Ten British Memoirs of the Peninsular War

As I write this a large portion of the world is in lockdown and many of us have more time to read than when life is ‘normal’. So, for this blog I will share 10 of my favourite British memoirs of the Peninsular War. All are available for free on-line and I will provide a link to each, as well as a sample of the text. I have a library of nearly 200 of these memoirs as PDFs, plus more as actual books, and could easily have chosen 20 or 30 favourites. As with all memoirs they need to be read with a little caution as most were written many years after the events that they relate. Memory is fallible, and many of the writers did not always resist the temptation to embellish. You may notice that I have included no memoirs from the Light Division. This is because the proliferation and popularity of their memoirs has, I think, skewed the narrative of the campaign, and there were many equally important regiments in Wellington’s army that deserve their share of the renown.

Title: The Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaigns

Author: William Tomkinson

Regiment: 16th Light Dragoons

Download: https://archive.org/details/cu31924024323697

Tomkinson’s diary of his time on campaign was edited by his son and published after his death. He arrived in Portugal in April 1809 and was took part in the advance towards Oporto, but was soon badly wounded:

On getting into the enclosure, we rode at a gallop up to the enemy, who, strange to state, ran away. They were scattered all over the field, and I was in the act of firing my pistol at the head of a French infantry man, when my arm dropped, without any power on my part to raise it. The next thing I recollect was my horse galloping in an ungovernable manner amongst this body of infantry, with both my hands hanging down, though I do not recollect being shot in the left arm. In this state one of their bayonets · was stuck into him, and he fortunately turned short round; and I had, in addition, the good luck to keep my seat on him. He went full gallop to the rear, and on coming to a fence of an enclosure he selected a low place in it under a vine tree, knocked my head into it, when I fell off him. This again made me insensible, and my next recollection was being supported by a French infantry soldier across the field to the rear and to the shade of a wall, where he laid me on my back. In a short time some of the German infantry came up (belonging to our advance under General Paget), and began to plunder me, taking out of my pocket a knife containing many useful things for campaigning. They were prevented proceeding any further by the arrival of a private of the name of Green, of Captain Cocks’ troop, who took me for Captain Swetenham, telling me I was certainly killed, and that it was a sad thing to order men on such a duty. There were only eight men who went into the field to the right with me. Green was the only one who escaped, and one man was shot in nine places. Green was made a sergeant.

Tomkinson went back to Britain to recover but returned in Portugal early in 1810 and went on to serve through the majority of the rest of the campaign, and at Waterloo. Being a diary, with additional letters included, his account has an immediacy and candour that memoirs written later sometimes lack.

Title: Rough Notes of Seven Campaigns in Portugal, Spain, France & America

Author: John Spence Cooper

Regiment: 7th Fusileers

Download: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dokh4PsXpqMC

As you would expect memoirs from the ranks are rarer than those from officers. Cooper’s memoir, written soon after the end of the wars but published in the 1860s, covers his service in Portugal and Spain from 1809 through to 1814, and then the war against the United States. His tale is simply told, but is not without the occasional error. His diary was lost twice and rewritten once he was back in Britain. His account of the Battle of Albuera is particularly vivid:

Having arrived at the foot of the hill, we began to climb its slope with panting breath, while the roll and thunder of furious battle increased. Under the tremendous fire of the enemy our thin line staggers, men are knocked about like skittles; but not a step backward is taken. Here our Colonel and all the field-officers of the brigade fell killed or wounded, but no confusion ensued. The orders were, “Close up;” “Close in;” “fire away;” “for­ward.” This is done. We are close to the enemy’s columns; they break and rush down the other side of the hill in the greatest moblike confusion.

In a minute or two, our nine pounders and light infantry gain the summit, and join in sending a shower of iron and lead into the broken mass. We followed down the slope firing and huzzaing, till recalled by the bugle. The enemy passed over the river in great disorder, and attacked us no more, but cannonading and skirmishing in the centre continued till night.

