Officer of the West Yorks

An essential British Army memoir from a regimental officer

Historian Mockler-Ferryman has taken the letters and papers of Sam Rice of H.M 51st regiment of foot and combined them with his own narrative of the life and times of a regimental officer of the British infantry during the Napoleonic epoch. Rice's career was an interesting one, though not untypical for his time. He remained a regimental officer within the same regiment for all of his career and this enables the reader to follow Rice and the West Yorks. through many campaigns of interest to students of the age of Napoleon. Rice saw action in Corsica, Ceylon and in the early stages of the war in Spain to the battle and evacuation at Corunna. Return to the Iberian peninsula brought him to Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca and the campaigns to the close of the war and the Emperors abdication. Rice was fated to meet the French once more on the slopes before Waterloo. Mockler-Ferryman brings vital context and added detail to the activities of Rice, his regiment and their role in great events. Recommended.