Wellington and Waterloo

by Foster, R E

  Wolseley, Field-Marshal Viscount, The Decline and Fall of Napoleon, 3rd edition (Samson Low, Marston & Co., 1895).

  Woolgar, C. M., Wellington, His Papers and the Nineteenth-century Revolution in Communication (Southampton: Hartley Institute, 2009).

  Woolgar, C. M. (ed.), Wellington Studies I (Southampton: Hartley Institute,1996).

  Woolgar, C. M. (ed.), Wellington Studies II (Southampton: Hartley Institute, 1999).

  Woolgar, C. M. (ed.), Wellington Studies III (Southampton: Hartley Institute, 1999).

  Woolgar, C. M. (ed.), Wellington Studies IV (Southampton: Hartley Institute, 2008).

  Woolgar, C. M. (ed.), Wellington Studies V (Southampton: Hartley Institute, 2013).

  Zamoyski, Adam, Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon & the Congress of Vienna (Harper Press, 2007).

  Articles

  Foster, R. E., ‘Mr Punch and the Iron Duke’, History Today, May 1984, pp. 36–42.

  John Hussey, ‘Towards a Better Chronology for the Waterloo Campaign’, War in History, VII, 2000, pp. 463–480.

  Semmel, Stuart, ‘Reading the Tangible Past: British Tourism, Collecting and Memory After Waterloo’, Representations, Winter 2000, pp. 9–37.

  Notes

  Introduction

  1 A. Mallinson, A Close Run Thing, pp. 25, 34–5; M. Glover, Wellington as Military Commander, pp. 214–5.

  2 P. Bew, Castlereagh, p. 400; The Times, 25 May 1846.

  3 R. Southey, ‘Poet’s Pilgrimage to Waterloo’, lines 16–18.

  4 J. Fortescue, The Campaign of Waterloo, p. 197; WS, XII, pp. 155–6, Wellington to Clancarty, 3 December 1817.

  5 Bew, Castlereagh, p. 400; V. Hugo, Les Misérables, p. 310.

  6 Broadlands Archives, BR24/11/15, Palmerston to Elizabeth Temple, 29 October 1818. La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont have been variously spelt. For the sake of consistency, except in direct quotations, these are the forms adopted throughout. Likewise ‘despatch’ for ‘dispatch’.

  7 A. Uffindell & M. Corum, On the Fields of Glory, p. 41; The Times, 18 June 1920.

  8 R. Gronow, The Reminiscences and Recollections of Captain Gronow, p. 184; Manchester Times, 27 May 1843.

  9 The Times, 18 September 1952.

  10 The Times, 18 February 1958; Sir E. Creasy, Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World (45th edition), pp. 354–5, 418–9; Uffindell & Corum, Fields of Glory, p. 319.

  11 Fraser, p. 185; C. Mercer, Journal of the Waterloo Campaign, p. 388; M. MacBride (ed.), With Napoleon at Waterloo, pp. 137–8. Dickson died in July 1880.

  12 The Times, 18 June 1932; W. Thackeray, The Works of William Makepeace Thackeray, XVI, pp. 334–5.

  13 H. Siborne (ed.), Waterloo Letters, pp. 257–8, Dirom to Siborne, 27 February 1835; G. Glover (ed.), Letters from the Battle of Waterloo, pp. 65–8, Fricke to Siborne, 16 March 1835.

  14 Glover, Letters, pp. 335–6, Vivian to Siborne, 19 April 1837; Glasgow Herald, 20 June 1866.

  15 Creevey, I, pp. 102–3, Wellington to Ferguson, 22 June 1809. Whitbread (1758–1815), scion of the brewing family, Grey’s brother-in-law & admirer of Napoleon, would commit suicide three weeks after Waterloo.

  16 C. Woolgar, ‘Writing the Despatch’ in the author’s Wellington Studies II, pp. 1–25, as also his Wellington, His Papers and the Nineteenth-Century Revolution in Communication, p. 10.

  17 WP1/478/25, Wellington to Croker, 8 August 1815.

  18 Blackburn Standard, 16 September 1846; S. Clarke, 1,000 Years of Annoying the French, pp. 498–9.

  19 Irish Nationalist ones too. Few were as vociferous in criticising his fellow Irishman and Waterloo as Daniel O’Connell. See for example Morning Post, 1 February 1836 & The Times, 18 November 1836.

