Between the Covers

Hardcover. Small oblong quarto. Measuring 8" x 4½". Brown leather with metal clasp. Boards detached but present, bumped corners, and some chips thus good only.

A 210-page diary kept by Captain Faunce during the training and forming of the Experimental Corps Rifle Brigade at Swinley Camp in Windsor in 1800. This corps would later became the legendary 95th Rifles. The diary begins in July of 1800 and details events at the camp such as court martials, payments to battalion, ordering goods and food, exercise and drill procedures, and details of battles, among other things. “When a man is confined for any crime he is not to be released but by order of the commanding officer…but his order was not complied with yesterday.” Brigade orders dated July 20th reads, “the surgeons of brigades will make a return of every man’s name that is sick, and where, which is to be signed by the commanding officer of battalions, and sent to the brigade majors by 9 o’clock tomorrow morning.” Another reads, “the brigade will be ready to march off at ½ past 7 o’clock tomorrow morning, the men will be provided with 10 rounds of black cartridges.” There are extensive mentions of military units and battalions including the King's Own Regiment, the Dragoons, and the Irish and Welsh militia enlisted in the brigades. Faunce often copies letters into his diary, usually from commanding officers and the secretary to His Royal Highness Prince Frederick, Duke of York. The last entry is from August 25th, 1800 the day the unit went to Spain to engage in combat in Ferrol Harbor.

In 1800 Colonel Coote Manningham and Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable William Stewart raised what they called the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen." This Rifle Corps, later dubbed the Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own), would combine new artillery technology with expert marksmen to create a sharpshooting unit for the British Army. This idea that a skilled rifleman could aim and reliably hit a specific target was made possible by the use of the more accurate Baker rifle. The 95th Rifles were brought into modern popular culture with the popularity of the television show *Sharpe* starring Sean Bean based on Bernard Cornwell’s novels of the same name.

An interesting and unique firsthand account of the creation of the Experimental Corps Rifle Brigade.

Item #435692