Preface:
War has always been an interesting factor of the Human race. It is a poetic, horrifying and glorious event that can change so much over so little time. Nations fall, nations rise because of it.
Boys become men through it's right of passage. From wars past, the Crusades, Italian Wars of Unification, The Eastern war and the American Revolution, what is it about war that is so terrible but so... Addictive.
It is as human as human nature itself, a symbiant like bone to flesh is war to mankind. I myself am not soldier, but I have been around enough war to be able to understand it. Generals lead and soldiers fight.
I suppose now it is time for me the author to introduce myself. I am Carter Holm and for the past 20 years I have been involved with the armed forces of the Republic of Great Britian.
I think it began when my father returned from service in the Colonies, now present day America. His tales interested me, of the honor and courage shown by his men on the battlefield.
I always sought to seek my own glory in war but I wanted much more. I didn't want to just fight, I wanted to understand. I was 10 when he returned in 1783. The war was over and America had emerged triumphant over the British Empire.
Then came the British Civil war 4 years later that would transform Britian from it's Monarchist ways to the crowned Republic it is today. Following the example of the Italian confederacy that had formed in 1257.
For those reading this book, this is not my story. In fact, this pre-face is all that serves for me to tell you, the reader about myself. All that is needed to know is that I Carter Holm am currently 47 in 1820. I was born in 1773 in London, England to Gerard Holm and Elizabeth Holm.
As I wrote earlier. I wished to be a soldier but when the Civil war broke out, I chose to become something no one had done before, I chose to become a war correspondent. A journalist that tags along with the troops and puts their words to paper for the world back home to understand.
This book serves as a historical account, an eyewitness account and a testimony to the Greatest War since the Great War in 1260. I am referring to the Napoleonic Wars. Starting from their Revolution in '93 to the Invasion of Holland in '99 and the full blown conflict in Europe from 1800-1815.
I served the people and military as a correspondent from 1787 to now. This book is my leave from that life as it details everything I have heard and seen. Two decades of war correspondence all put together, the puzzle (this this book) now complete.
Though about war, I also covered the political side. From the loyalist and royalist views during the civil war, the creation of The Amphibious Corps. And later Royal Marine Corps. Whose actions would win many battles for Britain.
I conclude this Preface with a note. This book documents the Napoleonic Wars from the eyes of the British who served. It features true accounts from the High Ranking Generals to the lowly privates. This is dedicated to them and to those whose lives were lost in the war.
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