Featured battle : Ostend

Part of The War of the Spanish Succession

Date : 19 June 1706 - 09 July 1706

Overkirk was given command of the seige while Marlborough stayed with a covering army. A classic trench approach was supported by naval guns from the seaward side. By the 5th July a position for the breaching batteries to be close enough to be fully effective was secured and the work begun of bringing the guns up. The Governor, Count de la Motte, surrendered before a breach had been made.

The Royal Navy 1800-1815

Mark Jessop
This book follows Mark Jessop’s The Royal Navy 1793-1800 [ reviewed elsewhere on this site] There have been many books written about the Royal Navy of the Napoleonic period these books are different. The difference is due to two main factors one the presentation and two the sources. The author has confined himself to primary source material mostly written within a decade of the events. This, in itself, is not so uncommon but it is the presentation of the information that makes this book almost unique and imparts a special liveliness to the ‘facts’. The author has created about twenty people who report, discuss and reflect upon events as they understand them from their stations in life in the times in which they lived. It is to the author’s credit that the voices ring true.
We warmly recommend this book to ‘beginner’ and ‘old-hand’ alike. The beginner because it makes the information so accessible and real. The old-hand because it enriches the wealth of information with a flavour of the times.

Pen & Sword History, 2019