Neither Up Nor Down

Apart from the nursery rhyme ‘The Grand Old Duke of York’, Britain’s war against Revolutionary France is today a largely forgotten prelude to the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign in Flanders was Britain’s attempt to stem the power of the new republic as it threatened to engulf its neighbours, but it was to end in disaster. This is the first account of this intensive campaign written  in modern times; chronicling the many battles as the varying fortunes of the combatants saw their armies march to and fro across the fields of Flanders. A weak and ill-equipped army led by the Duke of York struggled daily with the terrain and climate of the Low Countries as well as the competing aims of its allies and the unrealistic expectations of its government. This book details the numerous major battles of the campaign and the unravelling of the First Coalition using British, French and German sources.

"Ball has successfully provided a great a resource filled with important insights and fresh details that help to shine a light on this period in the French Revolutionary era. These insights are all the more important as so many of the individuals who would become key figures in the Peninsular War (1807-1814) including the Duke of Wellington, would learn the tools of their trade in the Flanders catastrophe. Drawing lessons from the failures of the Allies and success of the French to build the effective fighting units of Wellington’s Peninsular Army." The Napoleon Series

"This book certainly offers most of the information a wargamer would need to recreate the Flanders Campaign and refight the principal battles on the tabletop and is recommended to those seeking a change from Peninsular and Waterloo refights." Miniature Wargames