Memoirs of Serjeant Paul Swanston; being a narrative of a soldier's life in barracks, ships, camps, battles, and captivity on sea and land....Written by himself and now first published

London: B D Cousins, 1840. 434 double column pages with woodcuts. Publisher's blind stamped green cloth. The National Library of Scotland attributes this novel to Alexander Somerville. It purports to be the autobiography of a soldier of the 94th. Somerville himself enlisted in the Royal Scots Greys in 1831. In May 1832, during the Chartist riots, he sent a letter to a newspaper stating that the army was preventing the lawful exercise of citizens rights in the interests of protecting private property. His superiors were unable to courtmartial him since there was no regulation preventing him from writing to the press. Instead they ordered him to take charge of an unbroken horse. When he refused to mount, he was court-martialled and sentenced to one hundred lashes. Subsequently a court of inquiry acquitted his commanding officer. A subscription was raised on Somerville's behalf and he was able to purchase his discharge. (For other books about the Napoleonic Wars please search my stock using the keyword napoleonic.)