The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes
Page 42
marries Mary 1, 2
background 1
commissioned 1
in the 4th Dragoons 1
Royal Military College, High Wycombe 1, 2, 3
transfers to the 57th Foot 1
appointment on new expedition to Portugal 1
reports on the Oporto success 1
in reconnaissance force 1, 2
scene at Ponte Nova 1
and learning from failure 1, 2
promotion offer 1, 2, 3
map-making skills 1
mission in Lisbon 1, 2, 3, 4
promoted to major 1
invents a portable forge 1
postal service 1
responsible for codes and ciphers 1
importance to success of operations 1
and the Army of Portugal cipher 1, 2
and Regnaud’s capture 1
letter in complex code intercepted 1
the Jardet letter 1, 2
on leave with Mary 1, 2
clutch of coded letters 1, 2
in Salamanca 1
draws together all his discoveries 1
decision to share GS’s work with London 1
deciphers Marmont’s letter on reinforcements 1
deciphers important letter from Joseph 1, 2
and the Battle of Salamanca 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
mentioned in the Salamanca dispatch 1, 2
made up to lieutenant-colonel 1
in Madrid 1
and the siege of Burgos 1, 2
rebuked by Wellington 1
common code solution 1
and Mary’s stay at Frenada 1, 2, 3
hatches schemes for the 1813 campaign 1
and Joseph’s letters to Napoleon 1, 2
commands the Staff Cavalry Corps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
at Waterloo 1
knighthood 1, 2
plea to Wellington 1
colonel in command of the Royal Wagon Train 1
re-examines dispatches 1, 2
Lieutenant-Governor of Royal Military College, Sandhurst 1
magnitude of his achievement 1
death (1861) 1
Scovell, George (GS’s father) 1
Scovell, Henry (GS’s brother) 1
Scovell, Mary (GS’s mother) 1
Scovell, Mary (née Clowes; GS’s wife) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 marriage to George 1, 2
background 1
inheritance 1
GS leaves on second Portuguese expedition 1
death of Samuel Clowes 1, 2
sails to Lisbon 1
in Lisbon 1, 2, 3
in Frenada 1, 2, 3, 4
Sebastiani, General François Bastien, Count 1, 2
Second World War 1
Segovia 1, 2
Serra da Geres 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Serra de Santa Catalina 1
Serra monastery, Oporto 1, 2
Seville 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Sherer, Captain Moyle 1
Shrapnel, Major 1
Sierra de Segurilla 1
Silveira, General 1
Solent, the 1, 2
Somerset, Lord Edward 1, 2, 3
Somerset, Field Marshal FitzRoy, Lord Raglan 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Wellington’s favourite 1
personality 1
appearance 1
Scovell’s vicarious ambition for 1
on Poco Velha 1
on Albuera 1
and ciphers 1, 2, 3, 4
and Guides 1
and the storm of Badajoz 1, 2, 3
in Battle of Salamanca 1, 2, 3
in the Vitoria campaign 1
at Waterloo 1, 2
in politics 1
GS commissions portrait 1
becomes Lord Raglan and Field Marshal 1
Somerset family 1
Soult, Marshal Nicolas, Duke of Dalmatia 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 advances into Spain 1
Battle of Corunna 1, 2
appearance 1
and Oporto 1, 2, 3
Wellesley takes over his headquarters 1
plays a key role in the Austerlitz campaign 1, 2
cornered 1
sacrifices wagons and artillery 1, 2
nicknames 1, 2, 3
escapes to Spain over the mountains 1, 2, 3, 4
dispatches to King Joseph 1
message from Joseph captured 1
Albuera battle 1, 2
Army of the South 1
joins forces with Marmont 1, 2, 3, 4
and the Rambouillet accord 1
the grand chiffre episode 1
and Arroyo de Molinos 1
defence of Badajoz 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
and Joseph’s command of the armies 1
and Jourdan’s appointment as Chief of Staff 1
Wellington undecided whether to attack him first 1, 2
behaviour while in Seville 1
refuses to support Marmont 1, 2
overestimates allied strength 1
in the royal army 1, 2
pretensions 1
letter to Napoleon denigrating Joseph 1, 2, 3
Jourdan criticizes 1
feud with Joseph harmful to French morale 1
recalled to France 1
Gazan succeeds 1
appointed to galvanize France’s Spanish legions 1
personality 1
Southey: Narrative of the War in the Peninsula 1
Spain abortive British foray in 1, 2, 3
Soult advances into 1
British enthusiasm for the Spanish patriotic cause 1
poorly surveyed 1
Anglo-Spanish alliance 1
British Army advances into eastern Spain 1
border fortresses 1, 2
Spanish intelligence unreliable 1
introduces a 1 character cipher 2
French taxation 1
the Cortes 1
Spanish armies Castlereagh’s directive 1
collapse of 1
unreliable 1
Spanish Army of Estremadura 1, 2
Spencer, Lieutenant-General Brent 1, 2
Spencer, Lord Charles 1
