Compiled from letters and journals that he wrote while in the field, this compelling record of the Duke of Marlborough's campaigns was written by a distinguished participant in those wars. Lt. Col. Blackader served in all of the great Duke's campaigns and was wounded at Blenheim. He died aged 65, as deputy Governor of Stirling Castle in his native Scotland. His papers were cast aside after his death and lay neglected for years until they were sold to a local tobacconist, who saved them from destruction. Published almost a century after the events they describe, they are now recognised as one of the most lively and valuable accounts of the soldiering life in the early 18th century. Despite his frequently protested Christian beliefs, Blackader once killed a fellow officer in a duel!