General Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill of Almarez was imaginative, brave – and perhaps more surprisingly for the period in which he lived an d fought – compassionate towards those under his command. He was a man who frequently led from the front in some of the deadliest battles ofthe Napoleonic Wars. Hill was given his own ‘detached’ corps and fought his way through Spain, Portugal and France, winning battles against the odds – such at St Pierre, where he defeated the redoubtable Maréchal Soult when outnumbered two to one. When ministers at home asked that Hill be allowed to leave the Peninsula and lead an army elsewhere, Wellington dismissed the idea with ‘Would you cut off my right hand?’ Hill fought at Roliça, Corunna, Talavera, Bussaco, Almarez, Vitoria and Waterloo. He succeeded the Duke in 1828 as Commander-in-Chief. Based upon theHill papers made available to Joanna Hill – the General’s great, great, great niece – and a wide range of other primary sources, Wellington’s Right Hand is an important addition to the literature of the Napoleonic age and in particular to that of the Peninsular War.

The career of one of Wellington's most successful generals If Napoleon could be accused of delegating too much responsibility to subordinates incapable of delivering the results he expected, then Wellington could be regarded as the opposite, in that he rarely delegated to senior officers anything that he felt he could do himself. Consequently, almost all the achievements of his officers are viewed within the context of Wellington's own commanding presence. There was only one of his generals in whom he could place absolute faith and that was Rowland Hill. Affectionately nicknamed 'Daddy' or 'Father' by his troops, for the concern he displayed for their welfare, Hill achieved the rare distinction of being given independent command during phases of the war against the French in Spain, and amply justified the faith Wellington had in his judgement. Hill's long career took him from Toulon and Egypt, through the Peninsular War to Waterloo, and ultimately to his appointment as commander in chief of the British army. This Leonaur edition includes two accounts of this remarkable military man and will be a valued addition to every library of the Napoleonic period. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

"Sir Rowland Hill" by Eleanor C. Hill Smyth. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

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George Bell was a young Irishman of only seventeen when he undertook his first campaign in the British Army. Recruits were sorely needed to fill the ranks after the sanguinary battle of Albuera in 1811. He joined his regiment, the 34th or Cumberland Gentlemen, forthwith and so his military career started in some of the hardest fighting of the Peninsular War. In the thick of it at the siege of Badajoz, Arroyo Molinos, and Vittoria, he was part of General Rowland Hill’s division as the British troops battled northward toward the French frontier. He was heavily engaged in the battles of the Pyrenees, the Nive, the Nivelle, Bayonne and Toulouse. Of each he leaves a good sketch of the action that he and his comrades took part in, but is careful only to record what he saw. Between the deadly engagements with the French, or “Johnny Crappo”, as Bell and his men know him, Bell leaves a rich account of the daily life of a young subaltern in the war: often ill-provided for, hungry, and frequently unable to find shelter, prey to petty thieves. Additionally, the misadventures of his men (or more often their wives, who accompanied the march) provided for much amusement and not a little trouble! After the successful conclusion of the Peninsular campaign, George returns to his native Ireland for a brief period of half-pay, champing at the bit to get back on full pay, and then sets off with his newly wed wife to India. His descriptions of the colonial life are vivid and varied, as he dodges sun-stroke, ill-intentioned servants, fever, disease and cobras. He travels far and wide leaving accounts of Seringaptam, Madras, Bangalore, Bombay, Burma, and Rangoon in particular. The local populace and their cultures are described in some detail, along with the buildings, religious practices, the political figures and royal families. Bell’s books brim with interesting and witty asides and anecdotes, and it is clear that he took to the lighter side of life during his many travels. He is not a stuffed shirt of the old breed, and avoids much of the Victorian coldness in his writing, although supremely confident of his superiority in religious contexts. An animated and vibrant read. Author – Major-General George Bell – (1794 - 1877)