Sprotborough Hall, Yorkshire 1, 2, 3, 4
spy network payments 1
Staff Cavalry Corps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Stewart, Major-General Charles criticism of Moore 1
and losses to the 16th Light Dragoons 1
Wellesley praises and Cocks condemns 1
the Franceschi incident 1
Wellington’s ‘Stewart method’ 1
intervention at Poco Velha 1
on leave 1
Stone, Trooper 1
Sturgeon, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry 1n, 2
Suchet, Marshal 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Tagus River 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Tagus valley 1, 2, 3
Talavera de la Reyna 1, 2 Battle of (1809) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
telegraph stations 1, 2
Temprano (guerrilla commander) 1
Teso de San Miguel 1, 2
Thomieres, General 1, 2, 3, 4
Tillet, Private André 1
The Times 1, 2
tirailleurs (sharpshooters) 1
Tomkinson, Captain William 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Torbay 1
Tordesillas 1, 2 Bridge of 1
Tories and the campaign in Spain (1808) 1
cabals 1, 2
and the Clarke affair 1
Wellington and staff members 1
Tormes River 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Toro 1, 2
Torres Vedras, lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Trafalgar, Battle of (1805) 1, 2
Trajan, Emperor (Marcus Ulpius Trajanus) 1
Treillard, General 1
University of Coimbra, Madrid 1, 2
Valencia 1, 2 Siege of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Joseph sets up his temporary headquarters 1
Joseph visits 1
Valladolid 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Velasquez, Diego de Silva y 1
Vere, Charles 1
Victor, Marshal Claude Perrin, Duc de Belluno 1 and Sebastiani 1
Vigo, Spain 1, 2
Vila Nova, Oporto 1, 2
Vilar Formosa 1
Villatte, General 1, 2, 3
Vimiero, Battle of (1808) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Vitoria 1 campaign (1813) 1, 2, 3
Vollodas 1
voltiguers (light infantry) 1
Wardle, Colonel 1
Warre, Captain William 1, 2, 3 appearance 1
on the retreat from Spain 1, 2
conservative views 1, 2
attempts to stop Soult’s escape 1, 2
on intelligence 1
on the storm of Badajoz 1, 2
on British arrival in Salamanca 1
effects of the sun 1
across the river from the enemy 1
in Battle of Salamanca 1, 2, 3
on Longa 1
Warwickshire Fencibles 1
Waterloo, Battle of (1815) 1
Waters, Lieutenant-Colonel 1
Wellesley, Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur see Wellington, 1st Duke of
Wellesley, Henry, Lord 1, 2, 3, 4
Wellesley, Richard 1
Wellington, Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of 1, 2, 3 one of Britain’s greatest military leaders 1
victory at Vimiero 1, 2
appearance 1
Anglo-Irish background 1, 2
favoured to lead an expedition in the Iberian Peninsula 1
appointed to command the new expedition to Portugal 1
inscrutability 1, 2
at Oporto 1
successful assault of the Douro 1, 2
and the Portuguese Commandant of Braga 1, 2, 3
caution at Salamonde 1
fails to prevent Soult’s escape 1
General Orders 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
strict believer in hierarchy 1, 2
lack of good intelligence 1
and the Guides 1, 2
Soult’s dispatches to King Joseph 1
and Cuesta 1
Anglo-Spanish defence against the French 1
peerage 1
‘Stewart method’ 1
lays the foundations of his intelligence network 1
his ‘worst scrape’ 1
furious at Brenier’s escape 1
and the Army of Portugal cipher 1, 2, 3
El Bodon engagement 1
hunting 1, 2, 3
favouritism towards aristocrats 1
the storm of Badajoz 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
undecided whether to strike Marmont or Soult first 1, 2
decides to try his hand at offensive battle 1, 2, 3
enters Salamanca 1
reluctance to attack 1, 2
Marmont deceives 1
choice of battle position 1
Battle of Salamanca 1, 2, 3, 4
enters Madrid and is fêted 1
the siege of Burgos 1
rebukes Scovell 1
and correspondence captured by Saornil 1, 2
Vitoria campaign 1
at Waterloo 1, 2
political career 1, 2
GS’s plea to 1
claims credit for code-breaking 1
Dispatches 1
Wellington, Kitty, Duchess of 1
Whigs and the campaign in Spain (1808) 1
and the Clarke affair 1
and Albuera 1
Gordon sends accounts of the campaign to 1
prophecies of doom 1
William, Prince of Orange 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Windsor Castle 1
Wycombites 1, 2, 3, 4
Zadorra River 1, 2, 3
Zarza la Mayor 1
1(a) Wellington as Field Marshal and Duke following the end of the Peninsular campaign in 1814. The painting suggests his considerable military reputation at the end of the wars.
