The British Army Against Napoleon:
Facts, Lists and Trivia 1805-1815
By
Robert Burnham and Ron McGuigan
 I
find a wealth of information within military lists and this wonderful
book by Robert Burnham and Ron McGuigan has given me hours of fascinating
reading.
It
has a huge title, but The British Army Against Napoleon Facts, Lists
and Trivia 1805-1815 has an even bigger wealth of detail on the
members of the Redcloat army that took on the Corsican Ogre, Napoleon
Bonaparte.
Take
these for example...
Did
you know that in 1809 the daily amount of forage for mules and horses
was: 14lbs of hay or straw, 12lbs of oats or 10lbs of barley of
Indian corn.
Or
the cost of shipping items from Plymouth to the Peninsula ranged
from 1 shilling for under 250lbs, to 20 shillings for between 1500
and 2000 lbs.
How
about the cost of food in the Peninsula between 1809 and 1813, or
prizemoney shares for all army ranks?
I didn't even know the army got shares but, they did.
For
example a sergeant taking part in the actions at Coimbra and the
Douro got paid 2 pounds 19 shillings 7.5 pence, while other ranks
got 7 shilliongs and 2.5 pence.
For
the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz they got 2.3.6.5 and 6.3.5
pence respectively.
Not
exactly generous for the hell they went through.
And
do you know what the most common first name was among officers in
the Peninsular War?
If
you guessed Richard, you'd be wrong. We Richards only made up 2.71%,
or 241, of the officer brothers.
John
was the most common (1305 men or 14.7%), followed by William (1024,
11.6%) and James (605, 6.83%). As for surnames Campbell was No1
(105), then Smith (58) and Stewart (57).
The
authors also throw in the most unusual names of Peninsular officers,
they include: Sholto Douglas of the 4th Lt Dragoons and Christmas
Knight of the 61st Foot.
To
lose the regimental colours was a slight upon the unit and so many
men died defending their symbols on all sides of the conflict. You'll
find out how many times British colours were lost in this book,
along with medals and honours awarded for merit and honourable service.
The
British Army Against Napoleon Facts, Lists and Trivia 1805-1815
is a wonderful book filled with details in more than 300 pages that
give a really good glimpse into life in the British army that was
fighting Napoleon. - Richard Moore
8.5/10
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