Full Description

Spanish Bride

Based on the true story of Brigade-Major Harry Smith and the very young Spanish noblewoman he met and married during the Peninsular Wars, when the Duke of Wellington’s forces fought Napoleon’s army in Spain and Portugal.

After marrying Harry Smith when she was 14 years old, Juana Smith “followed the drum,” marching at the back of the troops along with the other wives and the officers’ servants. Juana became a camp favorite, charming all with her youthful enthusiasm. In spite of the danger, Juana thrived on military life and her passionate, if somewhat stormy, relationship with Harry.

Heyer’s research encompassed every available diary from that time period, including Harry Smith’s, and all of the Duke of Wellington’s writings and dispatches. She brings alive military life during the Regency period, how the armies marched and fought, as well as how the nobility provided for its own comfort with servants, horses, dogs and furniture.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1. Badajos
2. ‘A Treasure Invaluable’
3. Salamanca
4. Madrid
5. Winter Quarters
6. Vittoria
7. Skerrett
8. Colborne
9. Barnard
10. England
11. Waterloo

Excerpt

Excerpt

Reviews

Reviews

Jane Austen Today Vic Sandborn
Wednesday, July 16
The Spanish Bride: A Georgette Heyer Historical Novel

Inquiring readers, this Georgette Heyer novel was reviewed by my co-founder of Janeites on the James, Miss Anne. She will be the first person to admit that she is addicted to reading Ms. Heyer’s novels before she nods off to sleep. In fact, Miss Anne’s collection of Georgette Heyer’s novels is more extensive than my own. (And that is saying something.) Here, then, is her review of one of Georgette Heyer’s most acclaimed historical novels, The Spanish Bride, recently reissued by SourceBooks.

Few Romance novelists of any era would set an Author’s Note citing the main works of reference she used in researching the book, beginning with the autobiography of the romantic hero of the novel and including diarists whom we will meet in the pages, as well as Wellington’s Dispatches. And possibly no other Romance novelist would start her story – a highly romantic one, at that – with a lengthy and accurate portrayal of the siege and fall of Badajos, one of the most difficult battles of the arduous Peninsular campaign, where Wellington made his mark.

But Georgette Heyer was never the typical Romance writer. And this book, which is called a novel and marketed as a romance, is far closer to biography than fiction. The characters were real. Their own words, transposed into a coherent whole, tell the almost fantastic story of the 14 year old young woman of high birth, Juana Los Dolores de Leon, whose family home had been destroyed by the looters, and whose sister, the only one left of the family, turned to her acquaintances in the British Army, Lord Wellington and several of his aides, for her protection. As it turned out, when they came to the British camp, she met young Captain Harry Smith, a Brigade-Major in Wellington’s army. They married two days later, with Wellington in attendance, and within two more days, were on the march.

The Spanish Bride takes us through the rest of the war in Spain and into France, when Napoleon resigned and was sent to Elba. It continues with Harry Smith’s trip to America where he took part in the War of 1812 – showing clearly its place as a part of the Napoleonic Wars – and then, as the finale, some of the skirmishes of the Battle of Waterloo. The book ends there, but the Smiths lived a long and interesting life, in South Africa and India. Harry ended his career as a Major-General, and was knighted for his actions in India. Juana went with him wherever he was, and made friends everywhere; Ladysmith, in South Africa, is named in her honor. Georgette Heyer came across Harry’s autobiography while she was researching another book and was fascinated with the romantic story of the couple’s meeting, marriage, and life together. Her telling of their story in The Spanish Bride has not been one of her more popular books; in truth it is more a military campaign than a romance. But the love story of Harry and Juana Smith is fascinating.

We see Harry and his fellow officers through their own words. Juana is very much seen through their eyes. Convent-reared and frighteningly young, she tumbled into the life of the Army and carried herself as a brave soldier:

If Harry had doubted Juana’s ability to keep up with the division or to bear with equanimity the fatigue of long marches, and the discomfort of primitive lodgings, his doubts were very soon put to rest. She was a born campaigner. She rode her Portuguese horse in the rear of the column…when Harry went ahead, and never a murmur of complaint was heard to pass her lips. Unused to riding, she was, during those first days, so stiff and cramped when she was lifted down from her saddle that sometimes her legs would not bear her, and she would have fallen had no arm been there to support her. But there was always an arm…She had a genius for making friends and this quality in her, coupled with the romantic circumstances of her marriage (the story of which was, in a very short time, known to everyone in the division), made her an interesting figure. The men’s imaginations were fired before ever they saw her; when they became familiar with her friendly smile, and saw how her gallant, erect little figure never sagged in the saddle, they took her to their hearts and were even pleased when she rode with the column, a thing not generally popular with infantry regiments.

This is not to say that they did not quarrel – both had fiery tempers – but they were also soul mates. As long as Harry told her, or rather, ordered her, she would do it. She feared for his life in any of the battles, and for good reason, but she recognized – convent upbringing was to her advantage here – that his duties and responsibilities came first.

