Thomas Morris

Thomas Morris was a cockney lad of 17 when he enlisted in the 2nd Battalion of the 73rd Regiment in 1813 which was about to sail for Swedish Pomerania. Morris describes here the actions of the ensuing campaign, the fortifications of Stralsund, the victory of Gohrde, and engagements with the French in the Netherlands. During Napoleon's first abdication the 73rd were quartered in Belgium, after his return from Elba, and fought at Waterloo. Morris gives an account of the fighting of British Infantry Squares there, in which he himself took part. Promoted to NCO he formed part of the British occupation army in Paris. His story is full of anecdotes about his fellow soldiers, his officers and the circumstances in which he found himself.