Book Review

Rod of Iron
French Counterinsurgency
Policy in Aragon
during  the  Peninsular War

Author: Alexander, D.W.
Published: 1995
Publisher: Scholary  Resources, Inc., Wilmington, Delaware
Pages: 260
Price: $40

Some people love licorice, but I hate it. On the other hand, I found Rod of Iron to be a phenomenal, engrossing study, but it is of such an esoteric nature I'm afraid some people may not find their cup of tea.

Let me first tell you why I found it so interesting. I'm a Vietnam veteran. As a result, the problem of guerrilla warfare fasci nates me. This work goes to considerable lengths exploring Suchet's efforts to control Aragon and stop the Spanish guerrillas in it, while at the same trying to engage the various Spanish armies both in and around it. It is somewhat encouraging to me that Suchet had no more success fighting guerrillas than we did in Vietnam. Despite his few successes and many failures, the reading of the story is most inter esting.

Rod of Iron starts in February 1809 and ends in July 1813. The entire period is broken into logical segments and examines the inter actions between Suchet and the various Spanish guerrilla leaders and army commanders. There are numerous lists of the strength of the French forces, but alas, none of the Spanish. I recognize that an order of battle for a guerrilla band is rather an odd idea, but there are certainly enough available for the regular Spanish armies that some of them could have been included. This is, in my opinion, the only short coming of the work.

Rod of Iron examines the various efforts Suchet made to bring Aragon under his complete control. Suchet's successes and failures are fully discussed and made easy to understand. Rod of Iron exam ines the impact that Suchet's successes and failures had on the war in the rest of the Peninsula as well as in Aragon. It is a thorough and most interesting (to me) study of the war against the Spanish guerrilla.

Well, why do I think some people may not like it. It contains very few accounts of battles. Though it does discuss a few, it does so in a very cursory manner. It is not the principal theater of war. All major actions, i.e. sieges, are discussed only as occurring, but there is no discussion of them. No, the reason some people may not like it is because it is impossible to write about a guerrilla war like one might write about a major campaign. Guerrilla wars are more exciting to be in than they are to read about. Believe me when I say that, as I speak from experience.

From a purely technical point of view the book has many worth while features. There are numerous maps that display the positions of the various French garrisons and armies, as well as the Spanish forces. As I mentioned, there numerous states for Suchet's forces. It has an index.

Though the book has a reasonable bibliography, almost all of the footnotes are references to cartons in the Archives nationales in Paris or the Army Archives at Chateau Vincennes. There is no doubt that this book is facts, facts, and more facts. It is seldom that we find such a well documented work.

As one final point of interest, the author of Rod of Iron is an army major with a PhD from the University of Texas. I strongly suspect that Rod of Iron was his doctoral dissertation.

In summary, I strongly recommend this work to those students of the Napoleonic Wars who wish to explore an otherwise unexplored campaign of those wars. It is well and clearly written. It opens up an entirely new perspective on the Spaniard in the defense of his homeland and the problem faced by the occupying French forces. Though published eight years ago, it appears to still be in print and is readily available.

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