by Tim Clayton
15 The 7th Hussars admitted to only six killed (all privates), twenty-one wounded (five sergeants and sixteen men), one trumpeter and fourteen men missing. Seventeen horses were killed and twenty wounded. However, this list does not include officers and Charles Radclyffe, for one, did not believe their return to the Adjutant-General. The return provides for heavy losses on 18 June where there is little evidence of heavy fighting to cause such losses. Hodge and Myers were killed, and O’Grady named five lieutenants taken prisoner. Simmons, British Rifle Man, 364, wrote: ‘The 7th Hussars charged, but were sadly mauled. The Life Guards and Oxford Blues made some very fine charges, and literally preserved the 7th from being cut to pieces.’ Maule wrote, ‘two troops of the 7th Hussars were taken nearly complete’; while Captain Thackwell said of them at Waterloo, ‘the 7th Hussars were very weak, having suffered most severely on the debouch of the French cavalry from Genappe the preceding afternoon’. Uxbridge’s son Henry wrote on 24 June that 200 out of 400 in the regiment had been killed and all but one of the officers wounded (Glover, Waterloo Archive, III, 5). Radclyffe in Glover, Waterloo Archive, I, 23: ‘The great loss of the 7th was in an unfortunate affair with a corps of lancers on the 17th.’ Out of forty-one officers in the 2nd Lancers, fourteen were wounded on 17 June. There were no officer casualties in other French regiments except one wounded in the 1st Lancers. This suggests that the 2nd was the only regiment seriously engaged.
16 Pétiet, Souvenirs Militaires, 206. O’Grady named a captain and four lieutenants who were taken prisoner; Paget mentions another lieutenant (Glover, Waterloo Archive, III, 6 and 78).
17 Bonaparte, Mémoires, IX, 99; Saint-Denis, Tuileries to Saint Helena, 128–9.
18 Niemann in Thorpe, ‘Two Diaries’, 542.
19 James, Journal, 26.
20 Duthilt in Field, French Perspective, 36.
21 Bonaparte, Mémoires, IX, 101; Wellington’s engineers had surveyed a potential battlefield at Hal, as they had at Mont Saint-Jean.
22 The less experienced part of 4 division and Prince Frederick’s Netherlands division.
23 Gourgaud, Campagne, 79; Dessales in Souvenirs et correspondance, 50. Napoleon, who refers to twenty-four guns, was probably exaggerating but he may have led some Guard artillery himself.
24 Dupuy, Souvenirs, 289; Thackwell, Military Memoirs, 70; Byam in Glover, Waterloo Archive, I, 84; report of 2nd Light Dragoons KGL in Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 33.
25 Johannes Koch in 1815 Limited On-line Archive.
26 D’Erlon, Mémoires, 96; Dessales in Souvenirs et Correspondance, 52.
27 Gourgaud, Campagne, 79–80; Bonaparte, Mémoires, 88–9.
28 Report to Chambre des Pairs, Moniteur 24 June in Waldie, Near Observer, 1817 edition, II, 111.
29 Fraser, Words on Wellington, 1–3. Fraser was an aide to Uxbridge.
30 Brouwet, ‘Quatre Documents’, 363.
31 Trefcon, Carnet de Campagne, 86.
32 Girod de l’Ain, Vie Militaire du Général Foy, 277–8.
40 Panic Behind the Lines
1 Glover, Waterloo Archive, I, 226; Creevey, Creevey Papers, I, 230–1.
2 Glover, Waterloo Archive, I, 227.
3 Heeley, ‘Journal’, 109–10.
4 Delancey, Week at Waterloo, 48–9.
5 Waldie, Near Observer, xiv–xv.
6 Carey in Brett-James, Hundred Days, 96–7.
7 Captain Jean-Baptiste Osten in Franklin, Netherlands Correspondence, 36–7.
8 Koopman in Franklin, Netherlands Correspondence, 111.
9 Rettberg in Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 47.
10 James, Journal, 34–5.
11 Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 89; Wheatley, Diary, 61–2.
12 Glover, Waterloo Archive, I, 227.
13 Glover, Waterloo Archive, I, 227–8; in fact, Uxbridge survived the rout of his hussars unscathed.
14 Swiney, Historical Records, 117.
15 Jackson, ‘Recollections’, 181.
41 The Heavens Open their Sluices
1 Glover, Waterloo Archive, I, 32.
2 Jacobi in Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 131–2.
3 Robertson, Journal, 152–3.
4 Officer of 95th in Waldie, Near Observer, 52–3.
5 Lindau, Waterloo Hero, 161–2.
6 Gagern in Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 193–4.
7 Barnett, NAM 1991-06-31.
8 James, Journal, 27–8.
9 Gibney, Eighty Years Ago, 183–4.
10 Gerard Rochell in Franklin, Netherlands Correpondence, 142–51.
11 Barnett, NAM 1991-06-31; A Soldier of the Seventy-first, 105–6. KGL reports in Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 17–19.
