A history of the Peninsular War, Vol. 6, September 1, 1812-August 5, 1813

BY CHARLES OMAN, K.B.E.
M.A. Oxon., Hon. LL.D. Edin. FELLOW OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD CHICHELE PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY AND FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD
Vol. VI September 1, 1812-August 5, 1813
THE SIEGE OF BURGOS THE RETREAT FROM BURGOS THE CAMPAIGN OF VITTORIA THE BATTLES OF THE PYRENEES
WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1922
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS London Edinburgh Glasgow Copenhagen New York Toronto Melbourne Cape Town Bombay Calcutta Madras Shanghai HUMPHREY MILFORD Publisher to the University
Printed in England
It is seldom that the last chapter of a volume is written seven years after the first has been finished; and when this does happen, the author is generally to blame. I must ask, however, for complete acquittal on the charge of dilatoriness or want of energy. I was writing the story of the Burgos Campaign in July 1914: in August the Great War broke out: and like every one else I applied for service in any capacity in which a man of fifty-four could be useful. By September 4th I was hard at work in Whitehall, and by a queer chance was the person who on September 12th drafted from very inadequate material the long communiqué concerning the battle of the Marne. For four years and six months I was busy in one office and another, and ended up my service by writing the narrative of the Outbreak of the War, which was published by the Foreign Office in February 1919. My toils at the desk had just finished when it happened that I was sent to the House of Commons, as Burgess representing the University of Oxford, after a by-election caused by the elevation of my predecessor, Rowland Prothero, to the Upper Chamber. Two long official tours in the Rhineland and in France combined with parliamentary work to prevent me writing a word in 1919. But in the recess of 1920 I was able to find time to recommence Peninsular War studies, and this volume was finished in the autumn and winter of 1921 and sent to the press in January 1922.