  20 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2714071.stm.

  21 Ellesmere, p. 82; Croker, III, p. 126, Wellington to Croker, 16 June 1847.

  22 Stanhope, pp. 78, 331; A. Roberts, Napoleon and Wellington, pp. 244–6.

  23 Ellesmere, pp. 64, note 1, 145–149; C. Greville, Memoirs 1837–1852, I, pp. 37–41.

  24 Fraser, pp. 21–2.

  25 Belfast Newsletter, 20 December 1844.

  26 Blackburn Standard, 18 March 1835.

  27 H. Davies, Wellington’s Wars, pp. viii–x; Stanhope, p. 58.

  1. Before Waterloo: Battles for Recognition 1769–1815

  28 He was known as Wesley until May 1798, at which point he followed his brother Richard in adopting Wellesley. To reduce the risk of confusing the reader, the latter form is used here. For family background see E. Longford, Wellington. The Years of the Sword, chapters 1–3.

  29 Ellesmere, p. 202; The Times, 11 May 1815.

  30 N. Thompson, ‘The Uses of Adversity’ in N. Gash (ed.), Wellington, p. 3.

  31 Gronow, Reminiscences, pp. 6–7; Longford, Years of the Sword, p. 19.

  32 The Times, 5 October 1852.

  33 Belfast Newsletter, 3 November 1852.

  34 Belfast Newsletter, 3 November 1852.

  35 Ellesmere, p. 102 note.

  36 The Times, 5 October 1852.

  37 Thompson, ‘Uses of Adversity’, p. 5.

  38 Croker, I, p. 337 note; Ellesmere, pp. 79–80.

  39 Stanhope, p. 182.

  40 J. Severn, Architects of Empire, chapters 3–7.

  41 WS, I, p. 209, Wellesley to Mornington, 6 April 1799; Shelley, II, pp. 24–6; The Times, 29 January 1829; Croker, II, pp. 102–3; S. David, All the King’s Men, pp. 333–8.

  42 WD, II, p. 403, Wellesley to Colonel James Stevenson, 19 October 1803.

  43 Stanhope, pp. 49, 182; Croker I, p. 354; David, All the King’s Men, pp. 351–60.

  44 Longford, Years of the Sword, p. 93; WD, I, pp. 339–40, Wellesley to Munro, 1 November 1803.

  45 Morning Chronicle, 14 October 1808; The Times, 7 January 1815.

  46 Croker, II, p. 233.

  47 The Times, 22 August 1806; Severn, Architects of Empire, chapter 8.

  48 Thompson, ‘Uses of Adversity’, p. 7.

  49 The Times, 4 November 1808.

  50 Morning Post, 8 September 1808.

  51 R. Gaunt, ‘Wellington in Petticoats’ in Woolgar (ed.), Wellington Studies IV, p. 140.

  52 E. Owen (ed.), The Waterloo Papers, pp. 3–5; Severn, Architects of Empire, pp. 226–32.

  53 Morning Chronicle, 14 October 1808; The Times, 4 November 1808; Creevey, I, pp. 89–90.

  54 The Times, 8 & 22 October, 1808.

  55 The Times, 23 November 1808.

  56 PD, 1st series, XII, 23 January 1809, cols. 106–13.

  57 Croker, I, pp. 32–3.

  58 Bury and Norwich Post, 16 August 1809.

  59 The Times, 11 September & 19 October 1809.

  60 The Times, 27 September & 16 December 1809. An outspoken Radical, Waithman (c.1764–1833) was a turner’s son. MP for London 1818–1820 & 1826–1833.

  61 Morning Chronicle, 14 September 1809.

  62 PD, 1st series, XV, 26 January 1810, cols. 130–54 & 16 February 1810, cols. 440–67; Croker, I, pp. 342–3.

  63 The Times, 4 September 1809; Creevey, I, p. 128.

  64 The Times, 6 January 1812.

  65 The Times, 26 November 1810.

  66 PD, 1st series, XIX, 26 April 1811, cols. 762–76; Morning Post, 5 July 1811.

  67 Morning Post, 16 October 1810.

  68 The Times, 11 January 1811.

  69 Liverpool Mercury, 20 September & 25 October 1811; The Times, 8 January 1812. In later life Burdett (1770–1844) would become a Conservative & father of Wellington’s friend Angela Burdett-Coutts.

