"OUR YOUNG SOLDIER": LIEUTENANT FRANCIS SIMCOE, 6 JUNE 1791 - 6 APRIL 1812. de Fryer, Mary Beacock - 1996

Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1996. 189 pp, 8vo (9" H). B&w reproductions, maps. "Francis Simcoe was the eldest son of John Graves Simcoe and Elizabeth Gwillim. Letters written by his mother, sisters, and himself reveal his childhood at Eton. At sixteen, he was an ensign in the 27th Inniskilling Regiment. From the beginning of his military career, he kept journals and wrote many letters preserved by the family. His service began in Ireland and ended under Wellington - he died leading a storming party in the Trinidad breach of Badajoz, Spain, a thoroughly bloody, costly battle in the Peninsular war. The army lost a talented young officer. As a warrior, Francis possessed the qualities that had carried his father from ensign to lieutant general. Letters and journals disclose a soldier who was also an intelligent, loving human being. Of special interest are Francis' associates who spent time in Canada - the Duke of Richmond, Edward Littlehales, James Kempt, and Julia Somerville (more than a friend?) who became Mrs. Franics Bond Head four years after young Simcoe's death." Interior - clean and tight with no previous ownership marks. Exterior - clean and bright.. First Edition. Soft Cover. Fine.