BRIDGES OF BATTLE: FAMOUS BATTLEFIELD ACTIONS AT BRIDGES AND RIVER CROSSINGS.

London: Arms and Armour, 1998. 256 pp, large 8vo (9 1/2" H). B&w plates. "From more than 2,000 years of military history, (the author) has selected some one hundred examples of battles centred on river crossings. They range in size fom small-scale actions such as the battle for Powick Bridge in the early months of the English Civil War to massive, army-scale operations including the final crossing of the Rhine at Remagen during the Second World War. One of the biggest battles during the Napoleonic Wars - indeed, the biggest battle to that date with more than 300,000 men in combat - was fought across the Danube in 1809, culminating in the battle of Wagram. Later, as Napoleon's fortunes began to ebb, there took place the desperate and tragic crossing of the Berezina in 1812 when Napoleon's depleted army, retreating from Moscow, fought to cross the freezing river to escape the pursuing and encirling Russians and the hell of a Russian winter. The American Civil War also provides many examples of battles for river crossings, such as First Bull Run, the opening engagement of the war, the fight for Burnside's Bridge at Antietam and the Battle of the Big Black River during the riverine campaign for Vicksburg. Other, often lesser-known, actions are also to be found in this book, including tales of desperate courage from the Indian Mutiny and other British colonial wars. The range of contributions, including expert analyses and eyewitness accounts often enables the reader to see both sides of the story - those of the defender and the attacker - and to compare battles fought in similar circumstances, but with very different weapons, across the centuries." . First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Near Fine.