What did the Commissariat Ever Do for Wellington’s Army?
Spain and Portugal were rightly notorious countries to fight in, as ‘Small armies are beaten and large armies starve’.
Wellington had learnt the vital importance of logistics in India, but not all of the problems he faced there were the same as in the Iberian Peninsular. His soldiers complained of lack of supplies, his Commissariat are often cited as being both useless and corrupt and his Spanish and Portuguese allies were incapable of feeding his troops. Despite all of these apparent failings, Wellington forged a fighting machine that worked efficiently most of the time and saw him overpower the French in the Peninsular. How was this achieved, and does the reputation of the commissariat need to be reevaluated?
Gareth Glover is a 65 year old ex Royal Navy Officer, who has studied the Napoleonic wars for over 45 years. He has specialised in researching and publishing archival material and using this material to re-evaluate many aspects of the history of this period.
To date he has published some 137 books on the subject.
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