Autobiography Of Sergeant William Lawrence: A Hero Of The Peninsular And Waterloo Campaigns
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During the nineteenth century it was a popular to imagine the British solders as the scum of the earth. When looking at William Lawrence’s, The Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence: A Hero of the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaigns the reader begins to understand why the British soldiers would be described as the scum of the earth because of their actions and appearance. The reader also begins to understand the William Lawrence and other soldiers just like him could not control the situation that they were placed in. The actions of the British soldiers start to become understandable because their sufferings and hardships could only be lessened by unpopular actions, such as looting and stealing. William Lawrence’s autobiography begins to tell the average soldier’s account of what took place during the war. The autobiography allows the reader to have a more sympathetic view of the British soldier.…show more content… When beginning to read Lawrence’s autobiography, when he first joined the army, he talks about the abundance of food that was available to him. When Lawrence and his fellow soldiers are in Rio Janerio, the Queen of Portugal rewarded the men with onions and pumpkins. Lawrence goes on to discuss how his army has possession of a town and could live comfortably. When continuing to read further Lawrence begins to talk about the lack of food and resources it is understandable that he would have a negative outlook. When he joined the army he lived a relatively good life and had enough provisions to sustain him, it would come to a shock to him that as years past he would begin to have less to eat and therefore would take a negative