Journal of the Campaign of 1815

A Horse Gunner's view of the world's most famous battle

Captain Mercer has left posterity a vital and remarkable book in his Journal of the Campaign of 1815. It is, of course, written from the perspective of an officer of the Royal Horse Artillery of Wellington's army and so brings to life a host of detail about the composition, daily workings, camp life and battle field manoeuvrings of the British Horse Artillery during the Napoleonic Wars. This alone would recommend it to anyone interested in the period. It is much more. Mercer's substantial work covers a comparatively short period of time from the call to arms following Napoleon's escape from Elba through to the landing on the continent, the fearsome battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo-which all but destroyed his troop-to the pursuit of the fleeing French Army to Paris and the subsequent occupation. He recorded everything he saw, felt and personally experienced in fine detail on a day by day basis. This not only provides us with an incomparable portrait of momentous events, but also a detailed and illuminating view of Belgium, Northern France and Paris itself from it's people to the minutiae of everyday life and the culture of the capital in the early years of the 19th century.