Opening the text

A British Rifle Man: The Journals and Correspondence of Major George Simmons, Rifle Brigade, During the Peninsular War and the Campaign of WaterlooSimmons, George

History

A British Rifle Man: The Journals and Correspondence of Major George Simmons, Rifle Brigade, During the Peninsular War and the Campaign of Waterloo

Name: A British Rifle Man: The Journals and Correspondence of Major George Simmons, Rifle Brigade, During the Peninsular War and the Campaign of Waterloo
Author: Simmons, George

Simmons, George

Peninsular War, 1807-1814; Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815

I am anxious to come to England for the purpose
of procuring the year's pay, which I shall send you—at least one
hundred pounds. One year after, I shall present myself at the Medical
Board for the pension, and if I get it, which there is every likelihood
of, why then, I shall laugh at my wounds; for to protect and support
those that are dear to me, my sufferings will be highly recompensed.
I enclose a five-pound note, which I hope will reach you safely. When
I landed I bought a horse, which cost me nineteen pounds; now that I
want to sell it, I cannot get £10 (ten pounds) for it. I have sent
the animal to my brother. He has one already of mine. If there is any
likelihood of staying long in this country, I shall return. My horses,
in that case, will be ready for me, and otherwise I have ordered them
to sell them. I wish our brave fellows were away from Paris. It is a
horrible sink of iniquity, and I am afraid will corrupt the morals of
the thoughtless.

I have given advice to Joe, but I am convinced that he will not run
into extremes or extravagance. I had some very good accounts of him
from the depôt before he came out. I have shown myself to several
surgeons. A celebrated one from Edinburgh saw me and asked me all the
particulars. My case will be published among many others. The next
letter will be most likely from London. You need not answer this.—Yours,

      Geo. Simmons, Lieut.




CONCLUSION


Little more remains to be said about the career of George Simmons.
He remained at Brussels for several weeks after the last letter here
published was written, and was then well enough to travel to England,
where he landed on 28th October 1815. He was sufficiently recovered of
his severe wounds to start to rejoin his regiment on 1st January 1816,
and served with the British army of occupation in France for nearly
three years, returning to England with the 1st Battalion in November
1818. It was after the battle of Waterloo, on 23rd February 1816, that
the 95th Rifles were, in the words of the _Gazette_, "by command of the
Prince Regent, in the name and on the behalf of His Majesty," ordered
to be "taken out of the numbered regiments of the line and styled THE
RIFLE BRIGADE"; in those days a unique honour.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

A British Rifle Man: The Journals and Correspondence of Major George Simmons, Rifle Brigade, During the Peninsular War and the Campaign of WaterlooSimmons, George

History

A British Rifle Man: The Journals and Correspondence of Major George Simmons, Rifle Brigade, During the Peninsular War and the Campaign of Waterloo

Simmons, George

Peninsular War, 1807-1814; Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815

I am anxious to come to England for the purpose
of procuring the year's pay, which I shall send you—at least one
hundred pounds. One year after, I shall present myself at the Medical
Board for the pension, and if I get it, which there is every likelihood
of, why then, I shall laugh at my wounds; for to protect and support
those that are dear to me, my sufferings will be highly recompensed.
I enclose a five-pound note, which I hope will reach you safely. When
I landed I bought a horse, which cost me nineteen pounds; now that I
want to sell it, I cannot get £10 (ten pounds) for it. I have sent
the animal to my brother. He has one already of mine. If there is any
likelihood of staying long in this country, I shall return. My horses,
in that case, will be ready for me, and otherwise I have ordered them
to sell them. I wish our brave fellows were away from Paris. It is a
horrible sink of iniquity, and I am afraid will corrupt the morals of
the thoughtless.

I have given advice to Joe, but I am convinced that he will not run
into extremes or extravagance. I had some very good accounts of him
from the depôt before he came out. I have shown myself to several
surgeons. A celebrated one from Edinburgh saw me and asked me all the
particulars. My case will be published among many others. The next
letter will be most likely from London. You need not answer this.—Yours,

      Geo. Simmons, Lieut.




CONCLUSION


Little more remains to be said about the career of George Simmons.
He remained at Brussels for several weeks after the last letter here
published was written, and was then well enough to travel to England,
where he landed on 28th October 1815. He was sufficiently recovered of
his severe wounds to start to rejoin his regiment on 1st January 1816,
and served with the British army of occupation in France for nearly
three years, returning to England with the 1st Battalion in November
1818. It was after the battle of Waterloo, on 23rd February 1816, that
the 95th Rifles were, in the words of the _Gazette_, "by command of the
Prince Regent, in the name and on the behalf of His Majesty," ordered
to be "taken out of the numbered regiments of the line and styled THE
RIFLE BRIGADE"; in those days a unique honour.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

A British Rifle Man: The Journals and Correspondence of Major George Simmons, Rifle Brigade, During the Peninsular War and the Campaign of Waterloo

A British Rifle Man: The Journals and Correspondence of Major George Simmons, Rifle Brigade, During the Peninsular War and the Campaign of Waterloo

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