After Toulouse, Captain Smith was recommended for duty in America, and for the only time in their marriage, he left her behind. Juana’s sojourn in London was lonely, but as she did not speak English, she did not wish to go to his family until she and they could converse. When Harry brought dispatches for the Prince Regent from the war in America, his promotion to Major came through, and he took her to his home, where all of the Smiths were enchanted with her. She stayed with his family when he returned to America; Smith was at the Battle of New Orleans, indeed, carried the surrender papers to Jackson and was mentioned in dispatches for his outstanding work, before returning to England, just in time to hurry to Belgium. They arrived there as the epic final battle was beginning; the final scene is of Juana desperately searching for her husband through the grisly fields of that bloody battle.

Heyer’s easy prose makes the sometimes confusing military campaigns interesting. The casual interspersing of comments from the diariists keep the pace quick and interest high. She is well known for her interest in the Peninsular campaign – indeed, she made all of her most interesting fictional heroes veterans of the war. She had a well-documented desire to be more than a romance writer, and this is one of the books where she sought to expand her scope.

But most readers of the romance novel are more interested in drawing room intrigue than military tactics, no matter how interestingly depicted, and will not share her interest in the extended battles and the privations of camp life. And that is too bad. The extended Napoleonic wars brought about considerable change in the fashions and mores of the western world, and Heyer shows this throughout her books. Nowhere else and at no other time could a gently-reared high-born woman follow the drum and stay with her husband, the only person is the world she had. Janeites will catch a glimpse of their favorite Anne Elliott Wentworth, accompanying her husband on his ship in this story. And those who wish a more extensive look at the English staying in Brussels and the famous victory will want to read Heyer’s book on that subject, An Infamous Army. There’s more Heyer romance in that book, but the battle is so well drawn that students of military history study it. It was Heyer’s personal tragedy that she was not able to leave the romance novel behind, but it was an advantage for the rest of us to be able to read her sparkling prose on what can be a very dry topic.

This is Georgette Heyer with more meat than froth. I give it four and a half Regency fans.

Lincoln Heights Literary Society Journal Ida Vega-Landow
This has got to be one of the best stories ever written by the prolific Ms. Heyer. Similar to her earlier novel about love and war, "An Infamous Army", but a lot more satisfying for the romantics among us who prefer fact mixed in with our fiction. While "An Infamous Army" concentrated on the Duke of Wellington’s brilliant strategic defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo, with the rocky romance of Lady Barbara Childe and Colonel Charles Audley serving as background. In this novel the love story of Harry and Juana Smith is given equal time with old Hooknose (as Wellington’s men fondly called him) and Boney’s dispute.

When Harry met Juana in 1812, after the siege of Badajos, it was love at first sight. Badajos was a Spanish town occupied by the French army, which made the mistake of holding out until the end. If they had surrendered quickly, the English army and its Portuguese allies would have been more merciful. But after a long, hard siege, during which many of the allies were killed, when the town finally fell the English and Portuguese soldiers ran wild through the streets. Women were raped in public, stores, taverns and cook shops were broken into and robbed, their owners beaten or killed if they protested, and the triumphant soldiers looted even churches. The conquering heroes stole everything that wasn’t nailed down, drank everything that was fermented, and ravished any women they found outside. And quite a few they found inside as well, since even private homes weren’t spared from the soldiers’ wrath. Sadly, this happens a lot during war. The officers tend to turn a blind eye, knowing that the fate of the fallen town will serve as an example to any other enemy strongholds thinking of holding out.

By dawn the next day, while the town was still recovering from the assault and the soldiers were recovering from their hangovers, two veiled figures emerged from the ruins and headed for the English campsite to throw themselves upon Duke Wellington’s mercy. They were noble ladies of the family of Los Dolores de Leon, a matron and her little sister, who had somehow managed to survive the sacking of the town. Without having anything worse happen to them than the plundering of their house around them and the indignity of having their earrings torn from their ears. The older lady knew Wellington from his having bivouacked in her house a few years ago, and was fortunately able to find two English officers who spoke Spanish. One of them was Brigade-Major Harry Smith, a reckless young man already renowned for his courage throughout the Light division, which consisted of the 95th Rifles, the 52nd and 43rd Regiments, and the 1st and 3rd Portuguese Cacadores. He reluctantly allowed his friend Major Kincaid to persuade him to let the ladies sit in his tent while they sent a message to Wellington.

While the senora was pouring her tale of woe into the officers’ ears, the senorita, still exhausted and faint from the terrors of the long night of violence she had survived, noticed how young Major Smith kept staring at her curiously, trying to see through her mantilla. He was so good-looking that the young lady was able to forget her fears and lifted up her veil so she could see him more clearly. Once he got a good look at her pretty face, he lost his heart to her. Though she was just fourteen and he was in his twenties, Harry Smith declared his willingness to be the young lady’s protector. His shocked friend, thinking he meant to make her his mistress, admonished him thus:

"Harry, what the devil are you about? She can’t stay with you. A child—a lady!"

"She’s not a child. Oh, in years—!"

"But, you crazy fool, you can’t keep her with you! A gently-born girl, reared in a convent, thrown upon your generosity—"

"Yes, I can."

