A British Rifle Man

Originally published in 1899, these writings by George Simmons (1785–1858) complement the work of other officers who served in the famous 95th Rifles between 1809 and 1815. Extremely descriptive and informative, the book covers all of the major battles and sieges of the Peninsular War and Waterloo Campaign in which Simmons' regiment was engaged during this period. Simmons himself was badly wounded at the Battle of the Côa in July 1810, but he recovered and played his part in the final years of the Peninsular War. He was also present at Waterloo in June 1815. Edited with an introduction by fellow Rifleman William Willoughby Cole Verner (1852–1922), Simmons' letters and diaries, written at the time and without the benefit of hindsight, have a tremendous immediacy. They remain of interest and relevance to military historians and students of the Napoleonic wars.