One month later a young student of divinity, George Robert Gleig, gave up a scholarship to Balliol College to join Wellington's army as an Ensign in the 85th Light Infantry.
The young divinity student was then sent to the war against the United States, where he fought in five battles (Bladensburg, Baltimore, New Orleans, Washington and Fort Bowyer) and was three times wounded.
[2] He wrote a series of articles for Blackwood's Magazine on his Peninsular War experiences; they were collected into a book, published in 1825 as The Subaltern.
In 1821 he authored an account of his experiences in the USA as The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans under Generals Ross, Pakenham and Lambert.
Gleig also wrote The Life of the Duke of Wellington; a revised edition was published by Longmans, Green & Co of London in 1890.
If there is a mutiny in the army – and in all probability we shall have one – you'll see that these new-fangled schoolmasters will be at the bottom of it.Gleig was appointed Chaplain-General of the Forces in 1844, resigned 1875; from 1846 to 1857 he was Inspector-General of Military Schools.
He was also the author of Lives of Warren Hastings, Robert Clive, and Wellington, Military Commanders, Chelsea Pensioners, and other works.