LA GRAN ARMADA IMPERIAL ATRAVIESA FRANCIA

LA GRAN ARMADA IMPERIAL ATRAVIESA FRANCIA[pic 1]

Cómo el ejército francés llega a Cádiz

Aitana Sevillano Ruiz Traducción 3 B/A (inglés)

Curso 2017-2018

Campus Duques de Soria, Universidad de Valladolid

Índice

1. Introduction        3
2. Translation brief        4
3. Original text        5
4. Translation        9
5. Notes        13
6. Bibliography        14

1. Introduction

In this project, a chapter of the book Trafalgar, the untold story of de greatest sea battle in history will be analyzed. This book was written by Nicholas Best and published in 2005. As its name mentions, the book is about the story of Battle of Trafalgar, which was a naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, which established British naval supremacy for more than 100 years. It was fought west of Cape Trafalgar, Spain, between Cadiz and the Strait of Gibraltar. A fleet of 33 ships (18 French and 15 Spanish) under Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve fought a British fleet of 27 ships under Admiral Horatio Nelson.

This assignment focuses on chapter number 25, in which two main characters appear, Napoleon and Villeneuve, among others. In this episode of the battle, Napoleon’s lack of faith in Villeneuve’s job is shown, but since he still needs him, the emperor decides to change his plans – he sends Villeneuve and his troops to Italy instead of Great Britain. However, Villeneuve went through Cadiz, which angered Napoleon. They arrived in Cadiz the same day as Nelson. Furthermore, throughout the chapter, many logistical problems are explained, such as the lack of food or women giving birth while following the Great Army on their way across Europe.

The aim of this project is to improve my comprehension and translating skills so as to achieve a high level of translating competence. In this document you will find a translation brief, which is a table that contains all the information you need to know about the sender and the receiver of both the original text and the translation. The original text follows that table, and then the translation. After the texts, there is a section with notes, which includes all the extra information needed to help you understand certain terms, such cultural issues or difficulties found throughout the text. Last but not least, the bibliography I have used in order to be able to complete the assignment correctly is at the end of the document.

1. Translation brief

In this section, the eight parameters stablished by Christian North in order to create a translation brief will be explained: the initiator, the function of the ST, the ST readership, the intended function of the TT, the TT readership, the time and place of publication of the original and the translation, the medium, and the motive.

1. Original text

CHAPTER 25

THE GRAND ARMY CROSSES FRNCE

In Austria, Emperor Francis decided not to wait for his Russian allies now the war had started, but to advance into Bavaria at once. Austrian troops crossed the River Inn on 8 September, six weeks ahead of the agreed timetable. They struck north from the Tyrol, aiming for the fortress city of Ulm on the Danube, 100 miles from the French border. Field Marshal Karl von Mack intended to establish his base there until the Russians arrived.

By Mack’s calculation, the French army would be unable to reach the Danube before 10 November at the earliest. That would allow him ample time to set up a defensive position along the River Iller, which joined the Danube at Ulm. The Austrian army was cumbersome, ill-suited to forced marches and rapid manoeuvres. It was much better at defending a fortified position. With the Iller in front of him and fortress Ulm on his right, Mack was confident nothing could dislodge him before his Russian allies arrived.

But he had reckoned without Napoleon. The French would reach the Danube long before 10 November – they would be there seven weeks earlier, by Napoleon’s calculation. He had been very thorough in his preparations, poring over the map with a pair of dividers, estimating to the nearest mile how far his men could march each day, and for how many days they could keep up the pace. His dividers had been no use to him when determining Villeneuve’s progress across the sea, but they worked perfectly on land. Napoleon knew what he vas doing on land.

Napoleon lingered in Paris to allay suspicion while his troops rushed to the frontier. There were 200,000 of them in total, advancing in seven different columns. They came from Holland and Hanover as well as the Channel, converging on Bavaria at the rate of fourteen miles a day. They followed different routes, so as not to get in each other’s way, but they were always within a day or two’s march of each other, so that they could join forces if necessary. The staff work to keep so many men on the move was brilliant. It had never been attempted on such a scale before.

Even so, the staff had plenty of logistical worries, as Corporal Blaise of the 108th Regimen recalled:

The speed of our march made it impossible for supplies to keep pace with us. We were often        short of bread in spite of all the efforts of our commanding general, Marshal Davout… Fortunately, it was the height of the potato season, and they were plentiful of our

sector. How many times did we ruin the hopes of the villagers! We pillaged from them the fruits of        an entire year’s work.

Private Jean-Roch Coignet of the Greanadiers remembered the weariness rather than the lack of food:

Never was there such a terrible march. We didn’t have a moment for sleep, marching by platoons all day and all night, and at last clinging on to each other to avoid falling. Those who did fall could not be roused. Some fell into ditches. Hitting them with the flat of a sabre had no effect. The bands played and the drums beat, but nothing could stop them sleeping.

The nights were dreadful. I was on the section’s right. About midnight one night, I tumbled down the bank at the side of the road. I went rolling down and didn’t stop until I reached an open field. I kept hold of my musket, but I rolled into another world. My brave captain sent a man down to look after me. I was badly bruised. He took my knapsack and musket for me, but I was wide awake after that.

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