Newberry Library - Letters 1796 Oct. 17-1820 May 25

Title Letters 1796 Oct. 17-1820 May 25

Creator Blanckley, Henry Stanyford, -1820, Blanckley, Henry Stanyford, d. 1820

Date 1796-1820

Subjects Great Britain, Peninsular War, 1807-1814, Spies

Summary Letters, dated Oct. 17, 1796-May 25, 1820, written by and to Brevet-Major Henry Stanyford Blanckley, concerning his military career, especially his service as a military spy for the Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular War in Spain. The earliest letter, dated Oct. 17, 1796, is a note from the Foreign Secretary Sir William Grenville, agreeing to a meeting with Blanckley. Blanckley's report of March 9, 1803 to Lords Hawkesbury [Earl of Liverpool] and St. Vincent documents his intelligence findings on French ship-building activities at the arsenal in Toulon, his arrest, and narrow escape to Marseilles. Blanckley spends some time in Nova Scotia, but when he hears of the Peninsular campaign, he writes to the commander-in-chief to request a return to Europe to serve with the army in Spain. His services in Spain are summarized in two reports: one entitled "Diario de noticias de los movimientos de los enemigos..." documents his spying between Dec. 1812 and May 1813; the other is an "Account of the strategems at Truxillo against General Foy after the taking of Badajoz", the text of which has been copied into a small black pocket notebook by Blanckley's nephew/niece. Most of the other items are are Blanckley's letters, written between 1813 and 1818, to high-ranking officials such as Lord Fitzroy Somerset, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Henry Torrens, Lord Rowland Hill, Sir Benjamin Bloomfield, Sir Edward Pakenham, Sir John Sherbrooke, Sir Edward Barnes, and Lord Robert Castlereagh, seeking compensation/pension and promotion to consulship in return for his Peninsular service. Blanckley moved his family to India in 1819-1820, but died there four months later of liver disease. In her memorial of May 25, 1820, Blanckley's widow, Elizabeth Diana Blanckley, petitions the Duke of York for a pension to support her and her children.

Extent 25 items ; 33 cm or smaller.

Format Correspondence, Manuscripts

Link to Catalog View record

Call Number VAULT Case MS 5029

BibID 991845208805867

Rights Status No Copyright - United States

Contributing Institution Newberry Library

Newberry Open Access Policy The Newberry makes its collections available for any lawful purpose, commercial or non-commercial, without licensing or permission fees to the library, subject to these terms and conditions.

Size 4726px × 7530px 101.84 MB

File Created 09/30/2016

Filename 991845208805867_case_ms_5029_fl_25_01 (2).tif

Unique Identifier NL1LJQG

Help Need help finding, searching, sharing, or downloading? Check out our help page!