Ed Note: This article first appeared in History Today, London England, November 1976. Professional soldiers have always displayed considerable interest in the sites of battlefields, whether ancient or modern, hoping to improve their military education by attempts to relate historical events to the actual ground. Sometimes their application to this pastime has had special significance. Napoleon, - for example, developed an obsession with Marengo -- a battle he so nearly lost [1] -- and revisited the ground on May 11th, 1805, covering 50 miles during the day and in the process exhausting five horses. The result of this energetic tour was an order to the much-tried officers of the historical section of the Depot de la Guerre in Paris demanding a major revision of the official account of the events of June 14th, 1800. The motivation, alas, did not spring from a wish to correct a point or two of detail, but rather from a determination to place his generalship in a more favorable light. It was not only pupils that the recently-crowned Emperor desired to 'tune', but also the pages of history. A century later, General Sir Edmund Allenby was noted by Wavell (then an officer on his staff), as always carrying his Old Testament with him on ground reconnaissance during the Palestinian Campaign of 1917- 18. "The Bull' spent no little time trying to relate the martial achievements of Gideon and other ancient Israelite generals to the actual ground. It was suitable that the decisive victory over the Turks was eventually won in September 1918 at Megiddo -- the supposed site of the legendary battle of Armagedon (the supreme conflict between the nations), and probably more historically, the place where Thutmose lII crushed the rebel King of Kadesh and his allies in 1479 B.C. Allenby was not alone this century in his interest in the practical application of military history. General George Patton spent considerable time visiting ancient battle sites in Algeria and Tunisia in 1943, and even came to believe that he was the reincarnation of a Roman tribune. Lieutenant General Sir Brian Horrocks had no such mystical illusions, but late in 1944, he felt slightly cheated when the German Ardennes Offensive was halted some little way short of the battleground he had prepared with his British Corps for the showdown -- around no less a place than Waterloo; an artillery observation post had been established upon the famous Lion Mound, but on this occasion, history did not repeat itself. If the interest of many soldiers in former battlefields is understandable, that of a growing number of civilians of all age groups and callings -- and indeed of both sexes -- need a little more explanation. The practice of battlefield visiting has naturally long been resorted to by many military historians in search of evidence to support their impressions or in corroboration of their researches among archives, memoirs and war diaries. A notable English example was F. Loraine Petre, who explored many of Napoleon's battlefields, with the invaluable assistance of an Edwardian bicycle, during the first decade of this century. His notable quintet of campaign studies, covering the military events of 1806,1807, 1809, 1813 and 1814 in Napoleon's Europe [2] did much to establish the writing of military history as a respectable academic activity, one that had somewhat lapsed since the great history of the Peninsular War in six volumes published by General Sir William Napier between 1828 and 1840, and that on The Invasion of the Crimea by Kinglake, of which eight volumes appeared between 1865 and 1886. No less important a generation later than Petre's was the contribution of Lt. Colonel Alfred Burne, whose studies of the battlefields of England, and of the Crecy and Agincourt campaigns, are classics of military history researched not only in the library, but also in the field. Today, the appeal of battlefield touring is becoming increasingly broadly-based. In July 1965, the correspondent Clare Hollingworth wrote in The Guardian that 'the excitement of a battle hangs over the site for hundreds of years -- long after grass, towns, or dust have covered horrors', and went on to claim that 'from Granada in Southern Spain through France and Italy, the most amusing trips I can recall have been to battlefields,. Here indeed is a lady whom H. G. Wells, in years long before the Sexual Discrimination Act, would have included among the chosen to whom he dedicated his book on wargaming, Little Wars, namely, 'boys of every age from twelve to 150...girls of the better sort, and a few rare and gifted women'. One hopes that Miss Hollingworth's enthusiasm -- which sprang from a love of history engendered at school -- managed to survive the rigors of reporting the later years of the Vietnamese War. She is not, however, by any means unique. On a Peninsular War tour the author of this article conducted to Spain for Captain Gordon Battlefield Tours in April 1976, no less than five members were women, two, it is true, were wives accompanying their husbands to the scenes of Wellington's achievements, but of the remaining three, one was a novelist from Wales in search of local color, a second was from Oxford fulfilling what she described as a lifetime ambition, and the third, the doyenne of the whole party, was a senior lady of amazing energy and great charm who revealed that she was the last descendant of Lieutenant-General Sir John Lambert, KCB, who commanded one of the Guards' Brigades at Waterloo, and also through him connected to Captain Harry Smith, her Great-Great-Uncle, the dashing soldier of the 95th who rescued the beautiful Juanita from the drink-maddened soldiery after the storm of Badajoz in April 1812 -- a lady who later achieved further fame by having the town of Ladysmith in South Africa named