Some of the most famous memoirs of Britain’s long war against Napoleon have come from the pens of members of Wellington’s Light Division, but many wonderful accounts were never published and have sat in archives, libraries, museums, and private collections, forgotten for 200 years. The regiments of the Light Division, and its predecessor, the Light Brigade, were involved in almost every major battle and skirmish fought by Wellington and Sir John Moore in the Peninsular War. Unlike the line infantry, these men were encouraged to think and fight independently and were, often, of a higher educational standard, resulting in vivid descriptions of warfare and campaign life. However, these memoirs do not simply cover old ground. Many of these accounts were produced within hours, or at most days, after the incidents they describe, and they often portray a very different view of many famous events and cause us to question numerous claims made in those later published memoirs. Never intended to be published, the memoirs in this book were written only for the men themselves and their families, being penned without the dreaded influence of ‘hindsight’ to alter and temper their views. Consequently, they provide brutally honest assessments of their senior officers, how operations were handled and who made mistakes that have subsequently been quietly covered over. The Men of Wellington’s Light Division is certain to be welcomed by historians and enthusiasts alike, providing a glimpse into the past that has not been seen before.

The Chasseurs Britanniques Regiment was formed around a core of Frenchmen who had gone into exile for their king, and who, with their comrades, went on to serve Britain in Egypt and the Mediterranean, before joining Wellington's army in the Peninsula to fight in many of the momentous battles of the war. The first comprehensive history of this unique Regiment of the British Army. A story that begins with an account of the struggles endured by the Army of Conde. Eyewitness accounts are used to describe life and actions with the Chasseurs Britanniques. The deployments and movements of the Regiment are put into strategic and political context. Appendices provide biographical and service details for officers and men of the Regiment. Accepted views of the Regiment are challenged to provide a balanced view of its service.

“A detailed and riveting account of the Light Division and its three regiments, 43rd and 52nd Light Infantry and the 95th Rifles . . . An important book.” —Firetrench In February 1810, Wellington formed what became the most famous unit in the Peninsular War: the Light Division. Formed around the 43rd and 52nd Light Infantry and the 95th Rifles, the exploits of these three regiments is legendary. Over the next 50 months, the division would fight and win glory in almost every battle and siege of the Peninsular War. How the division achieved its fame began on the border of Spain and Portugal where it served as a screen between Wellington’s Army and the French. When it came time pull back from the border, the division endured a harrowing retreat with a relentless enemy at their heels. It was during this eventful year it developed an esprit-de-corps and a belief in its leaders and itself that was unrivaled in Wellington’s Army. Wellington’s Light Division in the Peninsular War uses over 100 primary sources—many never published before—to recount the numerous skirmishes, combats, and battles, as well as the hardships of a year of duty on the front lines. Others are from long-forgotten books published over 150 years ago. It is through the words of the officers and men who served with it that this major, and long-anticipated study of the first critical year of the Light Division is told. “Given the limited scope of the book, covering only one year of the Peninsular campaign, the depth of the study is truly remarkable . . . An excellent history of the Light Division ‘Warts and All.’”—The Napoleon Series

There are many books on Wellington’s campaigns during the Peninsular War. Yet very few examine the pivotal year of 1811, when he went on the offensive and forced Napoleon’s armies back over 300 kilometers, from the doors of Lisbon to the Spanish border. For two months he pursued the retreating French, fighting skirmishes and rearguards virtually the whole way. The French finally halted at the Spanish border and turned on Wellington in early May, where an epic three-day battle was fought at Fuentes de Oñoro. The rest of the year, Wellington defended the border while making plans to liberate Spain in 1811. Wellington’s Light Division and the defense of Portugal looks at the famed Light Division as it led the pursuit of the French and was involved in almost every combat and battle fought that year. The book also explores the stalemate of January and February 1811, where the division maintained outposts overlooking French positions in the vicinity of Santarem, as well as the pursuit of the French Army back to Spain in March and April, when the division fought many skirmishes, combats, and small battles, often on its own. These include the actions at Pombal, Condeixa, Redinha, Casal Novo, Foz d’Arouce, Freixada, and Sabugal. May saw the Light Division in a desperate fight at Fuentes de Oñoro, where for much of the battle it held the army’s right flank. For the rest of the year the Light Division was in the vicinity of Ciudad Rodrigo where it occupied ground that it held for much of 1810, where it served as Wellington’s advance outposts. The assumed similar positions and were engaged at Fuente Guinaldo and El Bodon. In addition to these fights, the book will examine the changes in the organization of the division, with the addition of new battalions and release of other units. It will also go into great detail on the problems it had with command and control – with its leading officers exhausted, requesting permission to return home to recuperate. Drawing on diaries, letters, and memoirs, the authors tell the story of the officers and men who fought in the division. Many of these sources have never been published before.

