Reminiscences of Captain Gronow, formerly of the Grenadier Guards

and M.P. for Stafford: being Anecdotes of the Camp, the Court and the Clubs at the close of the last war with France

Captain Gronow, joined the Grenadier guards as a young subaltern in 1812, having completed his studies at Eton and was widely know in England and the Continent thereafter as a raconteur and a fine pistol shot. His “Reminiscences” span four volumes in their original edition, an edited version was produced around the turn of the 19th century, having varied titles but following a stream of collected anecdotes set in distinct eras. These memoirs have achieved a high degree of fame and are justly accorded much historical respect, especially in those incidents where Gronow was personally present to record the words and deeds of those around him. Although admitted to the highest society, Gronow is far from being a snob and his works bear the stamp of a high degree of moral probity, they could not be described as the handiwork of a gossip.
The first volume concentrates, as the title suggests, around Gronow’s experiences between 1812 and 1816, initially his experiences were military; He fought under the Duke of Wellington in the last two years of the Peninsular war being present at the battle of the Nivelle. His memories of the 1815 campaign and the culminating battle of Waterloo are widely known and quoted, they are vivid, accurate and of especial interest. After the fall of Napoleon, Gronow recounts his adventures and encounters in society in London and Paris, in the clubs, soirées, the opera and the field of honour, tales of “six bottlemen” and duels abound, tales of fortunes won and lost at rouge et noir. The great and the good of the period appear in thumb sketches and anecdotes; men such as The Duke of Wellington, Blucher, Beau Brumell, Romeo Coates, General Ornano, Lord Byron, Lord Canning, Shelley, Kangaroo Cook, the Duke of York all feature.
“Reading Gronow is like drinking champagne - effervescent and mildly addictive”
Author - Captain Rees Howell Gronow - (1794–1865)