The Letters of a Captain of the Third Foot Guards During the Peninsular War, 1809-11

The Correspondence of a Scottish officer in Spain and Portugal

Accounts of the activities of the Third Foot Guards of the British Army ( later the The Scots Guards) during the wars against Napoleonic France are quite rare, so these letters by one of its serving officers,William Stothert- though comparatively small-are invaluable and an essential component of any library of the conflict from a British perspective. This was a very early published account of the war (1812) comprised of letters to the author's family. His experiences begin in 1809 and cover the ensuing three years. Several engagements are referenced including Talavera, Ciudad Rodrigo, Busaco, the retreat to the Lines at Torres Vedras, Fuentes d'Onoro, Albuera and Badajoz. Captain Stothert ( Brigade- Major of the 2nd Brigade of Guards) survived the campaign in the Iberian peninsula, but was, of course, once more called to action during the Hundred Days Campaign of 1815 and was killed serving with his regiment at the Battle of Waterloo. Stothert gives particular attention to the Battle of Talavera in his correspondence so this Leonaur edition contains Maxwell's account of that engagement. This book contains illustrations and maps that did not accompany the original edition.