12 Jeremiah, Life and Adventures, 20–1 and in Glover, Waterloo Archive, IV, 185–7. Jeremiah sets this story on the morning of 18 June, but if Glover is correct in identifying the chateau as Mon Plaisir – and there is no other obvious candidate – it seems unlikely that Jeremiah could have gone there in the morning without being captured by the French.
13 Wheeler, Letters, 170.
14 Canler, Mémoires, 48; Martin, ‘Lettre’, 501.
15 Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 273–4.
16 Pawly, Imperial Headquarters (2), 52–4.
17 Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 277; Macbride, With Napoleon at Waterloo, 183.
18 Gourgaud, Campagne, 83–4; Bonaparte, Mémoires 102–3. Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 277. The source is Napoleon’s memoirs, but Soult’s letter to Grouchy of 10 a.m. confirms the receipt of such a report. Milhaud’s men had contacted von Sohr’s rearguard.
19 Marchand, Mémoires, 221.
20 Marchand, Mémoires, 221; Keppel, Fifty Years, 143.
21 WD, XII, 476–8; WSD X, 501.
22 Robinson, Memoirs of Picton, II, 386–9.
23 Lawrence, Autobiography, 204.
24 Heyland in Glover, Waterloo Archive, III, 140.
42 The Prussian March
1 Ollech, Feldzuges von 1815, 164.
2 Gneisenau to Hardenberg, 22 June 1815, in Delbrück, Leben, IV, 530–1.
3 Uffindell, Eagle’s Last Triumph, 168; Gneisenau to Hardenberg, 22 June 1815, Delbrück, Leben, IV, 530–1.
4 Ollech, Feldzuges von 1815, 187–8 and 191. Ziethen’s baggage had fled from Gembloux to Wavre and was sent north to Louvain, as was Bülow’s.
5 George von der Decken in Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 36.
6 Taylor in Siborne, Letters, no. 75; Bülow’s report in Ollech, Feldzuges von 1815, 192.
7 Müffling, Memoirs, 242; History, 17; Ollech, Feldzuges von 1815, 214–15, noting that it survived in the Kriegsarchiv; Frazer, Letters, 553. As Houssaye pointed out, it is clear from Prussian orders that they had already made their plan to attack Napoleon’s flank with the bulk of their force and reinforce Wellington with the rest. As it happened, this more or less coincided with what Müffling proposed.
8 Rahden, Wanderungen, 365.
9 Wedell, Geschichte, 164, Dörk, 15tes Infanterie, 128. Ollech, Feldzuges von 1815, 192 is Bülow’s account.
10 De Wit Copy in former KA, VI.C.55.I.11; it bears the title: ‘Disposition des generals Bülow von Dennewitz, vor der Schlacht am 18. an den Lord Wellington geschickt’; Ollech, Feldzuges von 1815, 216. Cf. Pflugk-Harttung, Von Wavre bis Belle Alliance, 620–1; Lettow-Vorbeck, Untergang, III, 401.
11 De Wit; Hofschröer, German Victory, 93–6.
43 Finding Breakfast
1 James, Journal, 31.
2 Glover, Waterloo Archive, III, 2. Frazer, Letters, 545–6.
3 Barnett, NAM 1991-06-31; A Soldier of the Seventy-first, 105–6.
4 Eyre in Glover, Waterloo Archive, III, 115.
5 Wheeler, Letters, 170; Jeremiah in Glover, Waterloo Archive, IV, 185–7. British soldiers tended to call all the German troops in their army Brunswickers.
6 Döring in Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 166–7.
7 Robertson, Journal, 153; Jacobi in Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 132–3.
8 Robertson, Journal, 153.
9 Mudie, ‘Operations of the Fifth’, 175.
10 Pitt-Lennox in Siborne, Letters, no. 17; Hope, Military Memoirs, 425.
11 Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 132–4.
12 Morris, Memoirs, 77.
13 Jan Rem in 1815 Limited On-line Archive.
14 Mudie, ‘Operations of the Fifth’, 176.
15 Mudie, ‘Operations of the Fifth’, 176–7.
16 Wheatley, Diary, 62. Gerson was the senior assistant surgeon attached to the battalion.
44 Tyrans, Tremblez!
1 Order from Soult, Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 286. The order confirms that Napoleon had intended to attack earlier and that orders for deployment had already been issued.
2 Marchand, Mémoires, 221.
3 Canler, Mémoires, 18; Martin, Souvenirs, 283.
4 Girod de l’Ain, Vie militaire, 278.
5 Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 319, citing mss notes by Baudus for this conversation.
