author
William Surtees
1781–1830
A veteran of the British Army’s Rifle Brigade, he left behind one of the most vivid firsthand memoirs of the Napoleonic Wars. His writing brings campaign life down to ground level, with the detail and immediacy of someone who truly lived it.
1 Audiobook
Twenty-Five Years in the Rifle Brigade
by William Surtees
About the author
Born in 1781 and associated with Corbridge in Northumberland, William Surtees served for many years in the Rifle Brigade and rose from the ranks to become quartermaster. His experiences took him through the wars of the Napoleonic era, and the long service behind his book gives it the feel of lived history rather than distant recollection.
He is best known for Twenty-Five Years in the Rifle Brigade, a memoir published after his death in 1830. The book has endured because it offers a clear, personal view of military life, combining battlefield experience with the everyday realities of marching, hardship, and service.
Surtees retired in 1826 after serious health problems, then returned to Corbridge, where later accounts describe him as respected and kindly in his community. For readers who enjoy memoir, military history, or the human side of the Napoleonic Wars, his work remains a lively and valuable firsthand record.