Second Captain Robert Newland had served in Spain throughout most of the Peninsular war before joining G Troop. There was clearly animosity between Mercer and his more experienced deputy and in his letters written late in life to Henry Leathes, he suggests that Newland left his post for a safer one. Newland had an exemplary record having fought at Salamanca, Vitoria, Orthes and Tarbes and had often been commended and it is not easy now to establish the truth in all this. I have delved into this relationship more in my novel about Waterloo entitled Voices of Thunder published by UPSO in 2003.
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