Twelve Months in the British Legion

London: John Macrone, 1836. Hardcover. Good. viii, 273, xxx p. 20 cm. Cloth hardcover with blank impressing. Gilt print on spine. Corners bumped, small dents in fore-edges, spine faded. Darkened endpapers. Presentation copy signed by author in year of publication on front free endpaper. Also signed by author at top of title page in 1839. Stains to inner margins pp. 142-143, 195-198, and mark on lower corner of p. 193. A few other small spots. In general paper clean and bright. Page torn out after xxx.

General George De Lacy Evans raised a force of British half-pay officers and mainly Irish volunteers to fight on behalf of Queen Christina against the usurper Don Carlos in what has become known as the Carlist Wars. Author Charles William Thompson often wrote home to his parents while serving as an ensign in the 9th Regiment, British Legion. As stated in the preface, he wrote of "anything new and striking that fell under his observation in the course of his wanderings." These included Andalusian horses, soaking rain, billets with Spanish families, Cathedral bas-reliefs, prisoners executed by garrote, fever, dysentery, and digging boots out of the mud while wearing white gloves. The author was wounded in the hip at San Sebastian on May 5, 1836, an event graphically described on pages 238-241. Appendix lists officers who died of typhus or in action, as well as general orders and copies of letters.