6 Girod de l’Ain, Vie militaire, 279.
7 Mauduit, Derniers jours, II, 242, felt the staff failed to master the topography of the battlefield, and more and better guides would have revealed that the vulnerable part of Wellington’s position was his left, but in my view the staff had identified this weakness and intended to attack the left.
8 Register of the major general, Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 324–5.
9 Marbot, III, 403 and 405; Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 325. Houssaye correctly observes that the deployment of hussars was intended to facilitate communication with Grouchy, not to give early news of Grouchy’s approach, as Marbot believed.
10 Petit, ‘Waterloo Campaign’, 324.
11 Martin, Souvenirs, 284; Canler, Mémoires, 18–19. Interestingly, this passage is not in Martin’s letter of 1 August.
12 Bowden’s figures (Waterloo Campaign, 271–2 and 337); Houssaye’s figure (1815: Waterloo, 330–1) for the French is similar but his figure of 68,000 for the allies is based on Siborne’s numbers. Bowden demonstrated (Waterloo Campaign, 227) that Siborne’s figures, though traditionally accepted, did not include NCOs or officers, and have to be revised upwards. Muir (Britain and the Defeat of Napoleon, 361) concurs, agreeing with Bowden that Wellington had about 74,000 men. Adkin (Waterloo Companion, 37) obtained a slightly lower figure by allowing fewer wounded to return to the ranks. The figures for French guns vary considerably but the most likely are 246 (Adkin) or 254 (Bowden), depending on whether the Guard had three or four 12-pounder batteries. The figures are parade-ground strengths and there were markedly fewer men actually on the field because many were detached as baggage guards and servants in rear of the armies.
45 The Position
1 James, Journal, 31–2; Gronow, Reminiscences, 129.
2 Constant in Franklin, Netherlands Correspondence, 17.
3 These figures are based on those of Bowden and Adkin (see note 12 in the previous chapter). The artillery figure (157/156) turns on how many Dutch guns survived Quatre Bras.
4 Ellesmere, Personal Reminiscences, 183.
5 Shaw Kennedy, Notes, 72.
6 Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 156–8
7 The Hanoverian army staff report (Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 12, 17) states fifty from each battalion, but the more detailed brigade report (Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 95) is quite specific that 100 from each battalion marched to Hougoumont.
8 Shaw Kennedy, Notes, 99–102.
9 Frazer, Letters, 554–5; Rudyard in Siborne, Letters, no. 99.
10 Mercer, 120; Instructions for officers and non-commissioned officers of cavalry on outpost duty (1810), as refined by Frederick Ponsonby, was still in use by the Confederate Army in the American Civil War.
11 Shaw Kennedy, Notes, 71.
12 Kincaid, Adventures, 340.
13 Belcher in NA, WO 71/242 161. If this was so, Haythornthwaite’s figure of 503 is too high by some margin.
14 Ingilby, ‘Waterloo Diary’, 55.
15 Wheatley, Diary, 63.
46 The French Plan
1 Gourgaud, Campagne, 88. Bonaparte, Memoirs, 115–18; Bonaparte, Mémoires, 118–19. I agree with Barbero (The Battle, 96–8) against Houssaye (1815: Waterloo, 333), that Napoleon expected a breakthrough on the right.
2 Dessales in Souvenirs et correspondance, 52; Dessales somehow made the total 54 guns when the three reserve batteries plus those of d’Erlon’s infantry divisions made 56; perhaps two guns were deployed elsewhere. Houssaye added three Guard batteries to make a total of eighty, but Dessales, 54, said that these were deployed after the British cavalry charge in order to replace damaged and unmoveable guns.
3 Bowden (Waterloo Campaign, 321) makes eighty by adding the 12-pounders of the Old Guard reserve foot artillery to six foot batteries, while Adkin (Waterloo Companion, 298) includes additional Imperial Guard 6-pounder batteries.
4 Heymès in Elchingen, Documents inédits, 15, Waterloo: Récits de combattants, 48 and 50. Levavasseur, Souvenirs Militaires, 291–4; the third aide was named Devaux.
5 Elchingen, Documents inédits, 53–4. The phrase ‘at the intersection of the main roads’ shows that Napoleon knew where Mont Saint-Jean was on the map, although some of his subordinates seem to have confused Mont Saint-Jean with La Haye Sainte, there being a road junction just behind the farm and two nearby cottages.
6 Reille in Elchingen, Documents Inédits, 62; Robinaux, Journal de route, 208; Girod de l’Ain, Vie militaire, 281; Jolyet in Souvenirs et correspondance, 77; see also Combes-Brassard in Souvenirs et correspondance, 16: ‘In the initial plan, the French army was to attack on the right and in the centre, refusing the left.’
