No blog post this week because I’ve been away in Spain and Portugal, exploring some of the sites of the Peninsular War and enjoying Lisbon (pictured) because it’s lovely.
There will be blog posts about the Lines of Torres Vedras and lots of other brilliant stuff from the next regular blog post on Friday and probably for a while after that. Meanwhile, if you want something to fill the ten minutes you might have spent on my blog, there’s a video about Fort San Vicente. I think it’s best described as three separate forts (they had three separate garrisons and were counted as three positions in plans at the time) but the three are connected into one single astonishing position. There’s a lot of wind noise and the focus slips occasionally, but if you are interested in Wellington’s lines of Torres Vedras you might find it worth watching.
Well, that was interesting. Thanks, Tom.
What was the significance of the city and the area to the French, by the way ? Maybe you could put something about that in a post sometime, to give some context ?
I’ll be writing at length about the Lines of Torres Vedras but essentially the lines were there to protect Lisbon. Torres Vedras was one of the towns on the road and the castle was itself an artillery platform so it was a key point in the lines. Each individual fort was impressive but the truly astonishing nature of the lines was that they formed not one, but two defensive lines from the Atlantic to the Tagus. They were never broken.
Great stuff Tom. It is reassuring that some authors still do the hard work, visiting the locations to experience and be inspired by the sites and sights of 200 years ago … something that a few factual authors could also benefit from doing! San Vicente fort is, to me, one of the most rewarding fortresses to visit along the lines, especially during wildflower season when its beauty truly comes to life.