Letters Written by Lieut.-General Thomas Dyneley, C.B., R.A.

Book excerpt: The letters in this volume provide eye-witness accounts of some of the battles and sieges of the Peninsular War. Thomas Dyneley entered the Royal Artillery as a 2nd lieutenant in 1801. He was in Italy with Sir James Craig's force in 1805 and with Sir John Stuart in Calabria in the following year, witnessing the battle of Maida. In 1811 he embarked for the Peninsula with `E' troop of the Royal Horse Artillery, as 2nd Captain. There he served in the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Burgos, at the battles of Salamanca, Vitoria and those in the Pyrenees. In November 1813 he was invalided home, but was present with 'E' troop in 1815 during the Waterloo campaign. He subsequently rose to the rank of major-general in 1854 and died in 1860.