47 The First Assault on Hougoumont
1 The name Hougoumont first occurred on the Ferraris map, the surveyors having written down ‘du Goumont’ as ‘d’Hougoumont’; the manuscript survey shows the earlier, grander layout of the park.
2 Waldie, Residence in Belgium, 289.
3 ‘Ten minutes’: Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 104; Colborne in Siborne, Letters, no. 123.
4 Jolyet in Souvenirs et Correspondance, 77; Büsgen in Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 157; elms according to a Hanoverian report in Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 10; Bull in Siborne, Letters, no. 78.
5 Fletcher, Desperate Business, 106–7.
6 Mainwaring, ‘Four Years’, 409; Wheeler, Letters, 171; Siborne, Letters, no. 63.
7 Elting, Swords around a Throne, 475.
8 Büsgen in Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 117.
9 For the development of this favourite anecdote of Wellington’s, see Mittelacher, ‘Nassauers at Hougoumont’; the earliest version reported by Pozzo di Borgo dates from 24 July 1815 (J. Malcolm, The Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir John Malcolm, ed. J. W. Kaye, 2 vols, London, 1856, II, 102).
10 Hervey, ‘Letter’, 433 says twenty-six guns; Frazer, Letters, 556–7.
11 Glover, Waterloo Archive, I, 148–9.
12 Keppel, Fifty Years, 145.
13 Hart, NAM 1981-11-84; see Martin, Souvenirs, 110, quoted above.
14 Clay, ‘Adventures at Hougoumont’, 220:
15 Walcott in Siborne, Letters, no. 80.
16 Pétiet, Souvenirs militaires, 215; Mauduit, Derniers jours, II, 321n. Pétiet names the leader as Bonnet, but there is no Bonnet in Martinien’s list of casualties, whereas Legros is listed. It is possible that Pétiet’s hero of Tarragona was Legros.
17 Jolyet in Souvenirs et correspondence, 73. I am not convinced by Sergeant Frazer’s claim to have unhorsed the colonel with his halberd and then ridden the stolen horse into the farmyard (Fletcher, Desperate Business, 109). Glover, Waterloo Archive, III, 111.
18 Fletcher, Desperate Business, 113.
19 Wachholtz in 1815 Limited On-line Archive. There are many witnesses to the presence in the front line of the Avant-Garde battalion. These Brunswick units had been significantly depleted at Quatre Bras but had proved themselves trustworthy to the Duke.
20 Clay, ‘Adventures at Hougoumont’, 28.
21 Longford,
Years of the Sword, 459. Figures from Mauduit and the returns before the campaign started and allowing only 500 casualties for Quatre Bras. Adkin’s figure for this division is way too high, partly because he incorrectly included the very strong 2nd Light within it, instead of the 3rd Line which had 1200 men fewer.
48 The Prussians Detected
1 See Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 293–4.
2 Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 343–4.
3 Gourgaud, Campagne, 89 has all these troops sent to oppose the Prussians in case Grouchy failed to appear in accordance with the Emperor’s (mythical) overnight message. Mémoires, 120–1, have him spotting what might be troops in the distance on the right and sending Domon and Subervie to reconnoitre. In the Mémoires Bonaparte timed these events at 11 a.m., but set them after the attack on Hougoumont and immediately before Ney unleashed d’Erlon’s corps (see Mauduit, Derniers jours, II, 287–9; Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 340–1 and 346). For Bernard see Charras, Campagne de 1815, 260 and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar in Franklin, Netherlands Correspondence, 97–8.
4 Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 292.
5 Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 295.
6 James, Campaign of 1815, 196–7; Mémoires du Maréchal Grouchy, iv, 71.
7 Houssaye, 1815: Waterloo, 300–5.
49 The Grand Battery
1 Kincaid, Adventures, 341; Leach, Rough Sketches, 386.
2 Muir, Tactics, 34.
3 Girod de l’Ain, cited by Field, French Perspective, 71.
4 Müffling, History, 17–18; Memoirs, 242.
5 Napoleon claimed there were eighty guns in the battery. Pontécoulant, Napoléon à Waterloo, 263–4, said sixty pieces including two foot batteries of the Guard. Mauduit, Derniers jours, said ten batteries, including several of the Guard, took part. However, Pontécoulant states that his own Guard light horse batteries only joined in later to replace losses.
6 Some authors believe the Grand Battery started on the forward line, but at this stage it would have been desperately exposed and vulnerable, far in front of the French infantry and outflanked by Papelotte and La Haye. Shaw Kennedy (Notes, 86–7) confirms that the Grand Battery moved to the forward ridge but does not say when.
7 Glover, Waterloo Archive, II, 17.