Collected Works of a Personal Nature:
Memoirs of British Napoleonic Soldiers
by Paul Chamberlain, UK
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It is only to be expected that the publishing world will jump at the chance to reprint many of the soldier memoirs first produced during the 19th century. Many of these works are often used as source material for modern historians, and so their publication can only assist in the modern study of the Napoleonic period. Memoirs, autobiographies, call them what you will, provide a fascinating insight into the period from the viewpoint of the soldiers who were there and experienced life in barracks, on campaign, in battle, as prisoners of war and as old soldiers who were discharged from the army, often to look back wistfully on their days in uniform.
This article will describe a few of the more recently published memoirs, written by British soldiers, that readers may find particularly useful for their own research. Each gives a colourful insight into the period, and describes in vivid details what life was like at the time, often together with descriptions of the people and places they encoun-tered when on campaign.
Any modern work on the British Army of the Peninsular War will use accounts written by men of the 95th Rifles, many of whom had a good story to tell of the adventures of one of the élite formations of that army. Riflemen such as William Surtees, Jonathan Leach, George Simmons, Sir Harry Smith, William Green, Benjamin Harris and John Kincaid have all left their accounts of the Napoleonic Wars. The modern interest in their tales has with out a doubt been fuelled by the Sharpe's TV series.
Twenty-Five Years in the Rifle Brigade by William Surtees (with a new introduction by Ian Fletcher and published by Greenhill in 1996, price £ 19.50) tells the personal story of a man who first enlisted in the army in 1798 as a 17 year old in the Northumberland Militia. He joined the 95th in 1800, and as he was of steady, reliable temperament he was soon promoted to the rank of Corporal, rising to Pay-Sergeant by 1803. His is a detailed account of service in the regiment, as well as relating tales of his fellow riflemen. His service record included the expedition to Denmark and the siege of Copenhagen. Later he joined the force assembling for Spain and took part in the Corunna campaign, returning to England in 1809, and after resting was sent back to the Iberian theatre. Here his adventures really began, as he marched and fought across Spain, the Pyrenees and into France. He describes the actions against Cuidad Rodrigo and Badajoz; the bravery of soldiers on both sides; the character of the generals commanding the army. At the conclusion of the Peninsular War he returned with his regiment to England, prior to being shipped to the West Indies and then to fight at the Battle of New Orleans. This is a very detailed and eventful account by a soldier who saw much of the war.
Captain John Kincaid served in the 95th Rifles in the Peninsula from 1809 to 1814, and later fought in the Waterloo campaign. His lively adventures are related in two books published by Spellmount; Adventures in the Rifle Brigade and Random Shots From a Rifleman (both published in 1998, priced at £ 24.95 each). The first volume describes Kincaid's life on campaign during the Peninsular War, in which the author paints a vivid picture of life in Wellington's army; a picture that is often very humorous and entertaining as well. Aside from the lighter moments, he was present at the storming of Badajoz, and at the great victory of Vittoria. When telling his tale he relates stories of the people around him, not only in the army but also amongst the inhabitants of the countries through which he marched. Random Shots From a Rifleman was first published in 1835 in response to the popularity of his first volume, and is a collection of further stories and anecdotes of his life during the Napoleonic Wars.
One particularly interesting reprint is The Recollections of Sergeant Morris (The Windrush Press 1998, price £ 9.99). Thomas Morris enlisted in the 73rd Regiment in 1813 which was about to sail for Swedish Pomerania. This part of his account will be of interest to readers of the recent article on the Battle of Göhrde, at which his regiment fought. Here is an account of a campaign outside the Iberian theatre. Not only did Morris take part in the actions under General Walmoden, but his regiment later found itself in the Netherlands (December 1813 - February 1814) attacking Antwerp, which was sheltering a French fleet in the harbour. On the conclusion of peace in April 1814 the regiment was quartered in that country, where it was suitably placed to be incorporated in the force under the command of the Duke of Wellington for the Waterloo campaign. Morris gives a particularly lucid account of the attack of the French cavalry on the British squares, and relates numerous anecdotes of comrades who were wounded or killed in that action. One fact that emerges from many of these memoirs is that the writers were thoughtful and intelligent men, who had strong opinions on the people they marched and fought with. Morris is an example of this, in that he is much given to criticising his officers and the routine cruel punishments handed out to the men.