"Harry, will you listen to reason? This won’t do! She’s of the true hidalgo class! What can you do with such a girl? She’s not—"

"Do with her? I’m going to marry her!"

And that’s what he did. After a drumhead wedding, performed by a priest attached to the 88th Connaught Rangers, with Lord Wellington giving the bride away, Senorita Juana Maria de los Delores de Leon became Senora Juana Smith. Such weddings were common during the Napoleonic War; the baggage train of the English army was filled with wives and camp-followers, as well as servants—lady’s maids for the officers’ wives, valets (commonly called batmen) for the officers, grooms, cooks, messengers, scouts and so on. Most gently born ladies preferred to stay at home behind the lines when their husbands went to war. It took a very hardy female to "follow the drum", as the English called it, though blistering heat or freezing cold. Travelling over rough paths and smooth, over the mountains and across the valleys, not just in the baggage train, but right by your husband’s side, riding next to him on a thoroughbred army horse. That made all the tame lady’s mounts you had ridden before look like a hobbyhorse by comparison. Harry and Juana Smith became known as the most famous pair of lovers since Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but without the tragic ending.

Not that there weren’t plenty of close calls. Every battle that Harry rode off to made Juana cry like a baby, fearing she would never see him again. But she never shed any tears in front of him, only begged him to take care and come back to her safely. He would always promise to come back, while worrying himself sick about her safety and what would become of her if he died. Even though his younger brother Tom, who was serving with him in the same brigade, promised to take Juana to their parents’ house in England if Harry fell in battle. The reckless young major soon learned not to take so many risks in battle, knowing that he had someone young and helpless to care for who was depending on him to come back.

Meanwhile, the sheltered Spanish lady learned to be a good housewife who could stretch her husband’s meager pay (which was often in arrears) in any foreign marketplace. Or even feed a tentful of hungry soldiers with a pot full of whatever she or her servants could find, usually a skinny chicken and a few vegetables. The English commissariat, or supply wagon, had a bad habit of getting lost, or falling so far behind that it took days to catch up to the troops. So a good woman who had a hot meal and a cup of tea ready for you at the end of the day was a very good thing, whether you were an officer or an enlisted man.

In between the battles, there were parties, balls and banquets thrown by Wellington or whichever English officer felt like celebrating their latest victory. Juana shone at these affairs like any sheltered Regency miss at a proper English dance, and Harry was proud to dance with her, knowing she was the darling of the Light Division. The whole unit was proud of their brigade major’s Spanish bride and the hardy way she adapted to the life of a soldier’s wife, as well as her courteous behavior toward all. Enlisted men and officers alike were enchanted by her smiles, her lisping Spanish accent, the care she took to see that they were well fed and their clothing darned while they visited her and Harry in their tent. She even treated the lowliest camp follower as if she were a lawful wedded wife, which made her popular among those formidable ladies as well. These tough, shrewish women could be as ruthless as the men could when it came to plundering the dead on a battlefield. They didn’t waste time or courtesy on the officers’ ladies who looked down their noses at them as they went by on their husbands’ arms or perched safely up on a thoroughbred horse. Juana didn’t stay up on her high horse; she never hesitated to offer help or comfort wherever it was needed, often soiling her fine clothes helping to bathe and bandaged wounded soldiers after a battle. She didn’t faint at the sight of blood or at the sound of the profanities which injured men are wont to utter when they are in pain.

Neither of them was perfect; Harry tended to flirt with any pretty local woman who winked at him during the officers’ dances, and Juana would always fly into a jealous rage when he did. Then they would argue, fuss and fight as loudly as any long-married couple, to the discomfort of their friends and whoever had the billet next to them that night. But they never stayed angry with each other for long, and they never forget to tell each other "I love you" before Harry went into battle. All in all, I would say that Major Smith’s marriage was the making of him, as would all of his commanding officers.

I did feel some discomfort reading about his exploits in America during the War of 1812, when the British invaded Washington D.C. After all, this was my country he was invading. As much as I sympathized with Juana, left behind in England while she worried about her young husband’s safety fighting in a strange land overseas, I couldn’t help feeling relieved by the defeat of the British as well as Harry’s safe return.

When old Boney escaped from Elba and headed back to France to reclaim his throne, Harry took Juana with him when he was recalled to arms. They were both at the battle of Waterloo, Harry fighting with the rest of the English army while Juana waited and prayed with the rest of the civilians in the town of Antwerp. And when Juana went looking for him after the battle and heard a rumor that he had been killed, nothing could stop her from riding through that war-torn, blood-drenched countryside looking for her husband’s body, so she could bury him decently before killing herself. Happily, that wasn’t necessary, but be prepared to have your heartstrings tugged mercilessly as you suffer along with Juana, searching for her Enrique among the many bodies left lying in the hot sun after the battle. Their romantic reunion on the final page will remain with you long after you close the book.

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Trade Paper Specfications

• Length: 8.00 in
• Width: 5.25 in
• Height: 0.00 in
• Weight: 18.00 oz
• Page Count: 496 pages