Who was Charles O'Neil/O'Neal? Regimental Descriptive WO25 show there were two Charles O'Neils in the 28th, one who enlisted 10th June 1798 being discharged to pension 1st December 1806 and the second who enlisted 5th May 1811 for unlimited service, neither of these men would have been an actor as the author claims in the Battle of Barrosa 5th March 1811, this is further supported by the Muster Roll for the Battalion, which had no Charles O'Neil listed.
At the Battle of Waterloo Charles O'Neal was on the Muster for the Depot at Albany Barracks, being shown as Recruiting in Armagh, which would explain why he doesn't feature on the Waterloo Medal Roll and, although the memoirs were published in 1851 he made no application for the Military General Service Medal.
Pleased to hear any observations as to the validity of his recollections
Having read many memoirs, letters, and diaries. I have found diary entries the most reliable, followed by letters written shortly after the events. Memoirs are hit or miss. The longer they were written after the event, the less reliable they were.
An old joke. . . what is the difference between a fairy tale and a war story? A fairy tale begins with Once upon a time. A war story begins with There I was. . . 😀