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Author: Benjamin Harris
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Peninsular War, 1807-1814
Languages : en
Pages : 282
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Book Description
Author: Benjamin Harris
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Peninsular War, 1807-1814
Languages : en
Pages : 282
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Book Description
Author: Benjamin Harris
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Peninsular War, 1807-1814
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Author: Benjamin Harris
Publisher: Forgotten Books
ISBN: 9780267988457
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 298
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Book Description
Excerpt from Recollections of Rifleman Harris, (Old 95th) With Anecdotes of His Officers and His Comrads The following pages, describing the chee quered life of a private soldier, who served during the most glorious period of our military history, speak so plainly for them selves, as scarcely to need any introductory remarks from the editor, further than the assurance of his own sincere conviction of their truth. Such works as the narratives of Rifleman Harris, from the very nature of their details, afford occasionally more graphic sketches of the actual scenes of war, in its stern realities and concomitant circumstances, than the more stately and largely-grouped pictures of the Historian. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Author: Benjamin Harris
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783337464769
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 144
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Book Description
Author: Benjamin Harris
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Peninsular War, 1807-1814
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Author: Benjamin Randell Harris
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 1474626327
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 131
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Book Description
'Describing narrow squeaks and terrible deprivations, Harris's unflowery account of fortitude and resilience in Spain still bristles with a freshness and an invigorating spikiness' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 'A most vivid record of the war in Spain and Portugal against Napoleon' MAIL ON SUNDAY Benjamin Harris was a young shepherd from Dorset who joined the army in 1802 and later joined the dashing 95th Rifles. His battalion was ordered to Portugal, where he marched under the burning sun, weighed down by his kit and great-coat, plus all the tools and leather he had to carry as the battalion's cobbler - 'the lapstone I took the liberty of flinging to the Devil'. Rifleman Harris was a natural story-teller with a remarkable tale to unfold, and his Recollections have become one of the most popular military books of all time.
Author: Benjamin Harris
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781789875829
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
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 determined. Harris eventually managed to depart from Vigo in Galicia, his constitution severely impacted by harsh conditions. Nevertheless, in summer of 1809 he was again ready for a new expedition: the Walcheren Campaign on the Dutch coast. Conceived as a means of opening a new front in the ongoing War of the Fifth Coalition, this mission proved ill-fated: though the troops swiftly seized the Walcheren marshlands, feverish sickness rapidly spread through the ranks, killing thousands. Transcribed from Harris' dictation in the 1830s and published in 1848, this work remains a classic wartime memoir.
Author: Benjamin Randell Harris
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 190869257X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 191
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Book Description
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 for a court-martial of one of the rank and file and of the court-martial of the bungling General Whitelock whose mishandled expedition to Buenos Ayres. The man from the rank and file was shot, but General Whitelock was merely cashiered, a difference of class and the times unintentionally brought to light. Whitelock’s court-martial provides the first appearance of General (at the time Colonel) Craufurd, who went on the expedition with Whitelock and want to have his former commander shot for his ineptitude!, and under whom Harris would spend a great deal of his soldiering career. Harris takes a small part in another expedition to Denmark, but the only sort of action he is involved in is defending a Danish family from the depredations of fellow soldiers. It is however with his entrance into Portugal in 1808, that his adventures really begin to take shape; as his fellow soldiers fall around him at the battles of Roliça and Vimiero he describes the horrific injuries sustained, the plundering of the dead that took place (which he was not above joining in) and the task of the surgeons to try and stitch up the wounded. A large part of the narrative is taken by the retreat of Sir John Moore’s army to Coruña, and the Light Brigade’s to Vigo. His tales of the retreat are vividly described; from the capture of the French general Lefebvre-Desnouettes at Benavente, the privation, the wifes of the soldiers and their struggle to stay with the column, to the iron resolve of General Craufurd to keep going. Eventually and in a pitiable state Harris reaches Vigo and embarks for England. It was not enemy action that ended Harris’ career in the army but diseases contracted during the pestilent 1809 Walcheren campaign, the lingering sickness forced Harris to leave the army and take up trade as a cobbler. A valuable and excellent read.
Author: John Harris
Publisher: Random House (UK)
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 160
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Book Description
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.
