by Griff Hosker
"And England too. Remember when the cavalry charged those protesters in Manchester a couple of years ago."
"Aye, they called it Peterloo!"
"By newspapermen who were nowhere near the real battle." I downed the wine. "Yes Alan, Bonaparte was born too early. He would have worldwide followers now. Look at the Duke. He is now a politician and he is repressing the very soldiers who fought for him."
Alan stood and stretched, "But we are happy enough, sir. We have all of this."
"You are right, Alan. Somehow we came through the horrors of war and not only survived but prospered."
It was true. Our business had gone from strength to strength. Our ships now plied the world's seas. Matthew Dinsdale ran the empire we had created from London. He and the Fortnum family had done well. We had nothing to do at all. We received our income without having to work. As young Cesar had told us we had earned that right by what we had done all those years ago. It was our reward. Since he had taken over the estate from his dead father that side of the business had prospered too. I was pleased that I had been able to help my friends in France too. I had sent money to both Monique and Pierre-Francois. The 'Chasseur' was now a successful enterprise and my old friend was now a teacher at the Sorbonne; he taught politics.
And even I now had a chance of a life with a family. I had begun to court a young widow from the war who had settled on the island. Who knew; one day I might have my own children and then I could tell them the adventures that I had had as the Napoleonic horseman.
The End
Glossary
Fictional characters are in italics
Cesar Alpini- Robbie’s cousin and the head of the Sicilian branch of the family
Sergeant/lieutenant Alan Sharp- Robbie’s servant
Major Robbie (Macgregor) Matthews-illegitimate son of the Count of Breteuil
Captain David Macgregor- Royal Scots Greys
Colonel James Selkirk- War department
Colpack-fur hat worn by the guards and elite companies
Crack- from the Irish ‘craich’, good fun, enjoyable
Joseph Fouché- Napoleon’s Chief of Police and Spy catcher
Old moustache-a veteran of Napoleon’s army (slang)
Paget Carbine- Light Cavalry weapon
pichet- a small jug for wine in France
Pierre Boucher-Ex-Trooper/Brigadier 17th Chasseurs
Pompey- naval slang for Portsmouth
Rooking- cheating a customer
Snotty- naval slang for a raw lieutenant
Windage- the gap between the ball and the wall of the cannon which means the ball does not fire true.
Maps
Maps courtesy of Wikipedia
Historical note
The books I used for reference were:
Napoleon’s Line Chasseurs- Bukhari/Macbride
The Napoleonic Source Book- Philip Haythornthwaite,
Wellington’s Military Machine- Philip J Haythornthwaite
The Peninsular War- Roger Parkinson
The History of the Napoleonic Wars-Richard Holmes,
The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data book- Digby Smith,
The Napoleonic Wars Vol 1 & 2- Liliane and Fred Funcken
The Napoleonic Wars- Michael Glover
The Waterloo Campaign- Albert A Nofi
Waterloo- Bernard Cornwell
Waterloo 1815 (Quatre Bras)- John Franklin
Waterloo The Battle of Three Armies- Lord Chalfont
Wellington’s Regiments- Ian Fletcher.
Wellington’s Light Cavalry- Bryan Fosten
Wellington’s Heavy Cavalry- Bryan Fosten
The best of these by far both in terms of readability and content is the Bernard Cornwell book. If you only read one of them then it should be that one. The maps and illustrations are excellent and help someone who has not been to the battlefield visualise what it was like. The battlefield itself is well worth a visit. I went there as part of y research. Despite Slender Billy's ridiculous monument you can still see what a tiny killing ground it must have been. The whole field is the same size as Hastings where a much smaller battle took place.
Napoleon escaped Elba when his gaoler went to Italy to visit his mistress. He did disguise his ship as an English brig.
Where ever possible I have tried to use the words spoken by the key players. General Cambronne's words were what he said he spoke when invited to surrender. He survived the battle. I used Robbie Matthews to show the battle from as many places as possible. He could not have been where he actually went and survived. That is fiction. I have only shown the battle from the English/Dutch perspective as it is done in first person. The Prussians were important (see below) but their actions are only reported; not seen.
Martha Deacon was the wife of a wounded ensign. She was nine months pregnant and had three young children. After failing to find her husband on the field of battle she walked the 22 miles to Brussels through a rainstorm which Wellington himself said was worse than an Indian Monsoon. Remarkably she made it in two days, found her husband and had her baby the day after the battle. He was called Waterloo Deacon. Women appeared to be tough in those days; even the wives of young ensigns.
