Adventures of a Highland Soldier

The Gordons in Afghanistan and South Africa Charles Martin's riveting recollections of his time as a soldier in the ranks of the 92nd, the Gordon Highlanders in the latter part of the nineteenth century during the reign of Victoria, the Queen Empress, is an excellent example of the military first-hand account and will please any student of the period. Martin's service covered the years from the middle of the 1860s to the middle of the 1880s. This meant he accompanied his regiment to the Indian sub-continent and with them played a full, active and perilous part in the Second Afghan War. Martin's was an Afghan War at the sharp end and he provides us with an essential account of infantrymen fighting on the ground in this particularly inhospitable environment. The exploits of the highlanders at Kandahar are, of course, well known and Martin covers this period in detail. After the war the Gordons took passage to South Africa where the survivors of so many hard fought battles with the Afghans were faced with the outbreak of the First Boer War and were fated to take part in the disaster that was the Battle at Majuba Hill. On this exposed ground many a brave highlander fell to the ruthless efficiency and superb marksmanship of the Boers. Martin missed being on the hill by the merest coincidence. The sergeant who took his place was killed among his comrades. Martin graphically records the tragedy of Majuba and examines the cause of the appalling outcome using the first hand accounts of two men who fought there-this is a doubly interesting part of this book since these accounts have rarely appeared in print else where. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.