Hello There! I have finished reading my latest book. It was bedtime reading and it proved an interesting read!
The book describes the experiences of William Surtees who started off serving in the militia, then the 56th regiment and then on the end of his enlistment joined the 95th Rifles. He became the Quarter Master Sergeant.
He served in Holland, Bremen, Denmark and the Peninsular. The book starts with his enlistment into the 56th Regiment and finishes when he returns to England after Napoleons first abdication.
In the Peninsular he was involved in the Corunna Campaign, Barrosa, just missed the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, was present at the siege and storming of Badajoz, where he lost friends in the fighting, present at Vittoria, Vera and a number of other skirmishes in the Pyrenees.
He eventually received a commission and became paymaster of the Battalion.
The book gives a good idea of the contempt that the British Army held for the Spanish and Portuguese soldiers and civilians. However there are many favourable mentions of Portuguese troops in battle.
A point of local interest for me was that his unit landed at Great Yarmouth twice during his career.
Once ater serving in Holland and marching through Norwich and another in October 1805 after campaigning in Bremen from October 1806 to February 1806. He landed in Great Yarmouth and marched through Lowestoft to Woodbridge, where his battalion was barracked.
The narration was clear and included many 'adventures' and casual references to the more notorious behaviour of the British army in the Peninsular.
This was an easy book to keep returning to and did not need a map to continually make sense of the narrative.
If you wanted to look at some of the more less glorious actions of the Army, which was none the less important, then I can recommend this book.
The gritty end of war from a soldier's perspective. Always worth a read.
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