Rifleman Dodd

Rifleman Dodd is a book that was given to me by my combat instructors during School of Infantry. I have intended to read the book, but lost it just before my arrival to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. I recently found a copy of the book and decided to read it. The book is about Pvt. Dodd, a British infantry rifleman in the Napoleonic Wars. During this time period rifles were a novelty and most of the army wore red-coats and carried muskets.The book is fairly short, however it's also very action packed. There is a lot of brutality and death in the book, however that is part of what makes the book a very good reed; it depicts war very realistically, and does not glorify it. One interesting aspect I enjoyed about this book is that it depicts all the same events twice, alternating points of view between Dodd, and a group of french soldiers led by sgt. Godinot, giving you more than one perspective on Dodd's struggles.It's a remarkable tale of survival and individual actions, of a regular rifl eman who survives because of sheer determination and slowly learns to make plans without orders, and shows leadership qualities and a knowledge of warfare. Private Matthew Dodd is separated from his regiment during a retreat and finds himself stranded behind enemy lines in Portugal. Dodd manages to survive throughout the book on his willpower, determination, and also with the occasional aid of a group of Portuguese guerilla fighters.Dodd harasses the French with his rifle while trying to prevent them from building a bridge across the Tagus River. The book depicts a war of attrition in which starvation is the chief weapon. The two sides must out last each other in order to achieve victory. Throughout the book Dodd kills all of Godinot's men one by one during his struggle to survive and return to his regiment. Godinot is not the only soldier who must pick himself up and move on after witnessing the death of his friends.The first acquaintance Dodd makes is a man who was slightly off ki lter and who follows him like a puppy dog. However due to the exertion of a long march, freezing cold weather, being wet, and starvation, he catches a fever and Dodd is forced to make the decision to leave him in his delirium to die alone on a hillside. Later, an entire village of Portuguese guerilla fighters who join him are slaughtered by the French down to the last man, woman, and child. Additionally his last two friends, including the one that was with him through most of the novel, are hanged before his eyes.Similarly, Godinot loses one soldier after another until his entire squad is killed. Ultimately proving that Dodd succeeds largely due to sheer will and determination. In conclusion I found the book really enjoyable and a very good read. This book is provides good examples of individual actions and quick thinking skills that are needed to thrive in hard situations and desperation. I would recommend this book to other Lance Corporals because it has a lot of lessons regarding taking initiative and showing good judgment in the face of adversity. Rifleman Dodd Rifleman Dodd is a fiction war story based during the peninsular war around 1810 and Published in 1932. The main Protagonist of this book is a rifleman that goes by the name of Matthew Dodd. He served in the 95th Rifles for the English; underneath the command of Duke Wellington. At the beginning of the book, A battle starts, and amidst the chaos Dodd becomes lost and separated behind French lines. The Duke of Wellington calls for a retreat, leaving Dodd to fend for himself. Dodd is a very tall, bulky rifleman. Dodd is a very inspirational and very courageous soldier. Despite being alone and surrounded, he faces many challenges, battles and skirmishes throughout this book. Due to the devastation of war, Dodd struggles with the daily challenge of starvation, and lack of shelter often being forced to freeze during rainy nights.Another character in this book is Sergeant Godinot, he is the main antagonist of the book. At the beginning battle, Dodd and Godinot are almost face to face durin g the battle, and Godinot and his squad are the ones who chase Dodd away from the retreating English forces and into French territory. Sergeant Godinot and his squad were undisciplined and more mercenary like. Throughout this book Dodd ambushes Godinot and his squad multiple times, and slowly picks them off one by one and disappear into the countryside.The vast majority of this books plot is spent following either Dodd, or Godinot. Each character is depicted as a protagonist, or antagonist depending on which of the two is being followed. Whenever Dodd is being followed, the story tells of the struggle that he is stuck going through, having to starve and only having a biscuit and jerky in his rucksack: or having to march on while his boots are completely destroyed and he is stuck walking barefoot.When the story follows Godinot and his squad, they are always on the tail of Dodd, or ambushed by him. When it first starts off his squad is very eager to hunt him down, but later in the boo k. Everywhere they go Dodd winds up ambushing and killing a few of them. As a result Godinot is on a blood feud to find and kill this â€Å"English Ghost† that has  been haunting them.As Dodd travels through the occupied Portuguese country, he meets members of the Portuguese rebels. One of his first encounters is a young Portuguese soldier, who speaks English. As a result Dodd decides to keep him around as a translator, and navigator through Portugal to English lines.