The John Shaw story is also true. He had been a prize fighter and was a huge tough man. The thought of someone using his helmet as a weapon is frightening and shows that there was a little of the Viking Berserker in him.
The buying and selling of commissions was, unless there was a war, the only way to gain promotion. It explains the quotation that ‘the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton’. The officers all came from a moneyed background. The expression cashiered meant that an officer had had to sell his commission. The promoted sergeants were rare and had to have to done something which in modern times would have resulted in a Victoria Cross or a grave!
Colonel Selkirk is based on a real spy James Robertson. Wellington also relied very heavily on his Exploring Officers who ranged far behind the enemy lines gathering information. At Waterloo many of these were unavailable. It might explain why Wellington appeared to be outwitted by Bonaparte’s sudden early moves in the Waterloo campaign.
Much has been made of Marshal Ney and his mistakes. He did delay at Quatre Bras and he did countermand Bonaparte’s orders and had D’Erlon marching ineffectually between the battlefields. However at Waterloo itself Bonaparte was on the field of battle and could have overridden any of Ney’s poor decisions. The fact was that the 18th of June was not a good day for Bonaparte. Grouchy let him down and Ney let him down but Bonaparte was the biggest architect of his own downfall.
He was, unusually for him, unimaginative and did exactly what Wellington wanted him to do. He tried a frontal assault after a battering from his guns. When the battle is refought with model soldiers the French always win. Even Wellington was surprised by his victory. It speaks much of the bravery and resilience of his men and in the Prussians who did what Blucher promised, they came to Wellington's aid. This was despite senior Prussian officers begging him not to. Had Blucher not ignored them then the battle would have had a different ending. The Young Guard would not have been wasted attacking Plancenoit, they would have attacked Wellington's left flank.
The attack on Hougoumont was supposed to be a feint to draw in the allies but his young brother wanted glory and he ended up drawing in valuable troops who could have been used elsewhere. The disastrous cavalry charge was originally supposed to use just 900 cuirassiers but a combination of Ney and cavalry commanders eager for a glorious charge meant that over 6,000 horsemen were used. Neither cavalry forces did what their commanders wanted.
The incident with Sous Lieutenant Legros, ‘The Enforcer’, happened very much as I described. They broke in and the Lieutenant Colonel did not try to kill the ones who had entered but closed the gates instead. The whole party was killed with the exception of the drummer boy who was captured. The Duke of Wellington actually singled out the Colonel and Sergeant Graham for an annuity after the war.
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Whenever possible I have used the actual words spoken at the battle. I realise the story of the comments surrounding Uxbridge's leg may be apocryphal but it is a good interchange and I have included it.
The Crown Prince was shot by a mysterious ball. In Sharp's Waterloo it is a rifleman who does it. I had Robbie considering it. The man was such a disaster that I think it is highly likely to have been one of his own men who did. It certainly saved many lives. He proved to be a better king than a general but his monument at the battlefield totally ruined the aspect of the site.
Bonaparte fled to Paris and attempted to raise another army. The deputies refused and he abdicated. He went to Malmaison and then tried to take ship to America. I have used my imagination for the area around Malmaison. Paris has grown a great deal in the last 200 years. Apologies if anyone who was there remembers it differently!
The Prussians did, indeed, want him executed but I have found no evidence to suggest that they sent hussars to capture him. Nor was there a fire fight at the house. That part of my story is pure fiction and the product of my imagination. Bonaparte fled to Rochefort where he gave himself up to Captain Maitland and he was taken immediately to St. Helena. That part of my story is true.
Waterloo
The battle is much debated. I have read most of the books which debate it. I have war gamed it more times than I care to remember. I have used my opinions throughout the book but I have studied both generals and armies extensively. This was the last battle which either general fought and was the only time they opposed each other. It was also a decisive battle. It was the last battle when the French and the British were on opposite sides. The peace in Europe lasted until 1870 when the Prussians and French fought. Indeed the next war in which the whole of Europe became embroiled was 99 years later! The battle saw the beginning of the end of the Austrian Empire as well as the rise of Italy and Germany.
Both generals and their subordinates made mistakes. Here is my list of the mistakes and the key moments in the battle.
Wellington underestimated the speed at which Napoleon could move and was in Brussels at a ball when he should have been closer to the front.
