drive the bulk of Soults army well to the east, away from Bayonne. Once the French army was pressed sufficiently far to the east, because Soults army was weakened by three divisions, Wellingtons forces were superior enough to risk dividing them into two bodies. Soult wished to contain his opponent in a wedge of occupied French territory, strongly garrisoned Bayonne blocked the north side of the Allied-occupied area. East of the city, three French divisions held the line of the Adour to Port-de-Lanne, the east side of the Allied-occupied area was defended by four French divisions along the Joyeuse River as far south as Hélette. Cavalry patrols formed a cordon from there to the fortress of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the Pyrenees, on 14 February, Wellington launched his offensive toward the east
Siege of Pamplona (1813)
In the Siege of Pamplona a Spanish army led by Captain General Henry ODonnell laid siege to an Imperial French garrison under the command of General of Brigade Louis Pierre Jean Cassan. In late July 1813, Marshal Nicolas Soult attempted to relieve the city, after the French troops in the city were reduced to starvation, Cassan surrendered to the Spanish. Pamplona is located on the Arga River in the province of Navarre in northern Spain, the siege occurred during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Arthur Wellesley, Marquess Wellington drove the French from northern Spain by his victory at the Battle of Vitoria on 21 June 1813. This force, under the leadership of Louis Pierre Jean Aphrodise Cassan, was increased somewhat by numbers of straggling. Once constructed a Spanish army under Enrique José ODonnell, invested the city, creagh had 6,454 men in seven battalions, Echevarri commanded 6,617 soldiers in seven battalions, Barcena led 828 troopers in two regiments, and there were 284 artillerists.
So effective was the blockade that not one single communication passed between the garrison and Marshall Soult commanding the French troops that were trying to come for their relief, before ODonnells blockade tightened, Cassans troops were able to mount sorties to obtain food. In October, after Cassans starving troops ate all the dogs and rats they could catch, Wellington got wind of this plan and promised to shoot Cassan, all his officers, and one-tenth of the rank and file if it were carried out. At this suggestion, Cassan capitulated on 31 October, historian Digby Smith gave French losses as 500 killed,800 wounded, and 2,150 captured. The Spanish army counted 2,000 casualties out of 10,000 troops engaged, Smith named General Prince Don Carlos de Borbon as the Spanish commander. The Spanish Ulcer, A History of the Peninsular War
Pamplona
Pamplona or Iruña is the historical capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former Kingdom of Navarre. The city is famous worldwide for the running of the bulls during the San Fermín festival and this festival was brought to literary renown with the 1926 publication of Ernest Hemingways novel The Sun Also Rises. Pamplona is located in the middle of Navarre in a valley, known as the Basin of Pamplona. It is 92 km from the city of San Sebastián,117 km from Bilbao,735 km from Paris and 407 km from Madrid, the climate and landscape of the basin is a transition between those two main Navarrese geographical regions. Its central position at crossroads has served as a link between those very different natural parts of Navarre. The historical centre of Angelo is on the bank of the Arga. The city has developed on both sides of the river, the climate of Pamplona is normally classified as oceanic with influences of a semi-continental mediterranean climate. In the winter of 75–74 BC, the served as a camp for the Roman general Pompey in the war against Sertorius.
He is considered to be the founder of Pompaelo, which became Pamplona, actually it was the chief town of the Vascones, and they called it Iruña, the city. During the Visigothic period, Pamplona alternated between self-rule, Visigoth domination or Frankish suzerainty in the Duchy of Vasconia. During the beginning of the 6th century, Pamplona probably stuck to an unstable self-rule, circa 581, the Visigoth king Liuvigild overcame the Basques, seized Pamplona, and founded in the town of Victoriacum. After 684 and 693, a bishop called Opilano is mentioned again in 829, followed by Wiliesind, even in the 10th century, important gaps are found in bishop succession, which is recorded unbroken only after 1005. At the time of the Umayyad invasion in 711, the Visigothic king Roderic was fighting the Basques in Pamplona and had to turn his attention to the new enemy coming from the south. By 714-16, the Umayyad troops had reached the Basque-held Pamplona, the position was garrisoned by Berbers, who were stationed on the outside of the actual fortress, and established the cemetery unearthed not long ago at the Castle Square.
In 740, the Wali Uqba ibn al-Hayyay imposed direct central Cordovan discipline on the city, however, in 755 the last governor of Al-Andalus, Yusuf al Fihri, sent an expedition north to quash Basque unrest near Pamplona, resulting in the defeat of the Arab army. From 755 until 781, Pamplona remained autonomous, probably relying on regional alliances, to a considerable extent, that alternation reflected the internal struggles of the Basque warrior nobility. After the Frankish defeat at Roncevaux, Pamplona switched again to Cordovan rule, a Wali or governor was imposed, Mutarrif ibn-Musa up to the 799 rebellion. In that year, the Pamplonese-—possibly led by a certain Velasko-—stirred against their governor, following a failed expedition to the town led by Louis the Pious around 812, allegiance to the Franks collapsed after Enecco Arista rose to prominence
