Feeding Wellington's Army in the Peninsula

The Journal of Assistant Commissary General Tupper Carey, Volume I

Gareth Glover

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781399041430
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military Biographies
• Index: History

Transcribed for the first time from Commissary General Tupper Carey's handwritten journals, this is the first of two volumes which cover the lively career of a Commissary who served throughout the Peninsular war and Waterloo campaign. Written with vivid detail, these journals offer a truly unique window into the life of a Commissary and the campaigns in which he served. Although a civilian and greatly discouraged from putting himself in mortal danger, Tupper was often to be found watching the fighting from some nearby vantage point and often describes the actions he witnessed, particularly where it affected his own charge, whether a battalion, a brigade or even later an entire division. Interspersed with these primary roles, he was often seconded to form supply bases in the rear of the army, or to hastily remove or destroy stores when threatened by enemy advances. He also talks freely about fellow officers, and being a private journal written simply for the eyes of his immediate family, he is not shy in giving his honest opinions of both his subordinates or indeed his superiors. This first volume covers Tupper's early life, joining as a clerk and his early years as a Commissary up until the spring of 1813, just before the Duke of Wellington launched his troops on that memorable campaign, designed to drive the French back out of Spain, across the Pyrenees. Also detailed are Tupper's role in the Corunna campaign, The Border War, Battle of Salamanca and the Siege of Burgos. The rest of Tupper's incredible career will be covered in the second volume.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Plates
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Acknowledgements
• Recollections & extracts from letters written at the time, of campaign events in the life of Commissary General Tupper Carey during the years 1808 to 1818
• Formative Years
• 1st Campaign: September 1808, Corunna, Orense [Ourense] & retreat to Vigo, embarkation and return to England
• 2nd Campaign: 1809 February. Embark at Lisbon, Passage of the Douro at Oporto, Talavera and retreat
• 3rd Campaign: French sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, Battle of Busaco and retreat to lines near Lisbon and advance 1810
• 4th Campaign: January 1812. English Sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, Advance into Spain. Battle of Salamanca, Entrance into Madrid, Burgos and Retreat.
• Plates