For nearly a quarter of a century Britain was almost continually at war with France, initially under its revoultionary regime, then under the formidable Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Again, fighting took place across the globe, and many territories gained during this period went on to form the bedrock of the British Empire. McGonagall would probably have met veterans of this conflict in his youth (maybe even in the Perthshire Militia) and it inspired the largest number of his military poems.
