Loki, Actually, most histories show that we were lucky that Packenham was incompetent. He routed most of our outposts, but then tried to take on a fortified and heavily defended position without softening it up with artillery. Lord Wellesley would not have made that mistake.
Different game at Waterloo. The British were playing defense, as they knew they had allies coming in to help them. Napoleon thought he could win quickly, and, since he couldn't win quickly, he lost. But, truth be known, it was the only chance he had and he gave it a good shot. Too bad he destroyed the cream of his army by invading Russia. Actually, not too bad, since, as much as I admire his military acumen, at least up to Austerlitz, he was kind of a nasty sort of dictator. Kinda like Michael Dell. <G>
It was indeed odd that the Germans and the Japanese economies grew the most out of losing WWII. Of course, that was the premise behind "The Mouse That Roared." <G>
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