author

Edward Costello

1788–1869

A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars who later fought in Spain, he turned hard military experience into one of the best-known memoirs written from the ranks. His storytelling is vivid, direct, and full of the rough detail of a soldier’s life.

1 Audiobook

Adventures of a Soldier, Written by Himself Being the Memoirs of Edward Costello, K.S.F. Formerly a Non-Commissioned Officer in the Rifle Brigade, Late Captain in the British Legion, and Now One of the Wardens of the Tower of London; Comprising Narratives of the Campaigns in the Peninsula under the Duke of Wellington, and the Subsequent Civil Wars in Spain.

Adventures of a Soldier, Written by Himself Being the Memoirs of Edward Costello, K.S.F. Formerly a Non-Commissioned Officer in the Rifle Brigade, Late Captain in the British Legion, and Now One of the Wardens of the Tower of London; Comprising Narratives of the Campaigns in the Peninsula under the Duke of Wellington, and the Subsequent Civil Wars in Spain.

by Edward Costello

About the author

Born in 1788, Edward Costello was an Irish-born soldier who enlisted in the 95th Regiment, later known as the Rifle Brigade. He served in the Peninsular War under the Duke of Wellington and rose from the ranks to become a sergeant, giving him an unusual perspective for a memoirist of his time.

After his service in the Peninsula, Costello later joined the British Auxiliary Legion in Spain, where he was commissioned and became a captain. His military career eventually gave way to literary fame through Adventures of a Soldier, Written by Himself, a memoir valued for its lively first-hand account of campaigning, barracks life, and the everyday realities of war.

The title pages of later editions describe him as a warden of the Tower of London as well as a former non-commissioned officer in the Rifle Brigade and a captain in the British Legion. That mix of front-line experience and plainspoken narration helps explain why his work has remained of interest to readers of military history.