Napoleonic Newsdesk

Midas Battlefield Tours

by David Watkins

Midas Battlefield Tours, specialists in pre 20th century military history are offering a wide and varied programme of battlefield tours in 1995.

Their star tour for next year is "Sharpe's Peninsula" which is an 8 day tour to Spain following the exploits of Richard Sharpe (as played by Sean Bean in Central TV's Sharpe series). This tour is accompanied by Sharpe's creator, best selling author Bernard Cornwell, and the foremost military historian on the Peninsula War, Ian Fletcher. All the classic Spanish battlefields of the Peninsula War are visited, for example Talavera, where Richard Sharpe grabbed a French eagle in the heat of battle and the breaches at Badajoz where Sharpe and his friend and trusty sergeant, Patrick Harper lead the British attack.

Ian Fletcher also guides a one week "Wellington in Portugal" tour to follow the British victories there and the final expulsion of the French from that country. The famous lines of Torres Vedras, the fields of Vimeiro and Bussaco and the route of the retreat of Massena's starving French army are all visited.

A great introduction to military history is the Great Midas Chevaucée, which is a one week tour to the famous battlefields of Northwest Europe, such as Hastings, Ypres, Ramilles, Waterloo, the Ardennes, Remagen, Dettingen, Sedan, the Somme and Agincourt. Whilst on the other side of the Atlantic, the American Civil War is experienced on the East coast of America. From Gettysburg, Antietam and Harper's Ferry through to Manassas or Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville to name but a few.

Of course no battlefield program would be complete without a visit to Waterloo and the campaign of the Hundred Days. 1995 see the 180th anniversary of this famous battle and on June 18th between 3,000 and 4,000 re-enactors will re-fight the battle in front of thousands of spectators. As well as visiting the re-enactment, Midas Battlefield Tours visit the battlefields of Quatre Bras, Ligny and Wavre. The purist Napoleonic enthusiast is catered for with a walking tour of the battlefield later in the year.

Away from all the tourist traps, pleasant walks following the different troop movements are interspersed with visits to the local hidden bars and restaurants in the surrounding villages and hamlets such as La Haye and Placenoit. Both tours are accompanied by historian Ian Fletcher.

Other weekend tours offered in 1995 are Napoleonic Paris, Marching into Captivity - a study of Napoleonic prisoners of War, Somme and Ypres, "Shells and Shovels" - a study of siege warfare with the Royal Engineers and Royal Artillery, and a 13th century medieval battles weekend with Dr David Carpenter of London University.

For further details and a brochure please contact Alan Rooney at Midas Battlefield Tours, The Old Dairy, Godstone, Surrey, RH9 8DY, Tel 0883 744955, Fax 0883 744967

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