after her. More Men than Women It must be admitted, these instances notwithstanding, that battlefield touring attracts more men than women. The interest would seem to stem from several sources, attracting very different types of people, although one and all share a deep and abiding regard for military history. The growing pasttime of wargaming accounts for many in the younger age bracket of those who accompany, for example, the Military Historical Society's annual tour. Interest in Kriegspiel is by no means limited to those of tender years, but the older generation often join their preference for this type of instructive holiday with an interest in the collection of militaria and a certain amount of nostalgia for former wars and campaigns in which they feel they were privileged to serve. The recent Military Historical Society tour to Verdun, Cambrai and the Somme, for instance, included in the party two veterans of the Tank Corps, one of whom had served in 'D Battalion' under Brigadier-General Hugh Wiles' command that cold November day in 1917 which saw the first use of tanks on a large scale in war. The recollections of such survivors of great events, however, restricted to their own field of experience, serves to illuminate the human angle of twentieth-century battles in a way that no amount of reading or documentary research can hope to equal. Fully two-thirds of the party had military experience of one sort or another, most of it dating from the Second World War or from the days of National Service. But the common experience of having been in the army is rarely the main motive for joining a tour. Collectors with a Peninsular Medal often feel an urge to retread the paths and visit the battlefields fought over by the original recipient. Others with regimental associations and interests find satisfaction in following the fortunes of their military predecessors in earlier campaigns. And lastly, the teachers, scholars and writers of military history naturally find these excursions of both value and interest -- although in many cases, the pleasure obtained is somewhat marred by inability to resolve particular problems in the time available. On the other hand, there are also golden moments when some obscure aspect of a battle is suddenly understandable with the ground literally before one's eyes, or when a windfall occurs: the presentation of an 1810 cannon-ball to every member of the party by a Portuguese official at Almeida in 1974 was one such; another was the discovery of First World War mementoes on the actual ground -- by no means a rare occurence at Cambrai or the Somme, where the chalk is continually extruding these and even grimmer relics of battles of sixty years ago. Moving Experience A visit to a battlefield can also be a very moving experience. Whether it is a rough memorial on a Spanish battlefield or a well-kept War Graves Commission Cemetary in France or Flanders, the impression of the loss and waste of human life is inescapable and horrifying. The macabre splendor of the Ossuaire at Verdun, the repository of the mortal remains of 130,000 unidentified French dead, is matched by the many white crosses in the myriad British War Cemeteries marked simply "Known unto God". For relations and descendants, or former comrades of the fallen, a visit to such a battlefield is often an act of both homage and remembrance. And this can be equally affecting for the visitor with no personal ties. Of course, a battlefield tour needs careful preparation if the best possible use is to be made of time. It is important not to try to see too much, or mental indigestion can set in, and it is a good idea to intersperse the days of travel and battlefield-visiting with occasional distractions. A visit to a famous art gallery, museum or country mansion often serves as a valuable contrast. Similarly, it is also a good idea to visit the occasional site of an engagement of a different century not associated with the particular period or campaign being studied, as this can add an element of depth and an awareness of the successive generations of soldiers of one's own and other countries who have served, one after another, in the same general area. Maps and Prep Reading Two pre-requisites are vital for a successful tour: a carefully considered program of preparatory reading before the visit, and the obtaining of good modern maps. The reading material selected should be based on sound general accounts -- Sir Charles Oman's famous history is virtually compulsory reading for the would-be visitor to the Peninsula. Rifleman Harris's recollections of the campaigns and battles he served in under Moore and Wellesley are as illuminating as Robert Graves' recorded experiences in Flanders of a century later. Cavalier Mercer's account of the Waterloo campaign and battle -- as seen by an officer commanding a troop of Royal Horse Artillery -- also makes compelling and illuminating reading. Whenever possible, it is desirable to read some account 'from the other side of the hill' -- the recollections of Colonel Baron Marbot of Napoleon's hussars or Sergeant Coignet of the Imperial Guard can add a great deal to one's comprehension of both armies and events. Neither should good historical fiction, nor poetry, be neglected. C. S. Forester's The Gun, or Death to the French, illuminate the roles of Spanish guerrillas and individual soldiers with great perception. His book, The General, throws equal light on the problems of senior command in London and at the front during the First World War. Miss Georgette Heyer's novels An Infamous Army and The Spanish Bride also have much to recommend them. Where poetry is concerned, the works of Rupert Brooke or Seigfried Sassoon have obvious relevance, but a visitor to the Pass of Ronscesvalles in the Pyrenees may also find a