So.... Nicky?

As per the description above, this is mainly the story of a Rifleman’s wife *after* the Napoleonic war, the years 1827 to ’31, but the last section does contain ripe anecdotes from the Peninsular campaign, including the battles at Ciudad Rodrigo and Vittoria. This is a memoir, though, so the Rifles are All Good and whatever bad parts of memories have been left out. Also, like memoirs by military men at this time, it feels rather impersonal.

In the earlier sections of the book, she, her husband, two children, nurse, dogs, and baggage cross France on their way to his posting in Malta. The sail to Malta is a true tale of terror, including near-shipwreck. Their sail back home, though, is a happier adventure: They pass by a water-volcano as it is spewing to create “Graham’s Island,” of scientific-debate fame. That short chapter was so cool I reposted it on my blog, including a painting of their ship and the volcano-spout.

This memoir is also available as PDF via Google books; a machine translation text version (messy) is available at General ebooks.