Narrative of the Principal Events of the Campaigns of 1809, 1810, & 1811 in Spain and Portugal

Published in 1812, this is an extremely early account of the Peninsular War by Capt. William Stothert, an infantry adjutant with the Third Foot Guards, who was later killed at the Battle of Waterloo. Published in the form of letters written home to the author's family, Stothert's narrative relates his entire experiences of the war, from leaving Portsmouth in 1809, to his return three years later. In between he witnesses the assumption of command by Wellington (then Sir Arthur Wellesley); the campaigns in north Portugal; the battle of Talavera; the siege and storming of Ciudad Roderigo; the battle of Busaco; the retreat to the lines of Torres Vedras; the battle of Fuentes d'Onoro; the battle of Albuera; and the siege of Badajoz. Stothert does not hold back in his denunciations of French barbarities against the Spanish civilian population; but he is equally unsparing of praise for the enemy's bravery in battle. A rare and valuable insight into a savage war.