Battlefield Tours

Battlefield Tours

Battlefield Tours are a popular leisure time activity with many people these days, particularly for those who want to visit the locations they have heard and read so much about. Battlefield Tours go back to ancient times, when Greeks visited the field at Marathon. However, in Britain, Battlefield Tours became fashionable following the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, which caught the imagination of the British Public. We are told the wife of the Bishop of Norwich visited Waterloo on the first anniversary of the battle, while Wellington returned several times conducting distinguished people over the field, including King George IV in 1821.

Why Visit Battlefields ?

Visiting a battlefield allows one to follow in the footsteps of a historic figure and see what they saw. The visit gives form to the reading and an understanding of the ground that you can’t get from the texts books alone. This helps develop a greaer understanding of what happened at the location and the conditions the soldiers fought and suffered under.

There is also a spiritual side to a battlefield. Many people, especially those with family or ancestors who fought in the battle, find a quiet spot and reflect on those who did not see the sun set on the fateful day, or those who brought psychological or physical scars back home. Many of them were young, cut down in the prime of life.

Walk a battlefield when no one else is around, especially in the evening, and few people fail to feel “something” from the past. Many find the silence the most moving, especially in contrast to imagination of the fear and slaughter that took place at that particular location in the past. To visit a battlefield is not a glorification of war, but a homage and rememberance of those young men who gave their lives so others could have a future better than theirs; a cliché, but none-the-less true.

Battlefield Tours of the Peninsular War

Our Tours tell the stories of the real people who fought in the battles and actions of the Peninsular Campaign. We bring to life their daily lives as they marched across Spain, experiencing extreme weather conditions and coping with a different language and customers; many of which were strange and difficult to understand. This daily routine was broken by periods of action, from skirmishes to major set-piece battles. We present the events of those battles and illustrate the condition under which the participants fought and suffered, giving an informative, enjoyable and, for some, an emotional experience.