reading of Le Chanson de Roland a moving experience, while a copy of J. G. Lockhart's translation of Ancient Spanish Ballads is a suitable companion for a visit to Granada, as is D. Roberts's The Military Adventures of Johnny Newcombe for a tour of Vitoria. A cassette of Songs of the Redcoats -- discreetly employed on a coach or car radio -- can also add to the atmosphere, or serve as a welcome distraction, during the inescapable road journeys . Where maps are concerned, a combination of the old with the new is desirable. Photocopies of such useful documents as Lieutenant Unger's sketches of Talavera, Albuera and Busaco -- or of some of Oman's or Sir Charles Fortescue's maps -- will prove to great value. The best scale of modern map for pre-twentieth century battlefields is 1/25,000; for the study of battles of the present century, a scale of 1/100,000 or even 1/250,000 is often more practicable. Of course, it is also necessary to take along a compass and to develop some facility at map-reading. It is also advisable to make enquiries in advance about the current state of the original battle site. Nothing is more disappointing than to arrive at a location after a tedious journey to find that a railway marshalling yard has been placed on top of the area. Re-forestation programs have played havoc with such battlefields as Culloden in Scotland and Busaco in Portugal, and the suburbs of Brno in Czechoslovakia are creeping inexorably towards the battlefield of Austerlitz, while the Lesser Teson at Ciudad Rodrigo on the Spanish frontier has recently received a large housing estate. On the other hand, many sites are unspoiled and virtually unchanged -- preeminent among those that spring to mind being Waterloo, Blenheim, Ramillies, Verdun, Cambrai, Salamanca and Talavera. Often the trees and forests have shrunk away, but the basic topography remains unaltered, and the size of many villages and small towns in Spain and Belgium has not changed too much over the years. Careful study of maps in advance will reveal the best viewpoints to head for, and a logical sequence should be worked out so as to trace the development of an action through its various stages. Complete Campaign There is also much to be said for following through a complete campaign from beginning to end, and in April 1977 the author of this article took a party to retrace the steps of Sir John Moore's army from Lisbon to Corunna over eight days by way of Castel Branco, Salamanca, the Escorial, Benavente and Sahagun, examining each place of action in turn, and in the process, coming to appreciate the distances involved for men marching on their feet or on horseback during the last months of 1808 and the first of 1809. One should always allow enough time for such an enterprise -- for an unseemly rush spoils the impact of the events being studied, and also robs the visitor of time to enjoy the scenery and to savor the wines and cuisine of the regions he is passing through. Battlefield tours, therefore, have much to offer as an unusual form of holiday with a definite purpose in mind. The amount of physical endeavor involved can be adjusted to suit the individual's wishes: some prefer to spend several hours walking the battlefields; others are content with scaling one or two local eminences to obtain an overview. Everybody, however, must be prepared -- when a tour of Spain or Portugal is envisaged -- for long car or coach journeys over roads of varying quality. A pair of stout shoes, binoculars, perhaps a shooting stick, besides one's notes and one or two carefully chosen volumes, are other desirable pieces of personal equipment -- together with a camera. In the experiences of the author, gained over at least a dozen such tours in the past ten years, whether for Sandhurst or specialist societies and travel groups, these enterprises are well worth the amount of work and preparation involved. Besides the attraction of reliving in the mind and on the ground some dramatic moments of military history, a fine spirit of comaraderie invariably affects the party after the first day of slightly hesitant introductions and weighings-up, and even those who have only come along 'for the ride' become infected with the fascination of bringing to life old names halfremembered from school or university days. And that, after all, is exactly what the study of history is all about. It can be made into a living as well as an academic experience, and in the process a great deal of enjoyment as well as valuable experience is obtainable. EDITOR'S NOTE: According to Wargamer's Newsletter (Don Featherstone), Amity Travel Limited has organized tours of various battlefields in the past. Most recent is the 60th anniversary of the Armistice tour to the Somme battlefield, conducted by Anthony Kemp, B.A., military author and lecturer in history at the Adult Education Dept. of Southampton University. The same firm runs weekend tours to the Normandy beaches. In the U.S., the best preserved battlefield is, of course, Gettysburg and, I am sure, many of you have visited it. But there are many other well-kept battle sites in this country, such as Saratoga, Yorktown, Gilford Court House (in North Carolina), Kings Mountain, Ft. Laurens (Ohio), Ft. Ticonderoga and Concord Bridge. The First three are the best preserved, in that you can trod over ground much as it was then. Footnotes [1] See this author's article "Adjusting the Record", History Today, May/June 1967. [2] This series is in the process of republication by the Arms & Armour Press. Four have appeared to date; the fifth is in preparation. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. 1 #4 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1979 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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