其他一些书籍对此战的评价:
Roliça was a savage little overture to the long Peninsular campaign that was to follow. The British had narrowly won. Wellesley’s casualties were 500 to Delaborde’s 700. Wellesley later reckoned Roliça was ‘one of our most important affairs … it was terrible hard work … our men fought monstrous well’. Both armies had now got the measure of each other. The British quickly realised that even with overwhelming numbers no battle with the French was going to be a walkover. And those French soldiers who had hoped that the British had forgotten how to fight on land were disappointed.
Snow, Peter (2010-09-16). To War with Wellington (Kindle Locations 385-390). Hachette Littlehampton. Kindle Edition.
The French suffered 600 casualties at Roliça but, significantly, very few prisoners were taken. This appears to endorse Wellesley’s oft-repeated complaint that he was poorly supplied with cavalry in the Peninsula, who were invaluable for pursuit, during which the majority of captives were usually taken. Nevertheless, the allies pressed the French withdrawal enough to take three guns; the capture of cannon often being taken as an indication of victory. The British suffered 441 killed, wounded or taken prisoner. The majority of the Portuguese soldiers present marched under Trant who, never having engaged the enemy seriously, either suffered no casualties or failed to record them. Yet Trant had a longer route to travel than Ferguson and needed to circumnavigate the deep gorge on the French left. Unsurprisingly, the first battalion of the 29th sustained the worst losses, with 190 casualties and prisoners. Warre commented on the high proportion of officers in the casualties suffered at Roliça, including his friend Colonel Stuart of the 9th Regiment who died of his wounds on 20 August, along with two other officers killed in his brigade alone.
Buttery, David (2012-05-24). Wellington Against Junot: The First Invasion of Portugal 1807-1808 (Kindle Locations 2368-2377). Casemate Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Buttery在注释里说数据来自Digby的Data Book,他接着写道:
As is often the case regarding inconclusive clashes, both sides claimed a victory. Though the French made much of the disparity in numbers, the amount of troops who actually engaged had been nearly equal and the French enjoyed strong defensive ground at their secondary position. Nevertheless, as Oman conceded: ‘Delaborde had fought a most admirable rearguard action, holding on to the last moment, and escaping by his prompt manoeuvres …’41 However, hewent on to say that Delaborde could have avoided fighting at all since he had already delayed Wellesley and the likelihood of joining with Loison was remote, Loison being so many miles away that he barely heard cannon fire in the distance. In addition, Loison’s force was tired and probably ineffective having marched for days and he would not have wished to fight a serious action. Therefore he concluded that Delaborde had risked his division for little gain.
在Guthrie's War: A Surgeon of the Peninsula and Waterloo中虽然没有此战的过多内容,但不幸的朱诺却又“被”元帅了:
Three days after the combat at Roliça, Wellesley had covered the landing of Brigadier-General Acland and Anstruther’s Brigades at Maceira bay and now, with around 17,000 bayonets and about 1,500 Portuguese auxiliaries, he was ready to face Marshal Androche Junot’s 13,000 men at Vimeiro. With the two fresh-landed brigades came a third physician, two further staff surgeons and six hospital mates, so increasing the senior staff to eleven and the battalion surgeons to around twenty-three. The battle was fought around the village, with Wellesley’s men finally dispersed along two ridges either side of Vimeiro, most units were on a southwesterly ridge, to the south of which was a small hill with a plateau.
Crumplin, Michael (2010-08-19). Guthrie's War: A Surgeon of the Peninsula and Waterloo (Kindle Locations 780-785). Casemate Publishing. Kindle Edition. |