Admiral Saumarez Versus Napoleon

The Baltic, 1807-12
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-1-84383-431-1
Verlag: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 292 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 608 g

Detailed investigation of the key role played by Admiral Saumarez in the continuing naval warfare against Napoleon.

The maritime war against Napoleon did not end with the Battle of Trafalgar, but continued right up to 1815, with even more British ships and sailors deployed after 1805 than before. One key theatre was the Baltic, where the British commander was Admiral Saumarez. He had had a highly successful career as a post-Captain, notably at the two battles of Algeciras as a newly-promoted Rear-Admiral. For five years from 1808 as Commander-in-Chief of a large Balticfleet, he played a very skilful diplomatic role, combining firmness and restraint, and working with Sweden contrary to the instincts of his superiors in London, even when she declared war. Despite the determined efforts of Denmark's gunboats and privateers, he successfully kept British trade flowing in and out of the Baltic, undermining Napoleon's 'Continental System' - the economic blockade of Britain - and leading to Napoleon's fateful decision to invadeRussia in 1812.
This book, based on extensive original research in both British and Scandinavian archives and making considerable use of Saumarez' unpublished correspondence, charts the maritime and political history of thewar in the Baltic. It illustrates the highly successful, highly esteemed role the Admiral played and looks at the nature and motivation of the man himself revealed in his letters and in the private letters of Count von Rosen, Governor of Gothenburg and chief link between Saumarez and former French Marshal Bernadotte, Crown Prince of Sweden, later to be crowned King Karl XIV Johan.

TIM VOELCKER gained his PhD in maritime history at the University of Exeter.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Voelcker, Tim

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Militärwesen Verwaltung, Streitkräfte (Militärwesen)
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
The Baltic in Autumn 1807
Sir James Saumarez' Early Career
Saumarez Takes up his Baltic Command
The Crisis of Rogervik
The Conversion to Peacemaker
The Pea Islands
Marshal 'Belle-Jambe' Declares War
The Affair of the Carlshamn Cargoes
The Von Rosen Letters
Diplomatic Intrigues: Napoleon's Fateful Decision
The Final Year
Conclusions
The Man or the Situation
Appendix
Bibliography