A Boy In The Peninsular War – The Services, Adventures, And Experiences of Robert Blakeney, Subaltern in the 28th Regiment.

Robert Blakeney was by modern standards a callow youth at the age of fifteen, in the standards of the time in which he lived he was a gentleman and a soldier. Blakeney was commissioned as a subaltern in the 28th Regiment, he was to see tough and trying service in the Peninsular under both Sir John Moore and the Duke of Wellington. Although the author eschews any literary pretensions, claiming that he was far too busy with his active career soldiering, the autobiography is excellently written with no little wit, aided no doubt by tight editing by Julian Sturgis. His description of the hell of Badajoz is particularly well done.
Many incidents of the camp and bivouac that Blakeney recounts revolve around the characters of his soldiers, who not infrequently happen to be Irish, and the great generals that he meets in carrying out his duties; such as Sir John Moore, Lord Paget, General Graham and the Iron Duke himself. As an example of which Lord Paget is memorably recalled infusing some urgency into one of Blakeney’s superiors during the retreat of 1809;
‘Dragoon, what news?" "News, sir? The only news I have for you is that unless you step out like soldiers, and don't wait to pick your steps like bucks in Bond Street of a Sunday with shoes and silk stockings, damn it! you'll be all taken prisoners." "Pray, who the devil are you?" came from the cart. "I am Lord Paget," said the dragoon;’
Blakeney, served during the Copenhagen expedition, the Coruña campaign including the battle, the siege of Tarifa, the battle of Barossa, the siege of Badajoz, and finally the battle of Nivelle in which he is severely wounded.
A highly enjoyable and recommended read.
Author – Robert Blakeney – (1789-1858)
Editor – Julian Sturgis – (1848-1904)