RECOLLECTIONS OF A PENINSULAR VETERAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: _Lt. Col. Joseph Anderson. C.B._] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RECOLLECTIONS OF A PENINSULAR VETERAN BY THE LATE LT.-COLONEL JOSEPH ANDERSON C.B., KNIGHT OF HANOVER OF THE 78TH, 24TH, AND 50TH REGIMENTS (1805-1848) LONDON EDWARD ARNOLD 1913 (_All rights reserved_) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ INTRODUCTION THE following pages have been selected from the autobiography of my grandfather, the late Colonel Joseph Anderson, who was born in Sutherlandshire, Scotland, on June 1, 1790, and died on July 18, 1877. It should be stated that this narrative was written only for his own family. He had never kept a diary—nor even any notes of his adventures and travels—and only began to write his reminiscences of the long-past years when he was seventy-four, in the quiet of his beautiful home near Melbourne, Australia. His memory was perfectly amazing; but if any slight inaccuracies should be discovered, the reader is asked to excuse them, on account of his age. He was a “grand old man” in every sense, and lived in excellent health of mind and body until his eighty-eighth year. To the very last he was always keenly interested in military matters, and never failed to attend, in uniform, all the important volunteer reviews held in Melbourne, where his upright, soldierly figure attracted universal admiration. His son, the late Colonel Acland Anderson, C.M.G., was for many years the Colonel-Commandant of the Military Forces of H.M. Government in Victoria, which appointment he held till his death in January, 1882. He was the founder of the Volunteer Organization, as in 1855 he raised a Rifle Corps in Melbourne, which was not only the first in Victoria but probably the first in Australia. ACLAND ANDERSON, _Captain, late 3rd Dragoon Guards_. SEPTEMBER, 1913. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS CHAPTER I EARLY EXPERIENCES Born in Scotland—At fifteen years old appointed to the 78th Regiment—First visit to London—Join regiment at Shorncliffe—Embark for Gibraltar—Put under arrest—Lieutenant James Mackay CHAPTER II THE CAMPAIGN OF MAIDA