ON THE ROAD WITH WELLINGTON : THE DIARY OF A WAR COMMISSARY

Schaumann, August Ludolf Friedrich. (Cornwell, Bernard. Introduction. )

ISBN 10: 1853673536 / ISBN 13: 9781853673535

Published by Greenhill Books, 1999

About this Item

Napoleonic Library 34. Hardback; very good in faded and creased dustjacket. ; August Schaumann. He served through Spain, Portugal and the South of France between 1808 and 1814. Reprint of the 1924 edition without the original watercolor plates. With new Introduction by Bernard Cornwell. ; 196 pages.

Seller Inventory # 85939

Bibliographic Details

• Title: ON THE ROAD WITH WELLINGTON : THE DIARY OF A WAR COMMISSARY
• Publisher: Greenhill Books
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1853673536
• ISBN 13: 9781853673535
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

This remarkable memoir captures the life and adventures of a junior officer as he endures the drama and agonies of the fierce struggle in Spain, Portugal, and southern France between 1808 and 1814. As a commissary, he was entrusted with gathering supplies and was caught up in a host of brawls and skirmishes. He laments the lot of commissaries exposing themselves to the enemy on their foraging raids, risking assassination by enraged natives, and being treated shabbily by the generals. This edition is introduced by Bernard Cornwell, author of the Sharpe series of novels.

About the Author

SCHAUMANN was born in Hanover and at the age of 16 he was compelled to join the army against his will, but he eventually rose through the ranks to the rank of junior-subaltern, though he left the Hanoverian Army in 1799. When France invaded Hanover in 1803 Schaumann went to England where he was employed as a clerk at a Newcastle firm. In 1807 he decided to move to Russia. He never made it there because heavy storms forced him to take refuge in Goteborg, Sweden. Here too he found a brief employment as a clerk. When the English fleet sailed back to England after its Swedish expedition in 1808 August he boarded one of its ships and was taken to England to start a new career as war commissary in the King's German Legion.