Title: Journal of James Hale

Author: James Hale

Regiment: 9th Foot

Download: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bBJDUK_SVjIC&dq

Hale was one of many soldiers to transfer from the militia into the regular army. He fought in the 1808 campaign in Portugal, then in Moore’s advance into Spain, and the desperate retreat to Corunna. The 9th was then sent on the disastrous Walcheren expedition and then back to the Peninsula. Like many of these memoirs his account is often at its best when recounting the details of everyday life in the army, like this passage which deals with the aftermath of the Battle of Vittoria when the booty he and his comrades helped themselves to was perhaps less valuable, but equally valued, compared to the loot of many other regiments.

So now having formed our camp, we fortunately beheld a field of beans very convenient to us, and just fit for use, and although we were rather fatigued, the field was swarming with soldiers in a few minutes, and before dark, there was hardly a bean to be found in the field. While some were gathering the beans, others were looking out for something to eat with them; for at this place we were not refused of getting something to eat if we could find any, although we never had been favoured with such liberty before; and as some of our regiment were searching about a village that was but little more than half a mile from our camp, they had the good fortune to find a great quantity of good flour, which they happily loaded themselves with, and brought it into the camp: so we all got as much flour as supplied our wants that night, and some to carry with us for another time. No bread could be found, but having plenty of flour and green beans with our meat, we all made a most noble supper: but still there was one thing that most of us were short of, that was salt to season our supper.

Now after we had filled our bellies, we sat and amused ourselves over what had passed during the day; in the mean time our commissary arrived with a pint of wine for each man, which occasioned our conversation to continue a little longer; and in the course of this evening I was promoted to the rank of a serjeant. So now night having approached, we laid ourselves down on the turf, under the branches of the trees, as comfortable as all the birds in the wood; for the enemy continued retreating nearly all the fore part of the night.

Title: Military Journal of Colonel Leslie, K.H., of Balquhain

Author: Charles Leslie

Regiment: 29th & 60th Foot

Download: https://archive.org/details/cihm_04595

Leslie’s memoir is nicely varied. It encompasses his service in the 29th Foot in the 1808 campaign, through to 1811 when the 29th were ordered home. They then sailed for Cadiz in 1813 where Leslie transferred to a battalion of foreign recruits at Cadiz to gain promotion. His battalion eventually became the 8th battalion of the 60th foot, the regiment that he continued to serve in until the 1830s. Leslie’s account is clearly written with the benefit of hindsight and can sometimes make war sound a bit like a boy’s own adventure, but it is very readable. In his account of the Battle of Roliça it is also clear that he is at pains to protect the 29th’s reputation. I often find the passages after a battle to be amongst the most interesting, as they often illustrate how little animosity was felt against the French. For example here is Leslie’s account of the aftermath of Vimeiro:

After resting some time on our arms, we marched back to our bivouac, with bands playing and colours flying. It was amusing to see many of the French soldiers who had been taken prisoners, or who had come over to us, marching along with our men, with shouldered arms and fixed bayonets, apparently in the greatest good humour, and all expressing anxious wishes to be sent to England. Two genteel-looking young men who were among the prisoners told me that they were conscripts torn from their homes, and that when their regiment gave way they threw themselves down, pretending to be wounded, in order that they might fall into our hands.

Fatigue parties having been left to bury the dead, many of our men had possessed themselves of the French white linen frocks; and it was grotesque enough to see Highland soldiers strolling about the bivouac in these dresses. The field of battle after the action presented a curious feature from so many lying killed and wounded. There were quantities of letters and papers strewed about in all directions. I picked up a bill for several hundred francs payable in Paris, from which it appeared that the poor fellow who had owned it had gone as a substitute, and had received this bill in part payment. Many of the letters were from parents and friends, but not a word of politics was to be found in any of them.

Title: Rough Notes by an Old Soldier

Author: George Bell

Regiment: 34th Foot

Download: https://archive.org/details/roughnotesbyano01bellgoog

For many of the soldiers in Wellington’s army the Peninsular War was their first, but they went on to serve long after Napoleon’s defeat. George Bell arrived in Portugal in 1811 as a young ensign and eventually rose to the rank of major general after also seeing action in India, Canada and the Crimea. His first volume of his memoirs includes his service in the Peninsula, the second can be downloaded from here.

