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Dorset , 1803. A shepherd's son is enlisted as a soldier of the Army of Reserve. His name is Benjamin Randell Harris, private of the 95th Regiment of Foot. The Recollections of Benjamin Harris are the classic memoirs of a foot soldier during the Napoleonic Wars, originally published in 1848. With personal anecdotes, quick wit and vivid descriptions, The Recollections of Benjamin Harris is one of the few surviving accounts of military service from the Napoleonic era. The memoir charts Harris's years of active service from joining the 95th Rifles in Ireland, to the Peninsular Wars of Northern Spain. Harris recollects the gripping campaign at Copenhagen, the engagement at the Battle of Rolica, the gruelling march to Salamanca and, finally, culminates with the Battle of Corunna. The Recollections of Benjamin Harris is a personal military account from the eyes of a foot soldier, and offers military history fans a unique insight into the Napoleonic wars. Praise for The Recollections of Benjamin Harris: "Wonderful memoirs... A piercing eye, a talent for description, and a constant good humour" - Bernard Cornwell Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.
Rare account of army life by common British foot soldier in early 1800s tells of camaraderie among infantrymen, physical hardships, endemic drunkenness, frequent hunger, and the narrow margin between death and survival.
In an era devoid of modern communication methods, letters and diaries from the literate officer classes of the Napoleonic wars abound ,in all of the languages of the combatant nations. Much less often heard is the voice of the enlisted man, particularly in the British armed forces, an invaluable insight is provided by the recollections of Rifleman Harris late of the 95th Rifles. The often brutal realities of the era were collated by an officer whom he knew, Captain Curling, and published in 1848, and although not well known at the time has become one of the most famous recorded by any rank. One of Harris’ first memoires of his time in the army is the devastating spectacle of a firing squad...
One of the most popular military books of all time receives a well-deserved new edition for readers young and old. The hero is an ordinary shepherd, a teenager from a small village, who joined the British army in 1802 and fought in the Napoleonic Wars. Rifleman Harris was a natural storyteller with a remarkable tale, and his harrowing escapes from capture and death are all told in this unique view of a soldier' s life.
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The Recollections of Rifleman Harris constitute one of the few sources which depict the Napoleonic Wars from the viewpoint of an infantry soldier. Benjamin Harris was born in Portsmouth, England around 1781. He saw his first military action at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. Victorious, he and his regiment sailed back to English soil upon captured Danish vessels, and spent time recuperating. The following year, Harris and his comrades in arms were sent to Portugal - there they met stiff resistance in a series of battles, taking losses at Roliça and Vimiero. Their expedition was finally trapped in northern Spain with the remaining army of John Moore, their state dire, depleted yet determin...
The most famous Rifleman account in its complete and original form - unedited and unabridged Benjamin Harris' story has rightly won its place amongst the best and most well known British Army accounts of life on campaign during the war in Spain against Napoleon's French Army. It graphically tells of the gruelling retreat to Corunna, but it is the human detail of Harris' recollections on the march and on the battlefield that have made this a classic Napoleonic period memoir. This is Harris' full story - not readily available in this form for many years - in fact the Compleat Rifleman Harris!
The most famous Rifleman account in its complete and original form - unedited and unabridged. Benjamin Harris' story has rightly won its place amongst the best and most well known British Army accounts of life on campaign during the war in Spain against Napoleon's French Army. It graphically tells of the gruelling retreat to Corunna, but it is the human detail of Harris' recollections on the march and on the battlefield that have made this a classic Napoleonic period memoir. This is Harris' full story - not readily available in this form for many years - in fact the Compleat Rifleman Harris!
Recollections of Rifleman Harris, (old 95th) with Anecdotes of His Officers and His Comrades is a biography of a British soldier who fought during the Napoleonic Wars.