Soldiers' Accounts
Posted by Captain Everett on February 05, 1998 at 19:08:25:
In response to and another book..., written by P. Bingham on February 04, 1998 at 22:27:03
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I can add a few other firsthand accounts. This list is based upon a quick perusal of a few different bibliographies; there are many others, but these are the most often cited. Sorry, I've only read some of them, and cannot give any recent publication information.
Edward Costello, Adventures of a Soldier; Cotton, A Voice from Waterloo; Gleig, The Subaltern; The Recollection of Rifelman Harris; Captain John Kincaid, Adventures with the Rifle Brigade and Random Shots from a Rifleman; Diary of Sir John Moore; Sir Thomas Picton, Memoirs; Samuel Rogers, Recollections; Sir Henry Smith, Autobiography; and The Letters of Private Wheeler.
There are several sources for a general overview of the British Army. Charles Oman, Wellington's Army is an oft cited source. A more readily found source is: Anthony Brett-James, Life in Wellington's Army (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1972).
An interesting "distaff" view is: Brigadier FCG Page, Following the Drum: Women in Wellington's Wars (Worchester {Gt Br]: Andre Deutsch Ltd., 1986). Lady Magdelaine DeLancy left her recollections of A Week at Waterloo; I haven't seen this one, but I know it inspired at least one novel (author and title unknown).
My file cabinet is full of information on the war of 1812; including photocopies of various articles featuring original accounts. However, I'll only mention two books here. One of my favourites is Donald Graves (ed.), Merry Hearts Make Light Days (Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1993) [ISBN 0-88629-225-5]. This is Lieutenant John Le Couteur's recollections based on his diaries. It covers his years as a cadet, his journey to Canada, the actions he was in and general observations on the country and its people. Three other stories are found in Donald Graves (ed), Soldiers of 1814: AmericanEnlisted Men's Memoirs of the Niagara Campaign (Youngstown, NY: Old Fort Niagara Assoc., 1995).
Two Web Sites of Note:
www3.sympatico.ca/dis.general/home.htm [Napoleonic and War of 1812]
www.iaw.on.ca/~jsek/index.html [Fort Eire, Ontario, War of 1812]
- The Discriminating General Caroline 20:41:45 2/05/98
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