Like many memoirists he prefaces his memoirs in a very self-effacing manner:

I found my bundle of Notes, closed up in my knapsack, so much defaced and worn by long travel, that I was very much inclined to throw them all into the fire, when I was stopped one day by an old camarada who persuaded me to link them together and send them to the press. I protested, having no ability for book-making, not being an enthusiast or a novel reader, and to come out as an Author appeared to me to be worse than to hear the “tir-whit” of a shell from the Bedan into one’s tent. “Never mind,” he said, “try your luck don’t say too much about the R— T—; the truth is not always to be told, you know, and as for the critics and reviewers, you need not fear them: they are considerate and kind to old soldiers, who sit down in the evening of life by the fireside, without pretension, ostentation, or dash, to talk of old campaigns, and fight their battles o’er again.” These few words gave me some little encouragement. I condensed my bundle of notes into the smallest space I could, and they will be found in the following chapters without any varnish!

Another common theme of memoirs written long after the war is the sometimes pernicious influence of Napier’s history of the Peninsular War. Many of Napier’s errors and prejudices can be found repeated in supposedly first-hand accounts. Bell is, at least, honest about his plagiarism in a note at the end of the second volume:

I hope to be excused for quoting some random passages in the above narrative from the great and gallant Napier, for no military Historian could so vividly and so truthfully record a battle or a siege as that heroic General, whose memory will never die, and whose history of the great war can never be equalled.

Title: The Adventures of Captain John Patterson

Author: John Patterson

Regiment: 50th

Download: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TJtpAAAAMAAJ&pg

Patterson’s memoir is also very readable, sometimes to the point of seeming a little over-written, but it is well worth reading and encompasses almost all of the campaign until his wounding in the Pyrenees, and then some service in the West Indies. He went on to write two volumes of Camp and Quarters: Scenes and Impressions of Military Life, which can be found here.

Here he his describing the storming of Fort Napoleon during the raid on the bridge at Almaraz in 1812:

The moment was critical in the extreme, for at least thirteen pieces of cannon were playing away on us, while driving along in double quick time, the grape shot rattling among our bayonets, dealt out death and destruction through our already diminished ranks, the soldiers falling in numbers right and left. “Onward! forward to the ditch” was now called out, as the storming party rapidly advanced, and with desperate resolution all hurried, under an incessant raking fire, to the foot of the ramparts.

Having attained the ground work of the ditch, and established a firm lodgement therein, it soon became pretty clear, that, however strong our fire-eating habits might be, we should find this spot by far too warm a berth for any very protracted residence, and we therefore commenced the most prompt and vigorous measures to escalade the walls; but, the ladders being unfortunately rather short, our efforts were for some time fruitless. By this mischance considerable havoc was occasioned; for while we were endeavouring to raise the ladders, the French grenadiers, whose great bearskin caps and whiskered faces ornamented the breastwork overhead, hurled down upon us with ruthless vengeance an infinite variety of missiles. Anxious to dislodge such ugly customers, they were in no wise particular as to what they made use-of for the purpose; rolling down fragments of rock, stones of huge dimensions, round shot, glass bottles, and many other articles in the small way, so that had our pates been composed of adamantine stuff they could scarcely have resisted an avalanche so direful. In this situation, numbers of the men were killed or wounded, and when some of the most daring attempted to climb, they were either dispatched or tumbled over before they reached the summit.

The highest angle of the wall, on the north east side, was furiously attacked by the 4th battalion company, whose leader, Captain Robert Candler, with a noble spirit, was first to ascend at this point. Waving his sword as he stood on the topmost rail of the ladder, he called on his men to push forward closely; and he then jumped on the ledge of the parapet; but while cheering on his gallant followers he was blown to atoms, his shattered remains lying extended on the slope of the rampart when the troops got in.

