PENINSULAR WAR AND WATERLOO Manuscript journal kept by Captain Digby Mackworth, 7th Regiment of Foot and ADC to General Rowland Hill, Lord Hill, during the Peninsular Wars and at Waterloo and Quatre Bras, written in ink and ruled in pencil, in three parts: the first section comprising 'A View of Portugal and its inhabitants during the Campaign in 1809', describing his progress through the countryside, giving his opinions on the people ('...Extreme idleness... Their breath is usually disgusting...'), the landscape and billets ('...a very good billet at the house of a Lady of Quality, who however did not appear particularly happy at our arrival...'), the taking of Oporto ('...by 250 men in the face of the whole French army...'), the battle of Talavera ('...the most long & bloody engagement possibly that the English Army ever fought... it was pitch dark and our men actually crossed bayonets with the enemy before they saw them...'), illustrated with a line drawing the second part beginning 8 January 1810, noting in July '...heavy firing at Ciudad Rodrigo... Wellington said of Rodrigo, that for a town passing under the denomination of fortified, it was the most miserable place he had ever set eyes upon...', news of action at Almeida, account of the battle of Bussaco ('...a mutual cannonade not very brisk was the first occurrence... Lord Wellington's last preparatory Order...'when attack'd fire one Volley and charge'... put the French sharp shooters to flight in high stile... our artillery has made tremendous slaughter...') and after '...the silence so dead that we can hear the Enemy talking in their lines...', the account ending 15 December 1810 the third part resuming 30 March 1815 in Brussels, now ADC to Lord Hill, where he sees the King of France breakfast in public ('...poor man!...'), at the Duke of Wellington's Ball ('...[he] danced as always with the same person, a Lady Caroline Webster... scandal... began to whisper all sorts of stories...'), at the Duchess of Richmond's Ball ('...attended by 'everybody' at Bruxelles. We had heard during the day that the French has begun to advance & we knew that Buonaparte had joined them...'), the news of the Prussian defeat interrupting the dancing ('...in vain did the charms of music, the persuasions... of beauty, tempt us to remain...'), the excitement of finally confronting Buonaparte ('...so long our anxious wish... Vive la Guerre...'), action at Quatre Bras, the death of the Duke of Brunswick and '...torrents of rain...'; a long account of the battle of Waterloo, written at 11pm on 18 June when '...the great events are yet so fresh in my memory... in front of our right was a small wood & chateau called Hougoument... the heights [of Mont St. Jean] on which we were posted & were occupied by strong detachments from the Guards... our infantry was concealed from the view of the enemy... & was formed in small squares of Battalions...', ending '...deserted by their Emperor who had already flown, unsupported by their comrades... the hitherto invincible Old Guard gave way & fled... one spontaneous & almost painfully animated 'Hurrah' burst from the victorious ranks of England... the battle was over...', ending '... Lord Hill & staff returned to a small cottage where we now are - all but myself are now asleep - Good Night -...'; several leaves with contemporary press cuttings from The London Gazette and The Times affixed, c.130 leaves, plus 47 blank, several leaves excised, dust-staining and marks, original vellum ruled in ink, martial tributes (drum, swords, lances, trumpets) drawn in black ink on upper and lower covers and at corners (laurel leaves, arrows etc.), titled 'Digby Mackworth Journal in Portugal Spain & Netherlands' in ink on spine with checked decoration, folio (324 x 205mm.), Iberian Peninsula, Brussels, Waterloo, 1809 to 1810, 1815; with three autograph letters from Hill and various engraved portraits loosely inserted Footnotes: 'A BLACK MASS OF THE GRENADIERS OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD WITH MUSIC PLAYING & THE GREAT NAPOLEON AT THEIR HEAD': A VIVID EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, INCLUDING THE DUCHESS OF RICHMOND'S BALL, AND KEY EVENTS OF THE PENINSULAR WAR. The highlight of this comprehensive journal is Digby Mackworth's evocative account of the battle of Waterloo in which he builds up the tension, excitement and confusion of battle: '...The French cavalry & infantry repeatedly charged in masses, under cover of tremendous fire power 240 pieces of artillery... for upwards of an hour our little squares were surrounded by the Elite of the French Cavaliers - there they gallantly stood within 40 paces of us, unable to leap over the bristling line of bayonets, unwilling to retire, & determined never to surrender... The cannonade continued without interruption & about 6 o'clock we saw heavy columns of Infantry supported by Dragoons forming for a fresh attack... a black mass of the Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard with music playing & the great Napoleon at their head... within a hundred paces of us... the awful moment was now at hand, a peel of ten thousand thunders burst at once... the storm swept them down, as a whirlwind which rushes over the ripe corn... they crowded instinctively behind each other... for half an hour this horrible butchery continued...'. Also of note is his description of the legendary Duchess of Richmond's ball, which he attended in his role as ADC to Lord Hill, for whom he demonstrates a clear affection, and in which he paints an evocative picture of the Duchess pleading that the advance of Napoleon should not interrupt her party: '...in vain did the afflicted Duchess of Richmond, placing herself at the entrance of the ballroom pray & entreat that we would not 'go before supper', that we would wait 'one little hour more' & 'not spoil her ball'...'. Written in an engaging style, he includes some amusing personal observations: on General Campbell ('...made the old General a little tipsy - will take care not to do so again, as he is apt, when in that state, to give us rather long winded stories about the East Indies...'), the Duke of Wellington ('...in high health, what a fine fellow he is... as great a boy as any of us. Few would have thought then that he was the Commander of all our troops in Spain...') and Lord Hill ('...he ought to have taken the name of Lord Mountain because is a great Hill...'). Whilst in the Peninsular, he seemed to spend much of his energy on procuring a descent billet and making amusement where he can ('...a pretty little brunette... my alas too susceptible heart...'), he jokes with the nuns of Santa Clara convent and on another visit attempts to break in ('...No complaint, though I richly deserved it, has been made about the Convent business...'), and '...For want of something better to do, was forced to make love to a young lady over the way, who seemed to have no violent objections to it, gave her an orange - Remember not to be so extravagant in future...'. Captain Digby Mackworth, (later Sir Digby, 4th Bt., 1789-1838) begins his account '...I am about to commence a work, which I shall probably never have sufficient perseverance to complete...' suggesting that that our journal may have been compiled from diary or notes kept in the field, interspersed with commentary and explanation. Mackworth's account of Waterloo was printed in Sidney, Life of Hill, pp.308-310, in Gareth Glover (ed.), The Waterloo Archive, Vol. IV 2012, pp.7-25 and in The Army Quarterly, 1937, pp.123-131; 1938, pp.320-327. This lot is subject to the follo For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing