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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Corunna
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(16 Jan. 1809) A minor incident in the *Peninsular War. Sir John Moore (1761–1809) was in command of a British army retreating from an unsuccessful campaign and expecting to be picked up by a fleet at Corunna (La Coruña in Spanish), a port at the northwest tip of Spain. The pursuing French army reached Corunna a little earlier than the British fleet. The relatively light casualties in the battle included the death of Moore himself. The fleet had meanwhile arrived, and the army embarked safely the next day. The lasting fame of the event derives from a poem, The *Burial of Sir John Moore.
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