Bonaparte and Ney both wasted D'Erlon's Corps which spent a whole day marching, rather like the Grand Old Duke of York, between Quatre Bras and contributing nothing to either battle.
The Crown Prince caused more allied deaths than the Old Guard! It is hard to find a decision he made which was correct. He constantly sent battalions in line when there was cavalry close by.
Ney dallied too long at Quatre Bras and sent his troops in piecemeal. He exacerbated the problem by delaying the day after too although Bonaparte was equally guilty as he gloated over his victory at Ligny.
The orders given to Grouchy were incredibly vague and Grouchy managed to totally misinterpret them. Both he and Bonaparte were to blame. Had his 30000 men been available at Waterloo then the French would have won.
Prince Jerome committed too many men on what was supposed to be a diversion. That too could be said to be Bonaparte's mistake as he allowed his brother to call on other troops and waste them.
The Earl of Uxbridge and all the cavalry commanders were totally guilty of not controlling their men. The loss of the Heavy Brigade could have been catastrophic.
Both Ney and Bonaparte were guilty of sending cavalry in without horse artillery in support. Had they done so then the French would have won for they would have blasted the squares apart. They barely held against just the cavalry.
The Prussians were crucial. Their advance meant that the Young Guard was not available to Bonaparte. Had they advanced against the ridge alongside the Middle Guard then who knows what the outcome would have been.
Finally the age old problem of changing from column to line was one of the key reasons the French failed. The British had the confidence to use a two deep line and bring the maximum muskets to bear. As the threat of the skirmishers was eliminated by the rifles it meant that the British with up to five volleys a minute could out gun any French column which, even if in line could only manage three volleys a minute. Every French infantry attack during the day advanced in column and took too long to get in line. The British infantry won the day for Wellington: the Guards and the 52nd ended the last threat when they decimated the vaunted Middle Guard.
In the end it was a damned near run thing. It could have gone either way. And I wonder what would have happened had Bonaparte made America. Would he have been welcomed? Would he have become involved in American politics? Could he have become President? I give that outline to any other writer who wonders...what if.....
Griff Hosker 2015
Other books
By
Griff Hosker
If you enjoyed reading this book then why not read another one by the author?
Ancient History
The Sword of Cartimandua Series (Germania and Britannia 50A.D. – 128 A.D.)
Ulpius Felix- Roman Warrior (prequel)
Book 1 The Sword of Cartimandua
Book 2 The Horse Warriors
Book 3 Invasion Caledonia
Book 4 Roman Retreat
Book 5 Revolt of the Red Witch
Book 6 Druid’s Gold
Book 7 Trajan’s Hunters
Book 8 The Last Frontier
Book 9 Hero of Rome
Book 10 Roman Hawk
Book 11 Roman Treachery
Book 12 Roman Wall
The Wolf Warrior series (Britain in the late 6th Century)
Book 1 Saxon Dawn
Book 2 Saxon Revenge
Book 3 Saxon England
Book 4 Saxon Blood
Book 5 Saxon Slayer
Book 6 Saxon Slaughter
Book 7 Saxon Bane
Book 8 Saxon Fall: The Rise of the Warlord
The Dragon Heart Series
Book 1 Viking Slave
Book 2 Viking Warrior
Book 3 Viking Jarl
Book 4 Viking Kingdom
Book 5 Viking Wolf
Book 6 Viking War
The Aelfraed Series (Britain and Byzantium 1050 A.D. - 1085 A.D.
Book 1 Housecarl
Book 2 Outlaw
Book 3 Varangian
The Anarchy Series (England 1120-1180)
English Knight
Modern History
The Napoleonic Horseman Series
Book 1ChasseuràCheval
Book 2 Napoleon’s Guard
Book 3 British Light Dragoon
Book 4 Soldier Spy
Book 5 The Road to Corunna
Waterloo
The Lucky Jack American Civil War series
Rebel Raiders
Confederate Rangers
The Road to Gettysburg
The British Ace Series
1914
1915 Fokker Scourge
1916 Angels over the Somme
1917 Eagles Fall
1918 We will remember them
Other Books
Great Granny’s Ghost (Aimed at 9-14 year old young people)
Carnage at Cannes is a modern thriller
Adventure at 63-Backpacking to Istanbul
For more information on all of the books then please visit the author’s web site at http://www.griffhosker.com where there is a link to contact him.