The author has done a quite outstanding job of editing and footnoting this rare memoir.
John Vandeleur’s letters home to his mother are a lively and engaging account of active service during the Napoleonic Wars, recounting everything from day-to-day life on campaign to the experience of pitched battle at Vitoria and Waterloo.
As first a light infantryman and then a light cavalryman, Vandeleur was frequently on the outposts of Wellington’s forces. He was in frequent contact with the French and often obliged to live a rough-and-ready lifestyle as a result. The conditions that he endured, and the camaraderie that sustained him, are vividly recounted in this fascinating collection – previously only available in an extremely rare private publication over a century ago.
Expertly edited and enhanced with contemporary documents and a commentary by Andrew Bamford, this is an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the Peninsular War and the Waterloo campaign.
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WITH WELLINGTON’S OUTPOSTS The Peninsular and Waterloo Letters of John Vandeleur
£3.99
John Vandeleur was first an infantryman and then a light cavalryman in the Peninsular War and the Waterloo campaign. Drawn from his vividly written letters home to his mother, this book provides an invaluable insight into the life, camaraderie and frequent fighting with the French of an ordinary soldier in Wellington’s army.
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