Letters of Private Wheeler, 1809 - 1828

About this book

These are the letters - in the form of a frank and amusing diary - written by a private in Wellington's army who fought throughout the Napoleonic wars and it includes a colourful eye-witness account of the Battle of Waterloo. Private Wheeler's record covers the Peninsular Campaign, keeping order during the coronation of Louis XVIII whom he called "an old bloated poltroon" and his later posting to Corfu where he enjoyed reporting on the barbarous habits of the natives with obvious enjoyment. Wheeler wrote his accounts before the muskets of battle had cooled, and he was a master of lively anecdote and mischievous characterisation. Nothing escapes his sharp eyes, whether it is the local landscape or the looks of the local girls. Sir Basil Liddell Hart, the editor, joined the Army and served in the same regiment as Private Wheeler during the First World War. In 1937 he became personal advisor to the War Minister and was military correspondent to The Daily Telegraph from 1925-35 and to The Times until the outbreak of the Second World War. He lectured on strategy and tactics at staff colleges in numerous countries and wrote more than thirty books. He died in 1970.