The Military Adventures of Charles O'Neil (Spellmount 1997, price £ 19.95) is the story of a private soldier who served in the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment and saw action at the battle of Barrosa, where the British Army took its first French eagle of the war, and later at the bloody siege and storming of Badajoz. O'Neil survived a flogging. He was sentenced to 300 lashes for refusing to attend a Church Parade (he was a Catholic and the church in question was Protestant). In his adventurous life he also survived a fire at sea on board the transport vessel he was sailing in, and the assassination attempts by Spanish guerrillas! He went on to take part in the Waterloo Campaign and indeed was badly wounded in the arm during the action of 18 June. His account includes a harrowing description of his experiences on the battlefield at night when the peasants roamed in the darkness, plundering the dead and finishing off the wounded. After Waterloo O'Neil left the army and emigrated to Canada.
The memoirs described thus far are those actually written as such by their authors and first published during their lifetimes. In The Service Of The King is a collection of the letters of William Thornton Keep, who wrote them whilst at home, in the Walcheren campaign and in the Peninsula from 1808 to 1814. These previously unpublished letters have been gathered together and edited by Ian Fletcher (Spellmount 1997, price £ 18.95). They were written by Keep while on active service and include graphic accounts of both campaigns. In the former (while he was in the 77th Regiment) he succumbed to the Walcheren Fever, being invalided back to England where he resigned from the 77th. Two years later he joined the 28th Regiment as an ensign and went out to the Peninsula.
His letters from this theatre are particularly vivid and include one of the best-ever accounts of the desperate fighting at the battle of Maya, on 25 July 1813, where Keep saved one of the regiment's colours. His letters include enlightening new information on training methods used in the army, which involved a great deal of swimming, running and the lifting of cannon balls. His letters relate the problems of obtaining items of uniform and equipment, and in this respect they provide a detailed description of an officer's uniform of the period. He also relates the encouragement given to officers to be able to handle and shoot accurately with the musket. Finally, Keep's letters are unique in providing an extensive portrait of life at home in England as well as on campaign.
Charles Boutflower was 19 years old when he joined the 40th Regiment in Malta in 1801 as a surgeon, subsequently serving with it in the West Indies, South America and the Peninsular War. In this latter conflict he saw action from 1810 to 1813 including Busaco, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz and Salamanca. During his period of active service he kept a diary which has been published as The Journal of an Army Surgeon During the Peninsular War (Spellmount 1998, price £ 19.95).
This journal is not so much a series of medical reports, although he does briefly relate the problems of sickness amongst the army, as a diary of his life in Spain and his opinions of the people, places and events he encountered there. His journal contains colourful opinions on a wide range of subjects, such as the Catholic Church in Spain and Portugal and its bishops, priests and nuns; women in general whom he criticises for vulgarity in their speech and in their dress (though he rates the Spanish women to be better by all accounts than those in Portugal); a bullfight in Madrid which he regarded with horror; and his preferred fate for the garrisons of the fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz after they were taken.
Memoirs of the Late Major General Le Marchant 1766-1812 was written by his son Denis Le Marchant and first published in 1841. This edition by Spellmount (1997, price £ 24.95) brings the story of the Founder of The Royal Military College Sandhurst to a wider audience. Once described by his headmaster as 'the greatest dunce I ever met', Le Marchant joined the York Militia aged only sixteen and within days challenged his first commanding officer to a duel but went on to serve with distinction as a cavalry commander during the Flanders campaign against the French (1793-94); design a new light cavalry sword that was adopted by the Army in 1797; and write a manual of sword exercises that so impressed the King that he appointed Major Le Marchant a Lieutenant Colonel in the 7th Light Dragoons in 1797. He also became a talented water-colour painter (many of his works have been used to illustrate this edition of the memoirs). Despite the prejudices and animosity of many powerful people and the Treasury, Le Marchant finally achieved his vision and founded the Royal Military College in 1799. In 1811 Lord Wellington appointed him to lead the heavy cavalry in the Peninsula and his death a year later during the devastating charge at Salamanca, where '40,000 French infantry were defeated in 40 minutes' (he was posthumously credited with the victory) robbed the Army of one of its most able, talented and gallant soldiers.
Each of the memoirs described in this article (and they are only a few of the memoirs available and published in recent years) provides an interesting and valuable account of what it was like to be a soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. Memoirs such as these provide the day-to-day background for the campaigns of the period.
Readers who wish to find out more on the books produced by the publishers mentioned above, will find the following list of interest. If you have an interest in memoirs of the period, it would be worthwhile contacting these publishers to be placed on their mailing lists for information about forthcoming titles. Alternatively, I am sure that Dave would be more than willing to sell such titles from his lists to be found elsewhere in this magazine!
Greenhill Books, Lionel Leventhal Limited, Park House, 1 Russell Gardens, London, NW11 9NN. |