Subtitled The Peninsular War Letters of William, George and Charles Napier, this book contains extracts from the original private letters and journals of the three Napier brothers and those of fellow officers, written while they were on campaign, without the distortion of hindsight that affects later writings. All three bothers served with distinction in the Peninsular War and were wounded on active service. Charles, the oldest, was commissioned an ensign in the 33rd Foot in January 1794 and became a lieutenant in the 89th Foot in May of the same year, aged eleven! In May 1806 he was promoted to a majority in the Cape Corps, from which he exchanged into the 50th Foot, which he commanded at Corunna, being wounded five times and taken prisoner. After being exchanged in January 1810, he served as a volunteer in the Light Brigade, was aide de camp to General Craufurd at the Coa and was then attached to Wellington’s staff. At Busaco he was shot in the face, his jaw broken and his eye injured... Read more
Arthur Harman, Miniature Wargames

"Tupper Carey presents a different perspective on the campaigns and battles described by many British memoirists... Collectors of British memoirs of the Peninsular and Waterloo campaigns will want to add both volumes of this entertaining memoir to their libraries."
Miniature Wargames

Review as featured in
VaeVictis Magazine

Review as featured in
After Action Report Newsletter, August 2023

This new book is in many respects a companion to Albuera 1811: The Bloodiest Battle of the Peninsular War by the same author, published by Frontline in 2008, in that it consists mainly of accounts and narratives written by participants, most of which were referenced in the earlier book but are quoted here at greater length. It also includes several accounts discovered more recently. In his Introduction, Guy Dempsey states that his purpose is to ‘present all the currently known significant eyewitness and first-hand accounts of the Battle of Albuera’ and that he hopes this book will encourage readers to examine the primary sources ‘to determine the relevant facts and produce their own version of the Albuera story.’ He distinguishes ‘eyewitness’ and ‘first-hand’ accounts by explaining that the former is ‘a written record of things seen directly by the writer’, whereas the latter ‘includes information obtained from other participants that was not observed or created directly.. Read more
Arthur Harman, Miniature Wargames