"Through Spain with Wellington: The Letters of ..." Topic

… Lieutenant Peter Le Mesurier of the 'Fighting Ninth'

"Gazetted into the 9th Foot as an ensign in 1808, Peter Le Mesurier saw action from the earliest days of the Peninsular War almost to its end. The ‘Fighting Ninth' were in the thick of it, and his letters describe nearly every major engagement of the war; the retreat to Corunna, the Walcheren Expedition, the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Burgos and San Sebastian, and the battles of Salamanca, Vitoria, the Nivelle and the Nive. The correspondence of this young officer provides a unique and fresh insight into the campaigns of Moore and Wellington against Napoleon. They also show the transformation of the boy into the man. He suffers retreats and celebrates victories, witnesses sieges, rape and plunder, and falls in love; his letters are spiced with fascinating asides, wry humour, rich period detail, some very human fears and admissions, and the casual understatement of the British officer. Any unpublished letters from the conflict are scarce, but such an extensive unpublished collection is rare indeed. With background information and commentary provided by expert Adrian Greenwood and meticulously footnoted, this is a worthy addition to the literature of the Napoleonic Wars."

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Amicalement
Armand

Given the amazing number of letters written by an amazing number of British soldiers of various ranks during the Peninsular campaign, it's often seemed to me that they did far more writing than fighting.

And he must have taken quite the detour, since last time I checked, Walcheren is nowhere near Spain, nor was Wellie there at all.

Doesn't anyone fact-check book blurbs these days?

Most of the time they were sat around doing not very much. So writing letters and diaries was probably a good way of passing the time!

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

In June 1808, the regiment sail for Portugal for service in the Peninsular War.[26] It saw action at the Battle of Roliça and the Battle of Vimeiro in August 1808.[27] Following the retreat from Corunna, the regiment buried Sir John Moore (commander of the British forces in the Iberian peninsula) and left Spanish soil.[28] The regiment then took part in the disastrous Walcheren expedition to the Low Countries in summer 1809.[29]

The regiment returned to the Peninsula in March 1810 and fought under Wellington at Battle of Bussaco, Portugal in September 1810,[30] the Battle of Sabugal in April 1811 and the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro in May 1811.[31] It also saw action at the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812, the Siege of Badajoz in March 1812[31] and the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812.[32] It saw further combat at the Siege of Burgos in September 1812,[33] the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813[34] and the Siege of San Sebastián in September 1813.[35] The regiment pursued the French Army into France and fought them at the Battle of Nivelle in November 1813[36] and the Battle of the Nive in December 1813.[37]