A Scot at War with Wellington

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Captain James Stirling's journals offer a firsthand account of the 42nd Regiment's actions during the Peninsular War. For such a famous regiment as the 42nd Regiment of Foot (The Black Watch), the number of published memoirs is surprisingly low. The discovery of the three hand-written journals in the collection of the National Library of Scotland covering the period from August 1808, when the regiment left Gibraltar for Lisbon until the end of 1813, are therefore of significant importance in our understanding of the actions of this regiment during the Peninsular War. James Stirling became an Ensign by purchase in the 42nd Foot on 14 August 1805 at the age of thirteen, vice Ensign Thomas Munro. He then rose to the rank of Lieutenant without purchase on 27 August 1807. Stirling served in the Peninsula with 42nd Foot from September 1808 to January 1809, then at Walcheren and again in the Peninsula from May 1812 to August 1813 (from October 1812 as Aide de Camp to his