(b) King Joseph, the brother Napoleon sent to rule Spain. Despite the artist’s attempt to present Joseph as a military leader, he did not share his younger sibling’s genius for war.
2 The somewhat romanticised image of a French general on campaign conveys the vital importance of the written dispatch in military operations and the expectation triggered by a messenger’s arrival.
3 A section of King Joseph’s deciphering table. The gender or case of many code numbers was dependent on context, hence the alternatives listed in some places.
4(a) George Scovell sketched on campaign in 1813 by Thomas Heaphy. The distinctive headgear belongs to the Staff Cavalry Corps, and Scovell’s piercing blue eyes can just be discerned beneath its peak.
(b) FitzRoy Somerset, Wellington’s Military Secretary for much of the Peninsular War and a friend of Scovell’s for life. Heaphy’s sketch captures his boyish charm.
(c) Sir George Murray, Quarter-Master General of the Peninsular Army. Diligent, persuasive and highly effective, he was Wellington’s ‘chief of staff’ long before the British Army officially recognised that term.
(d) Wellington, also drawn in the summer of 1813: a study that captures his intense, sometimes intimidating presence and does not flatter him in the manner of later heroic pictures.
5(a) Marshal Nicolas Soult, Duke of Dalmatia. He was capable of great generalship but put self-interest first during the campaign of 1812.
(b) Marshal Auguste Marmont, Duke of Ragusa. A favourite of Napoleon’s, he showed great skill in keeping Wellington in check during 1811, but was later humiliated by the British at Salamanca.
(b) General Maximilien Foy met the British on a dozen battlefields between 1808 and 1815. His personal papers survived, providing a precious insight into the dilemmas facing the French in Iberia.
(d) Marshal Jean Baptiste Jourdan. His appointment early in 1812 as Chief of Staff to King Joseph caused much resentment among other officers and – despite his sound diagnoses about French problems in Spain – he achieved little.
6 The Battle of Vitoria, 21 June 1813. This watercolour by Atkinson shows the birth of a more propagandistic style among British artists in the immediate aftermath of the wars. British troops are depicted capturing a French Eagle (in fact it was a less significant standard) while a genuine trophy taken in this rout of the French army, Jourdan’s marshal’s baton, temptingly awaits Wellington in the open chest on the left.
7 Napoleon and his Staff at Waterloo, a detail from Sir William Allan’s study of the battle. The British commander saw several Peninsular colleagues killed or maimed during this final confrontation of the Napoleonic era.
8 George Scovell aged 85 or 86. His longevity guaranteed he was one of the select band of Peninsular veterans to be photographed. Scovell reached the rank of full general and was granted the Grand Cross of the Bath, proudly worn on his coat.
About the Author
Mark Urban is Diplomatic and Defence Editor for Newsnight. He is the author of, among others, Big Boys’ Rules: The SAS and the Secret Struggle Against the IRA, Rifles and Fusiliers.
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Copyright
First published in 2001
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ISBN 978–0–571–26670–8