Manuscript journal of a British soldier marching home through France in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars.

£1,500 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

A rare firsthand account of France in the immediate aftermath of Napoleon's abdication in 1814, kept by a British soldier as he marched home across the country having served in the final battles of Wellington in south-west France. It provides a tantalising insight into a much more complex and nuanced impact of the wars on France than is commonly believed. The first page is signed "Fred. Shaw / His Book / Toulouse April / the 10th 1814" followed by seemingly a testimony of a marriage between a fellow soldier or friend "Jack Taylor (and) Lucy Taylor". Many of the soldiers in Wellington's armies had acquired Spanish wives and girlfriends during their time in Spain during the Peninsular War who were abandoned when the British withdrew. The 10th of April was the day when Wellington led his armies across the Garonne and launched his assault in the Battle of Toulouse, his final action against Marshal Soult. Whether this marriage was a final act before the conflict or in celebration of success after, it shows the continued peril faced by soldiers on both sides in the final days when news of Napoleon's abdication had yet to reach the southern armies. Shaw also lists Bayonne in his itinerary, suggesting that he was present at the final two major actions of Wellington and the British Army in the Peninsular War. The narrative starts "March'd at day Break six Leagues to a small Village called Mongaion Alted(?) that Night" and continues in a similar vein with small vignettes of the towns a

• Binding: Hardcover

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