A Surgeon of Hussars

The journey of a medical man to Waterloo and the regiment in which he served

Those who are familiar with Leonaur editions will be aware that the imprint has attempted to republish as many original accounts of the wars with Napoleonic France as it can discover. Every source account is of inestimable value to researchers and students of the period in assembling a full and accurate picture of the people who have written these works, their times and the events they witnessed. Many of these military memoirs transport the reader into the heart of the battlefield and the rigours of hard campaigning. This rarely reproduced small account by William Gibney rather offers the reader insights into the path of an ordinary medical man as it led him to the battlefields of the Hundred Days Campaign in 1815. Gibney became a doctor (Assistant-Surgeon) serving with the 15th Hussars , a notable British Army cavalry regiment, made singularly identifiable on the field of the battle of Waterloo by their distinctive red shako head-dress'. Readers are advised that the military element of these events from Gibney's perspective is, within this comparatively short book, quite small. However, in keeping with every account of its kind, it is invaluable in providing its own well- rounded and unique piece of history. To augment Gibney's recollections, this Leonaur edition contains an historical overview of the 15th Hussars during this period by Richard Cannon. This texts is accompanied by illustrations which were not present in earlier editions.