You can also read Patterson’s excellent description of Captain Peter Blassiere that I used in Riflemen here.

Title: The vicissitudes of a Soldier’s Life

Author: John Green

Regiment: 68th Foot

Download:  https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qjwIAAAAQAAJ&dq

John Green’s war service started with a stint in the crew of a privateer before he joined the ranks of the 68th Foot. He joined the regiment just before it was designated and trained as light infantry, and then embarked for Walcheren. Like many who fought there Green suffer from recurrent bouts of fever for years afterwards, and he was frequently hospitalised. His memoir makes it clear that the danger of battle was much less of a threat than the constant privations of campaigning. This passage from when the 68th were near Burgos in 1812 is typical.

At this period our condition from want of provisions was miserable in the extreme there were none to be bought for money. I have known hundreds of our men eat bean-tops, or any green herb that could be eaten. Every day after the army had encamped, and when the bullocks were killed, it was a common practice with us to catch the blood, which we boiled until quite  sad, and this served as a substitute for bread. I have known twenty or thirty men, as soon as the butcher had made the incision, rush forward to obtain a supply. It was laughable to see soldiers falling one over the other, some of them covered with blood. I knew one man, during this famine, who was so exceedingly hungry, that he eat the raw tripe in its dirty state: indeed, some of the Chasseurs Britannique used to boil the bullocks’ hides until tender and eat them.

Title: Letters from Portugal, Spain, and France

Author: James Hope

Regiment: 92nd Foot

Download: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TgJQAQAAIAAJ&dq

Hope’s volume of his letters to a friend was published in 1819 and so is free from the influence of later works. However, in 1833 he published The Military Memoirs of An Infantry Officer and if you compare passages in that to the letters you can see signs of embellishment, as I detailed in this blog.

The letters begin in October 1811 and run until the end of 1815, after Hope has fought at Waterloo and been part of the Army of Occupation. They often have quite a light hearted turn of phrase. His account of the Battle of Arroyomolinos is a good example:

The 71st and 92d regiments moved forward to the village at a quick pace, and, in a few minutes, cleared it of the enemy, who were very far from being prepared for such an unceremonious visit. General Girard, driven from the village, formed his infantry in two squares ; and, at the distance of two hundred yards from it, threw a very destructive fire towards the 71st and 92d regiments. The first lined a wall outside the village, and the latter, quite unprotected, were formed at the entrance of the village, in column of sections. The 92d regiment having orders to reserve their fire, beheld their companions fall around them, without being able to avenge their death. But they were not long in this situation. An order soon arrived for the regiment to form line, and prepare to charge. In a few minutes the line was formed, and the Highlanders only waited for the order to advance. All this time the enemy appeared extremely uncomfortable—something like hesitation was observed in their squares. At this interesting period, the two Portuguese guns, attached to the left wing, were ordered forward, whose fire carried death into the thickest of their ranks. The Highlanders had received orders, and were about to present the enemy with a little of their steel, when they, with that politeness for which Frenchmen are so remarkable, declined the honour we intended them, wheeled to the right-about, and, with rather a hasty step, retired to a steep mountain in their rear, over whose summit the French General, no doubt, fancied he should be able to conduct them to more hospitable quarters.

Title: Adventures of a Young Rifleman in the French and English Armies

Author: Johann Christian Maempel

Regiment: 7th Line Battalion, King’s German Legion

Download: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4joZP17EFLMC&dq

This memoir barely qualifies as a British memoir of the Peninsular War, not because the author was German – the KGL were an integral and vital part of the British army – but because Maempel’s service in the peninsula was mainly with the French. His account takes him from joining one of the armies of the many satellite states Napoleon established in Germany, through to marching for Spain, fighting at Bussaco and then being captured. He reluctantly opted to join the KGL rather than remain a prisoner of war and was eventually posted to a fairly easy life in Sicily, before a short period of active service on the east coast of Spain. His friend Phillipe Schwein also wrote a memoir detailing very harsh treatment as a prisoner of the Spanish. In May 1811 Maempel was part of the besieged garrison of Almeida, which escaped through the allied cordon, but many of whom were then chased down.

