Wellington's American General: The Oldest Serving Soldier in the British Army (Hardback) - Nicholas Fogg

Based on the journals of a New Yorker who would become one of Wellington's senior generals, the story of a remarkable military career from The American War of Independence to the Peninsula, Tobago and Canada.

An American general in Wellington's army? At the age of fourteen, Frederick Robinson fought for the Loyalists in the War of Independence. With their defeat, his now impoverished family took refuge in England. After serving against the French in the West Indies, he worked in army recruitment in London. In 1813 he joined the Peninsular campaign as a Brigade Major General. His journals and letters shed light on the local topography and the personalities he encounters - the British grandees of Oporto, landed gentry, priests and peasants, Wellington and his generals and the common soldier. He also describes the marches across country and the battles of Vitoria, San Sebastian, the Nime and Toulouse. Subsequently, he commanded a division in America during the War of 1812. After colonial governorships in Upper Canada and Tobago, he continued to contribute as a Regimental Colonel. At his death in 1852, he was the longest-serving soldier in the British Army.

About the Author

Nicholas Fogg was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and educated at Warwick School and the Universities of Nottingham, Oxford and London. He has had a varied career in social work, journalism and as a teacher at Marlborough College. He is an expert on Shakespeare's life, his works and the history of Stratford-upon-Avon and has lectured widely on the subject. He has written the Shakespeare website for Historica, an international schools Internet project, penned a series of historical books and has long been a contributor to the UK broadsheets. He is a Fellow of Queen's University, Ontario. He lives in Marlborough.