Journal Of A Soldier Of The 71st Regiment From 1806 to 1815

This work is the journal of an anonymous soldier from Edinburgh, known only as Thomas, having enlisted as a short term soldier for seven years in 1806. He was not motivated by any thought of gaining glory in the wars against France; his motive for enlisting was his lost honour and the shame of having wronged his parents following a failed attempt at a stage career. He was an educated man and wrote very well, but, haunted by the dishonour of his actions, he took the King's shilling from the first recruiting sergeant that was passing. Unknown to him this regiment was the 71st, later Highland Light Infantry, a regiment of great renown and élan that had and would be in the forefront of the fighting.


Thomas saw his redemption in a journey through the purgatory of service as a private soldier in the British army. His travails would be hard and the privations many but bound by his word he sticks to his resolution. He was to campaign far and wide: from the expedition to Buenos Ayres, during which he was captured, to the despicable conditions of the retreat to Coruña, fever-ridden Walcheren, battles and skirmishes in the Peninsula including Roleia, Vimiero, Fuentes D'Oñoro, Vittoria, Bayonne and the Nivelle, and finally the battle of Waterloo. His discharge followed soon after and, despite being back in his homeland of Scotland, the penury of an ex-serviceman was his only reward.


A vivid and uncompromising tale of hard fighting, privation and the realities of war.