FROM FIGHTING NAPOLEON TO THE SCOTTISH MILITARY ACADEMY: The Life of Captain John Orr

1-247100

Based on Captain John Orr's previously unseen campaign diary and personal documents, this is the biography of the man who would become Superintendent of the Scottish Naval & Military Academy (SNMA). Follows Orr during his 18 months in Portugal and Spain using his first-hand accounts of the Battle of Salamanca, the siege of Burgos, and fighting in the Pyrenees. Later he fought at Quatre Bras and was wounded at Waterloo. He was retired on full pension in 1821. Ten years later, he enrolled as a captain in the Edinburgh Militia and was asked to become the Superintendent of the Scottish Naval & Military Academy. Through John's letters, the history of the Academy is interwoven with a description of the Orr family. John died in 1879, aged 89 years old. He was the last surviving member of the Black Watch who had fought at Waterloo. Contains 30 mono illustrations, including paintings and photographs of John, his family, his uniform, and pages from his Peninsular War diary.