William Surtees

Born in Northumberland in 1781, he began military service as a teenager and later joined the Rifle Brigade in 1802. Over the course of about twenty-five years, he rose from the ranks to become quartermaster, serving in campaigns that included the Peninsular War and later operations connected with the War of 1812.

He is best known for Twenty-Five Years in the Rifle Brigade, a memoir published after his death in 1830 and edited by his brother John Surtees. The book has remained valued as a rare soldier's-eye account, not from a famous general but from a practical, experienced man who wrote clearly about marching, fighting, hardship, and army life.

After retiring in 1826, he returned to Northumberland and wrote the recollections that made his name last. For listeners interested in military history, his work offers something especially human: the long view of war from someone who lived through it day by day.