The Recollections of Rifleman Harris eBook Benjamin Harris
Download As PDF : The Recollections of Rifleman Harris eBook Benjamin Harris 
Dorset , 1803.
A shepherd’s son is enlisted as a soldier of the Army of Reserve.
His name is Benjamin Randell Harris, private of the 95th Regiment of Foot.
The Recollections of Benjamin Harris are the classic memoirs of a foot soldier during the Napoleonic Wars, originally published in 1848.
With personal anecdotes, quick wit and vivid descriptions, The Recollections of Benjamin Harris is one of the few surviving accounts of military service from the Napoleonic era.
The memoir charts Harris’s years of active service from joining the 95th Rifles in Ireland, to the Peninsular Wars of Northern Spain.
Harris recollects the gripping campaign at Copenhagen, the engagement at the Battle of Rolica, the gruelling march to Salamanca and, finally, culminates with the Battle of Corunna.
The Recollections of Benjamin Harris is a personal military account from the eyes of a foot soldier, and offers military history fans a unique insight into the Napoleonic wars.
Praise for The Recollections of Benjamin Harris
“Wonderful memoirs... A piercing eye, a talent for description, and a constant good humour” – Bernard Cornwell
The Recollections of Rifleman Harris eBook Benjamin Harris
Additional commentaries to those already published:The value in this authentic work is the description of the life of the common soldier, the tacit acceptance of appalling conditions, 300 lashes for minor offences and totally incompetent medical care.
The poem describing the death of Moore at Corunna is well known, less well known are the dreadful conditions of the British soldiers retreating in defeat by the French, barefoot across the mountains of northern Spain, to reach Corunna and evacuation to England.
Also poorly remembered now is "Walcheren Fever" which accounted for the total destruction of a British invasion force; its symptoms are well described by Harris who suffered from it but survived although eventually discharged from the army as a consequence.
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The Recollections of Rifleman Harris eBook Benjamin Harris Reviews
This book gives excellent insight to the actions and the misery of the British soldiers in the Pennisular War. The viewpoint of a common soldier is dramatic and often a clearer picture of the actual situation.
Excellent history from the ranks. This man only wrote on what he personally experienced and did. His comments on life in the army of that time was fascinating and sometimes chilling.
A very good collection of anecdotes and reminiscences from a man who lived through a lot of the early Peninsular Campaign under the command of General Arthur Wellesley, before he became the Duke of Wellington. This is not a start-to-finish narrative, rather, it is a collection of vignettes, observations, and recollections of the experiences of Benjamin Harris. A very informative view of the life of a common soldier during the Napoleonic wars.
This was I think a fairly unique memoir of a common sharpshooter in the war with Napoleon. Harris had an excellent memory and recounts many candid and accurate details of his experiences both in combat and the soldier's life. Not many military accounts from the early 1800s as good as this one.
Excellent yet horrifying! The author's writing is a simple and factual reporting of what it was like to serve as a Rifleman during that period in time. It's a fast read, brutal and yet very interesting. Imagine getting 300 lashes for a minor offense and still having to perform your daily duties. Imagine a simple wound whose only treatment was a bone saw. Imagine walking hundreds of miles, night and day, with no shoes or boots. Unimaginable today but yet it's true.
One of the great things about , I have found, is the availability of first-person accounts, many of which were first published (not to mention written) years ago. Why this particular book caught my eye I really can't say, but I did enjoy it, in large part due to the style of writing by Rifleman Harris. I don't believe his level of education is ever touched on, but he writes in a clean, clear -- although not always concise -- style that's easy to read. And, what a story he has to tell, slogging through Europe battling Napoleon. This is not a book about great political upheavals or grand strategies, but rather about a man doing his duty under often terrible conditions at a time when the poor and under-educated were truly cannon fodder. Not a particularly introspective person, the one thing I regret is that he didn't reflect more on why he was able to plod through the worst situations, and keep plodding when many of his fellows fell by the wayside. However, He does provide a straightforward account of army life at that time, and by the time he reaches his separation from the army, I was glad he had survived and I hope he had an enjoyable life in retirement. I'm also grateful he wrote his "Recollections."
These memoirs give a rare view into the daily life of a private solder in the British army during the Napoleonic wars. Harris, drafted into the 66th Regiment of Foot from his quiet life as a shepherd's son, shares his adventures, war stories, and privations over several years of active service during a very busy time for the Army. In a short while he sees the riflemen as the most dashing and exciting of the units he had seen, with the smartest uniform, and volunteers into an Irish battalion of the 95th Rifles, where he spent most of his career.
Since the writer is a shepherd and part time shoemaker, his writing is rather straightforward than eloquent, and he recalls events in no particular order, so it is not a linear history, but it gives a good feel of the daily life on campaign of the regular foot soldiers, a picture we seldom see.
As a Rifleman, Harris was frequently, as he states it, it the van of the vanguard on advance, and the tail of the rearguard on retreat, which neither he nor his General liked to do. He was heavily involved in the Penninsular Campaign against Napoleon, and describes action in the battles of Roliça, Vimeiro, and the march from Portugal into Spain. He loved the glorious appearance presented by the advancing Army, colours flying, appearing invincible, but also describes the desperate fatigue and debilitating hunger of the long retreat to Corunna and their pathetic arrival at the coast, where the sailors had to push the weakened survivors and their wives and children up the rope ladders onto the troopships to take them home to England.
Harris' recollections include several interesting vignettes of life on campaign. He met Wellington before he was made a Duke, and describes General Craufurd creeping among his weary troops as they lay hidden in the grass to refresh and inspire them with a canteen full of rum during a long battle watch. He also describes the severe discipline on campaign, but maintains that only by dint of that strict control did so many of them as did survive a grueling retreat to return home. He also describes several instances where, given a few minutes or hours to rest, he took out the cobbling tools he carried in his pack to repair shoes and boots for the men and officers who still had any.
Overall, Harris gives his reader an invaluable glimpse into the life of a foot soldier of 200 years ago. We see accounts by and about officers with much greater frequency, which is what makes Rifleman Harris' recollections so valuable. Through his eyes we experience the excitement, thrills, chills, and hardships of the common soldier.
Additional commentaries to those already published
The value in this authentic work is the description of the life of the common soldier, the tacit acceptance of appalling conditions, 300 lashes for minor offences and totally incompetent medical care.
The poem describing the death of Moore at Corunna is well known, less well known are the dreadful conditions of the British soldiers retreating in defeat by the French, barefoot across the mountains of northern Spain, to reach Corunna and evacuation to England.
Also poorly remembered now is "Walcheren Fever" which accounted for the total destruction of a British invasion force; its symptoms are well described by Harris who suffered from it but survived although eventually discharged from the army as a consequence.
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