Our ranks were every moment thinner, and at last entirely broken up. Every one sought his own safety, or endeavoured to sell his life as dearly as possible, so that the cavalry which pursued us lost several men. A small. number of our men were fortunate enough to reach the French line, a greater part were killed, and the remainder made prisoners, which fate I also experienced.

A sturdy Scotchman seized me by the collar, and an hussar flourished his sabre over my head; but when they perceived that I made no opposition, they desisted from hostilities. These two gentlemen, without further ceremony, took possession of my small stock of money and my knapsack, out of which they selected what they pleased. I was obliged to look patiently on, as, had I made the least opposition, I should only have experienced worse treatment.

Title: Recollections of My Military Life

Author: George Landmann

Regiment: Royal Engineers

Download: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TQ8ZAAAAYAAJ&dq

After sharing so many infantry memoirs it would be remiss of me not to include at least one from the vital supporting arms. The second volume of Landmann’s memoirs covers the 1808 campaign to liberate Portugal in great detail, his first volume can be found here. Landmann writes very well and offers many insights and recounts many minor, but interesting, incidents, as well as the major actions. Here he is writing about what he claims are the first shots fired by the British in the Peninsular War.

As the evening was closing, between sunset and dark, we were riding very quietly at the head of the brigade, when we were startled on hearing a shot fired at a short distance in our front, and in the next moment about twenty men, the whole of the advanced guard, of the 20th Regiment of Light Dragoons, came galloping at full speed against us, knocking down everything on the road; thus, in an instant, we were all pitched over into the ditch; the General’s canteens, baggage, and mules, close behind us, shared the same fate.

Fully persuaded that the enemy was close to us, the General halted the brigade, and rapidly formed it into line across the road; and as quickly as the nearest brigades in our rear could be brought up, they were also formed, in order to meet the enemy, and sustain the attack. The Dragoons who had made this precipitate retreat were immediately examined; when they stated, that they had seen one of the enemy’s videttes, and had fired upon him, and without further investigation they thought it their duty to fall back, which they accordingly carried into effect very expeditiously.

A more satisfactory inquiry into this event was evidently indispensable; and General Fane, putting himself with his staff at the head of the advanced guard, which had now been reformed, proceeded to the spot whence they had fired on the enemy’s vidette, and very soon discovered a man sitting on the grass by the side of his horse, and whom, upon further investigation, they ascertained to be a corporal of their own 20th Light Dragoons, whom they had shot through the arm, having mistaken him for an enemy.

On being questioned, this man stated that he had quitted his party for a moment, in order to look over a small bank he had observed at a short distance on the right; and, on returning, the country being quite unenclosed he rode on, cutting off a bend which the road made, without being noticed by his party, and had fallen in with the road beyond the advanced guard, and there waited till his friends came up. Thus, as soon as the two Dragoons, at a short distance in front, perceived this Corporal, the insufficiency of light preventing them from distinguishing his uniform; and not believing there could be a man belonging to the British army between them and the enemy, they challenged thrice, but so quickly, that the poor fellow had not had time to reply, or, if he did, they took no notice of it; but one of them immediately fired off his carbine at the Corporal, and so shot him in the arm. These two men instantly turned round, and made the precipitate retreat already noticed upon their companions, who, satisfied that the enemy must be close at their heels, also retreated, and caused the greatest disorder amongst the leading division of the light brigade.

This was the first shot fired in the Peninsula during the late memorable war, and will serve to show what a trifle will sometimes cause great confusion in an army, but more particularly during a night march.

Well, that should keep you all in reading material for a few more weeks. However, if you are still looking for something to read then my history of the 5/60th – Riflemen is available from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and other book retailers, or direct from the publisher Helion & Co. My next book, At the Point of the Bayonet covering the battles of Arroyomolinos and Almaraz should be out in the autumn.