Author: Benjamin Harris
Publisher: Abela Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 8829500747
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 208
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Book Description
The book which inspired the Sharpe Novels! Just as in the Sharpe Novels by Bernard Cornwell, the Prince’s Own 95th Rifles was a real regiment, and there was a real Rifleman Harris for it is his recollections which are published in this volume. There was indeed a soldier who joined the rifles and was soon made a sergeant. By the end of the wars he had, unusually, risen to be a commissioned officer (see Ch. XV.). It is believed that it is this story which inspired the character of Richard Sharpe. Harris’ story starts after he had been recruited and was now, in-turn, on a recruiting drive. In this volume he recounts anecdotes about his officers; believe me all enlisted men have such stories about their officers. He also recounts occurrences of desertion and the penalties if caught, cases of treachery and accounts of camaraderie. There is even an account of how he held a perfectly rational conversation with a fellow rifleman during the heat of battle, no easy feat when you’re using a muzzle loader. All of these are retold at some point during the Sharpe Novels. Also recorded are the battles in which the part he, and the 95th, took part. Here you can read of the battles of Roliça, Vimiero, Slamanca and the retreat to Corunna. Read also of the stories of “A cobbler and the cannon ball”, “A lubberly artilleryman”, “Major Travers and his wig” and how the 95th routed Boney's Invincibles. If a soldier survived the Peninsula War, he would have had the opportunity to augment his meagre wages by plundering what items of value the enemy left behind. In many cases this meant picking over the dead. Hence there was the opportunity to finish the war a lot wealthier than he could have imagined. The wives and dependants of the soldiers were also allowed to pick over the dead at the end of each battle. In most cases it would mean cutting off brass buttons and removing belts. If they were lucky they may find an officer’s sword or pistols. Many would convert their pickings to cash, or use them to trade, for food for themselves and any children they may have with them. Harris himself was illiterate. He is thought to have been born in Portsea, Portsmouth into a family of shepherds and this was his way of life until he joined the army in 1803. His recollections were recorded for him, after the war, at some stage in the middle of the 1830s by an officer who knew him, Captain Henry Curling, editor of this volume. Curling then kept the manuscript until 1848, when he succeeded in getting it published. So, we invite you to download this very interesting, first-hand account, of an enlisted man who inspired the story of Richard Sharpe and the Sharpe Novels. =============== HISTORICAL NOTE: The Prince’s Own 95th underwent a few reinventions and amalgamations during the Peninsula Wars ending the Napoleonic wars as The Rifle Brigade. They were still in existence during WWI and at the outbreak of WWII they were part of The 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade and performed with distinguished service during both World Wars. On 1 January 1966 the regiment was amalgamated with the 1st Green Jackets (43rd and 52nd) and the King's Royal Rifle Corps to form The Royal Green Jackets. The 1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets' final operation was in Basra, Iraq, on Operation Telic in 2006/7. Thereafter they were reorganised and amalgamated in 2007 with a few other regiments to become The Rifles. =============== KEYWORDS/TAGS: Richard Sharpe, Sharpe Series, Sharpe Novels, Bernard Cornwell, Rifleman Harris, Peninsula Wars, Napoleon, Boney, Recruiting, Army Reserve, penalty for desertion, General Craufurd, cowardice, treachery, Trial, General Whitelock, Irish recruits, shillelagh, Protestant, Catholic, Danish expedition, home, Embark, Spain, Portugal, Lord Hill, wine, in the field, the wounded, enemy, Manœuvres, advance, Battle of Roliça, devotion, Battle of Vimiero, cobbler, cannon ball, handicraft, lubberly, artilleryman, heat of action, battle-field, Vimiero, military family, scapegrace, surprise, fortune, General Napier, Boney, Invincibles, cold steel, Church plunder, haphazard shot, Booty, Portuguese, chivalry, General Kellerman, hornet's nest, Beat to quarters, Salamanca, Heavy marches, gallant, military agriculturist, gentleman farmer, Death or glory, The Duke, Wellington, brothers Hart, North Mayo, militiaman, Marshal Beresford, gunpowder, False alarm, Retreat, Skirmish, pursuers, escapes, rounds, French general, New year's day, mutineers, inflexibility, endurance, wilderness, Dangerous ground, magic lantern, in need, Sir Dudley Hill, stragglers, Spanish welcome, English ships, Other ranks, demon runner, Winning, commission, Flushing, Walcheren fever, expedition, attack, survivor, veteran battalion, independent companies