No other regiment in Wellington’s Peninsular army can compare with the 95th Rifles. Even before Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels and television series, the Rifles were the most famous of all the British Army’s fighting formations. Unlike the red-coated regiments of the Line, the Riflemen were trained to act with a degree of independence, selecting their own targets in battle. As a result, a number of the officers and some of the men were more literate than their counterparts in the Line, or at least were more willing to record their experiences fighting the French. Consequently, many of the finest memoirs of the era have come from the pens of the likes of Harry Smith, Johnny Kincaid and Riflemen Harris and Costello, and have found their places on the shelves of every enthusiast of the era. However, these well-known works were written years after the fighting when memories had faded and were bulked out with incidents borrowed from others and heavily edited with grand descriptions of ‘derring-do’ for their Victorian audience, and heavily constrained by the strict morals of the day. Through many years of research, Gareth Glover has uncovered other memories written by members of the 95th which have never been published before or have not been brought to the attention of the present-day public, that were written at the time. These honestly state what really happened on the battlefields of Spain and Portugal – the suffering, the awkward incidents, the rumors and camp gossip – presenting a very different picture of life in Wellington’s army than the sanitized versions we have been presented with until now. Also included are rare or unpublished memoirs written by members of the staff of the Light Division, enabling the reader to understand the division’s command structure and organization to provide a rounded and realistic vision of this famous fighting force.

The Light Division is rightly regarded as the most famous force within Wellington’s army in the Peninsular War. Often the first into every battle and the last to withdraw, the men of the Light Division were trained to act independently and think for themselves as well as operating in their battalion formations. The regiments which comprised the Light Division were present at almost every battle, large or small, throughout the Peninsular War. Many people, however, associate the Light Division with the men of the 95th Rifles, wearing in the distinctive green uniforms made famous in the Sharpe novels. What is less understood is that the majority of the Light Division actually consisted of troops dressed in the traditional red uniforms. These were men who, although equally capable of skirmishing as light infantry, actually spent the vast majority of their time formed as regular infantry, fighting in line, column or square. The 95th Rifles has literally a dozen or more memorialists including many famous ones such as Kincaid, Harry Smith, Harris, Costello, Leach, Simmons and others, who have been published and republished countless times. But the 52nd Foot – the first of the regiments of the Light Division to be trained as light infantry – has, until now, been largely unrepresented. After decades of research, Gareth Glover has unearthed a collection of short memoirs from soldiers of the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment which have never been published before and one previously published, but now virtually unobtainable. This collection will undoubtedly add an essential element to our understanding of the role of the Light Division both in battle and on campaign.

Some of the most famous memoirs of Britain's long war against Napoleon have come from the pens of members of Wellington's Light Division, but many wonderful accounts were never published and have sat in archives, libraries, museums, and private collections, forgotten for 200 years.The regiments of the Light Division, and its predecessor, the Light Brigade, were involved in almost every major battle and skirmish fought by Wellington and Sir John Moore in the Peninsular War. Unlike the line infantry, these men were encouraged to think and fight independently and were, often, of a higher educational standard, resulting in vivid descriptions of warfare and campaign life.However, these memoirs do not simply cover old ground. Many of these accounts were produced within hours, or at most days, after the incidents they describe, and they often portray a very different view of many famous events and cause us to question numerous claims made in those later published memoirs.Never intended to be published, the memoirs in this book were written only for the men themselves and their families, being penned without the dreaded influence of 'hindsight' to alter and temper their views. Consequently, they provide brutally honest assessments of their senior officers, how operations were handled and who made mistakes that have subsequently been quietly covered over.The Men of Wellington's Light Division is certain to be welcomed by historians and enthusiasts alike, providing a glimpse into the past that has not been seen before.