From the publishers:
Henry Percy is best known as the officer who carried the Waterloo Dispatch, the Duke of Wellington’s account of the Battle of Waterloo and of the ultimate defeat of Napoleon, to London in June 1815. This was the climax of a remarkable military career. He served in the British army throughout the Napoleonic Wars in Sicily, Egypt, Sweden, Portugal and Spain, and he fought at Waterloo. This biography gives us a fascinating insight into active service and the high command during those wartime years. The strong, contrasting personalities of the notable British and French commanders he encountered – Moore, Wellington and Junot among them – are revealed, and his time as a captive in France offers us a rare inside view of the everyday existence of a prominent prisoner of war. Using archives in England, in particular at Alnwick Castle, and in France, William Mahon has reconstructed Percy’s life in meticulous detail. He paints a vivid picture of Percy’s wartime experience. He also describes his enduring friendships and his liaison with the French woman who bore him a son.