Capt. Nicholas Colthurst Travers (1787-1871)

Duke of Wellington (1815)

The Duke was C-in-C of the British forces during the Peninsula War (1807-1814) and commanded the allied forces at Waterloo. He was also Nick's fifth cousin. This portrait is by Sir Thomas Lawrence and hangs in Apsley House, London.

'A Soldier's Life' is 200 pages long, including many maps and illustrations and several appendices. The appendices include short biographies of Nick's five brothers, all of whom served in the Army or the Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and a detailed timeline. 

Nick was unusual in that he had been an officer in the Navy before becoming one in the Army (with the famous 95th Regiment - 'the Rifles'). He fought in the Peninsula and in North and South America, and was several times wounded. In later life, he was a Barrack Master in England and also overseas.