William Warre was the spirited scion of one of the great commercial
dynasties which helped make Portugal Britain's oldest ally. Brought
up in Oporto, his nature was too fiery to take kindly to the dull
business of exporting port, and he gratefully left the family firm
to take up a military career after sticking the pigtails of his
father's Portuguese partner to his desk with sealing wax while the
man was sleeping off a liquid lunch. Warre returned to his native
city as a young staff officer in 1808, and thereafter witnessed
most of the major actions of the conflict at close quarters. He
took part in Sir John Moore's winter retreat to Corunna; the
storming of the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo, personally accepted the
sword of the surrendering French commander of Badajoz after the
famous siege; and fought at Vimieiro and Salamanca among many other
actions. After the latter battle he was given the important task of
reorganising the Portuguese Army and was Britain's liasion man at
the Portuguese court in Lisbon. This volume is composed of letters
to Warre's parents. He describes not only the military actions in
which he was engaged, but also recounts the gossip among his fellow
Staff officers and his own frank observations on the foibles of his
Portuguese allies.
General
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