The Autobiography of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G.C.B.

A vivid portrait emerges of a soldier whose life spanned the tumult of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. From the battlefields of Europe and the Americas to the distant frontiers of Africa and Asia, his own words recount daring campaigns, daring escapes, and the everyday hardships of an officer on the move. The narrative captures the shift in his responsibilities after 1829, when he moved from modest commands to directing large‑scale operations, offering a rare insider’s view of the strategic decisions that shaped colonial wars.

Compiled from the original, hastily‑written manuscript and enriched with later notes, the work retains the raw immediacy of his “scrawling at full gallop” while being gently edited for clarity. Illustrated with period portraits, it balances personal anecdotes with solid historical detail, making the account both an adventurous memoir and a valuable document of a pivotal era in military history.