author
J. (John) Kincaid
1787–1862
Best known for lively firsthand memoirs of the Napoleonic Wars, this Scottish-born officer wrote with the sharp eye of someone who had actually marched, fought, and survived the campaign. His books helped bring the everyday experience of Wellington’s army to later generations.
2 Audiobooks
Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, in the Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands from 1809 to 1815
by J. (John) Kincaid
Random Shots from a Rifleman
by J. (John) Kincaid
About the author
Sir John Kincaid (1787–1862) was a Scottish-born British Army officer in the 95th Regiment, later the Rifle Brigade, and is remembered as a vivid military memoirist. He served in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo, then turned those experiences into books that stood out for their clear detail, dry humor, and sense of life among the rank and file as well as the officers.
His best-known work, Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, in the Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands from 1809 to 1815, draws directly on his wartime service. Rather than sounding distant or ceremonial, his writing feels immediate and observant, which is a big reason readers still seek it out.
Later in life he held public posts in Britain and was knighted. Today he is valued not only as a participant in major Napoleonic campaigns, but also as a writer who left one of the most readable firsthand accounts of that era.