Beginning with 1809 and continuing to the end of the occupation of France in 1818, annual volumes of the General Orders of the British Army were printed for distribution to the units of the forces. These volumes are the best direct source on the attention paid to logistics, discipline, and the organization of the allied forces in the peninsula. They are notable in being one of the few unredacted primary sources on Wellington's army in the peninsula.


A substantial portion of this volume is given over to the reports of general courts martial, and not many common soldiers escaped - typical sentences are to be hung, or shot, or given some quantity of lashes from 500 up to 1200, or transportation. Officers made out much better, with generally the severest punishment being cashiering.


Volume Two contains all general orders from January 2nd through December 29th, 1810.