STORY OF THE PENINSULAR WAR. 'BY GENERAL CHARLES WILLIAM VANE. MARQUESS OF LONDONDERRY, G.C.B., G.C.H. COLONEL OF THE SECOND REGIMENT OF LIFE-GUARDS. NEW EDITION REVISED, WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS. BIBI LONDON: HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1848. PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. SCARCELY any Work on the subject of the War in the Peninsula has enjoyed a more extensive popularity than that which forms the basis of the present volume. The rank and official situation of the writer, who, it must be borne in mind, took an active part in the great struggle as well as his near relationship to the war-minister of the dayafforded him opportunities of acquiring knowledge which perhaps no other individual (the Commander of the Forces alone excepted) could enjoy; and of these his natural quickness of observation, as well as the habit of recording his daily impressions as they occurred, enabled him to make the best use. Lord Londonderry, however, was prevented from bringing down his narrative to the close of the war, having been compelled by ill health, after the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo, to return to England. The History was, therefore, of necessity incomplete; and, although both accurate and ably treated as far as it went, the work left the reader, at its close, with curiosity rather heightened than appeased. It is the object of the present publication to supply the deficiency in question, and to present the English Nation with what has long been a desideratum-a complete History of the Peninsular War, in the smallest possible compass, and at so moderate a cost as to be accessible to a very numerous class of readers. The eventful History is here brought down to the Peace of 1814; and, as no pains have been spared to render the work in every respect acceptable to the public, the Editor confidently trusts that the narrative, in its present shape, will go far to satisfy all who take an interest in the glorious period to which it refers, and will be regarded as a worthy and indispensable companion to the "STORY OF THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO." |