As with the Indian volumes there were problems in collecting papers though, this time, Gurwood was much assisted by the running index of Wellington's correspondence which had been kept in the Peninsula. This was particularly helpful in enabling him to cover a gap for the year from December 1809 when the Duke's papers had been lost in a shipwreck in the Tagus. During the whole of the project Gurwood had to make strenuous and prolonged efforts to obtain papers from a wide range of the Duke's correspondents. He wrote, often several times, to individuals or their descendants. He made a number of searches in official collections including the Inspector General's office at the Ordnance and the Commander in Chief's Office. He wrote to Lisbon to ask for a search for the Duke's letters to Admiral Berkeley which were believed to be in the Portuguese War Office.