PREFACE

       Table of Contents

      The sad death of Mr. Harbottle, just as this work was going to press, has thrown upon me the onus of correcting the proofs and preparing the Index. The necessity for hurrying the work through the press has precluded comparison of the references in every instance with the original sources from which the Author had taken them; if therefore some few printer's errors or varieties of spelling may still remain, they may, I hope, be attributed to the imperfections of one, who had to step suddenly into the breach caused by the loss of a valued friend and collaborator, whose patience in research, depth of knowledge and accuracy in compilation, he could never hope to equal.

      October, 1904. P. H. Dalbiac.

      DICTIONARY OF BATTLES

      A

       Table of Contents

Abensberg (Campaign of Wagram.)

       Table of Contents

      Fought April 20, 1809, between the French and Bavarians under Napoleon, about 90,000 strong, and the Austrians, 80,000 in number, under the Archduke Charles. On the French left, Lanne's corps drove back the Austrians, after a feeble resistance. In the centre the Bavarians were hard pressed, but eventually Napoleon succeeded in turning the Austrian flank, left exposed by the defeat of their right, and Charles was forced to retreat. The Austrians lost 7,000, the French and Bavarians about 3,000 killed and wounded.

Aberdeen (Civil War).

       Table of Contents

      Fought September 13, 1644, between the Covenanters, 3,000 strong, under Lord Burleigh, and the Royalists, about 1,500 strong, under Montrose. The Covenanters were put to flight, and no quarter being given, they lost heavily before reaching Aberdeen. The Royalist losses were insignificant.

Aboukir (French Invasion of Egypt).

       Table of Contents

      Fought July 5, 1799, Napoleon attacking the position held by Mustapha Pasha, who had recently landed in Egypt at the head of 18,000 Turks. The French were completely successful, two-thirds of the Turkish troops being killed or driven into the sea, while 6,000, with the Pasha, surrendered.

Aboukir (British Invasion of Egypt).

       Table of Contents

      Fought March 8, 1801, when 5,000 British under Sir Ralph Abercromby disembarked on the beach at Aboukir, in the face of a force of 2,000 French under General Friant. The landing was effected under a heavy musketry and artillery fire, which cost the assailants 1,100 killed and wounded, and the French were driven from their positions with a loss of 500 men.

Aboukir.

       Table of Contents

      See Nile.

Abu Hamed (Soudan Campaigns).

       Table of Contents

      Fought August 7, 1897, when the Dervish entrenchments outside Abu Hamed were stormed by a Soudanese Brigade, with 2 guns Royal Artillery, under Major-General Hunter. The Mahdist garrison was driven through the town, losing heavily, and their commander, Mohammed Zain, captured. The Egyptian loss was 80 killed and wounded, including 4 British officers.

Abu Klea (Soudan Campaigns).

       Table of Contents

      Fought January 17, 1885, between a British force, 1,500 strong, under Sir Herbert Stewart, and 12,000 Mahdists, of whom about 5,000 actually attacked. The British square was broken at one corner, owing to the jamming of a Gardner gun, and the Mahdists forcing their way inside, a desperate hand-to-hand conflict followed. Eventually the assailants were driven