Wednesday 18 July 2012

Bicentenary of the Parallel March

During the Campaign of Salamanca, the armies of Wellington and Marmont executed a sort of minue dancing in the Castilian plains, known as the 'Parallel March' 


After retreating until the line of the Douro River, the French commander tried to surprise Wellington with a feinted manoeuvre aimed to outflank the Allied Army by its right.Wellington retired in haste towards Salamanca and during July 2o, both armies marched in parallel only separated by the Guareña stream with the Wellington's army fomed in three parallel columns on the left bank, whereas the French army marched in two lines along the right one, originating one of the most impressive war events of the Peninsular War.
This march is re-enacted each two years by a goups of entusiasts in the Asociacion Pro Cañizal led by my friend Luis Torrecilla. The march is not really a re-enactement, but an event open to the participation of all habitants of the shire. Below you can see the time-line of this year's commemoration that marks the bicentenary:

The history behind this fact was addressed in an article published in the last issue of ALKAID: 'The Campaign of Salamanca in a novel of the XIX century' written by Luis Torrecilla. The article describes the campaign moves leading to the battle of Salamanca as shown in “The Young Buglers: A Tale of the Peninsular War”, a book written by George Alfred Henty (1832-1902) and published in 1879.


1 comment:

  1. Good post! I can remember reading a very old copy of that G.A. Henty book when I was a child. Ah, nostalgia!

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