author

Charles Boothby

1786–1846

A Royal Engineers officer whose memoirs capture the strain, movement, and danger of the Napoleonic Wars, he left behind a vivid firsthand record of campaigns in the Mediterranean and the Peninsula. His diaries and correspondence were later gathered into books that preserve both the soldier's eye for detail and the private voice behind it.

1 Audiobook

Under England's flag : from 1804-1809 the memoirs, diary and correspondence of Charles Boothy, Captain of Royal Engineers, compiled by the last survivors of his family

Under England's flag : from 1804-1809 the memoirs, diary and correspondence of Charles Boothy, Captain of Royal Engineers, compiled by the last survivors of his family

by Charles Boothby

About the author

Born in 1786 and dead in 1846, he is best known for the memoirs, diary, and correspondence published after his death under titles including Under England's Flag and A Prisoner of France. These works draw on his experiences as a captain in the Royal Engineers during the Napoleonic era.

The surviving record presents him as a career military man writing from direct experience rather than as a literary stylist. His accounts follow British service between 1804 and 1809 and were valued enough by later family members to be compiled and published, giving modern readers a personal view of campaigning, captivity, and army life.

Biographical sources also identify him as a member of the Boothby family, born on 20 February 1786 and dying on 19 August 1846. Clear portrait photography does not appear to be available for him, which is not unusual for a figure of his period.