An Unattainable Stronghold

It is 1813. After the triumphant victory at Vitoria, Lord Wellington's army advances into the mountainous territory of the Pyrenees. Five long years of war have brought them to within sight of the French border for the first time. Before he is ready to cross into France, Wellington awaits news of political and diplomatic initiatives among the great powers of Europe. He also needs to secure the coastal town of San Sebastian, which remains stubbornly in French hands. Meanwhile, across the border, Marshal Soult is sent to rally the disordered French forces and to mount an invasion to relieve the beleaguered town and push the Allied army back. Major-General Paul van Daan is awaiting the return of several valued members of his brigade and missing those who are not coming back at all. He is in no mood to deal with an unreliable junior officer, a possible miscarriage of justice and an unwelcome call for volunteers from his brigade to storm the breaches of San Sebastian. Anne van Daan has her usual responsibilities in camp and with the medical services. In between keeping a careful eye on Captain Michael O'Reilly's courtship of her Spanish maid and an even closer eye on a litter of puppies at headquarters she is becoming concerned that Paul's exasperation with an incompetent young officer is making him uncharacteristically unsympathetic and calls on Captain Simon Carlyon's help in the matter. With Leo Manson still on sick leave, Captain Giles Fenwick needs to juggle his company duties with his role as temporary brigade-major and his occasional role as an intelligence officer for Lord Wellington, leaving him no time to deal with his grief at the loss of a close friend. In the French lines, newly promoted Colonel Gabriel Bonnet leads his battalion across the border once again. The chaos of the ensuing campaign and the squandering of lives cause Bonnet to question his reasons for remaining in Bonaparte's army at all. Captain Don Angel Cortez of the 1st Mallorcan regiment is faced with potential disgrace after a near-fatal duel. He is offered an opportunity to retrieve his reputation and revive his career but it means leaving his company for an uncertain future. As the Allied and French armies clash in a series of actions across the high passes of the Pyrenees and on the walls of San Sebastian, everything has changed. Bonaparte's men are defending their borders and for the first time, the end of the war may be in sight. An Unattainable Stronghold is book 8 of the popular Peninsular War Saga.