  70 The Times, 28 April & 5 May 1812, 10 May 1813; PD, 1st series, XXII, 27 April 1812, cols. 1069–77.

  71 The Times, 13 July, 17 & 19 August 1812.

  72 PD, 1st series, XXIV, 3 December 1812, cols. 135–46; Hampshire Telegraph, 24 August 1812; Liverpool Mercury, 2 October 1812; Royal Cornwall Gazette, 29 August 1812.

  73 The Times, 18 & 19 August 1812.

  74 The Times, 25 November 1812.

  75 Caledonian Mercury, 8 July 1813
.

  76 WP1/373/6, Wellington to Bathurst, 2 July 1813.

  77 The Examiner, 11 July 1813; The Times, 5 & 6 July 1813; Ipswich Journal, 30 October 1813.

  78 The Times, 31 July & 9 November 1813, 6 September 1814.

  79 For examples, Morning Post, 6 September & 9 October 1813.

  80 Bury and Norwich Post, 29 December, 1813.

  81 The Times, 4 February 1814; Morning Post, 16 February 1814.

  82 Morning Chronicle, 1 April 1814.

  83 Caledonian Mercury, 27 June 1814.

  84 PD, 1st series, XXVII, 24 March 1814, cols. 346–55.

  85 Creevey, I, p. 198; Longford, Years of the Sword, chapter 18.

  86 G. Wellesley & J. Steegman, The Iconography of the First Duke of Wellington, p. 12.

  87 York Herald, 26 June 1813; Morning Post, 31 July 1813; The Times, 23 February 1814.

  88 The Times, 24 June 1814.

  89 The Times, 10 July 1814.

  90 C. Woolgar, ‘Writing the Despatch’, pp. 1–25; The Times, 8 July 1813.

  91 Liverpool was Secretary for War and the Colonies 1809–1812, Bathurst succeeding him when he became Prime Minister. Wellesley was Foreign Secretary from December 1809 until March 1812 when Castlereagh succeeded him.

  92 PD, 1st series, XII, 25 January 1809, cols. 145–8; The Times, 28 April 1812.

  93 Morning Chronicle, 17 December 1813; Longford, Years of the Sword, p. 330.

  94 The Times, 9 January 1813; Morning Chronicle, 17 December 1813; PD, 1st series, XXIV, 3 December 1812, cols. 135–40.

  95 The Times, 26 April 1814; E. Smith, Lord Grey, p. 171.

  96 The Times, 2 August & 12 October 1814.

  97 Morning Post, 27 July 1814; The Times, 12 April 1814.

  98 The Times, 16 April 1815.

  99 WP1/644/7, letter of 16 April 1820; C. Esdaile, The Peninsular War, pp. 499–505.

  100 Morning Chronicle, 17 December 1813.

  2. Waterloo: The Battle of Giants

  101 Stanhope, p. 245.

  102 The Times, 23 November 1814.

  103 WD, XII, pp. 295–7, Wellington to Clancarty, 10 April 1815.

  104 WD, XII, pp. 346, 359–62, 438, Wellington to Clancarty, 3 May 1815, Wellington to Stewart, 8 May 1815 & Wellington to Sir H. Wellesley, 2 June 1815.

  105 E. Cotton, A Voice from Waterloo, pp. 199–201.

  106 WS, X, pp. 9–10, Torrens to Wellington, 31 March 1815; WD, XII, pp. 291–2, Wellington to Bathurst, 6 April 1815; Stanhope, p. 221.

  107 WS, X, pp. 215–6, Bathurst to Wellington, 2 May 1815.

  108 N. Gash, ‘Wellington and the Waterloo Campaign’ in Woolgar (ed.), Wellington Studies II, pp. 216–22.

  109 WD, XII, p. 290, Wellington to Clancarty, 6 April 1815; Shelley, I, p. 172.

  110 Ellesmere, p. 219.

  111 WD, XII, pp. 449, 462, Wellington to Hardinge, 6 June 1815 & Wellington to Lynedoch, 13 June 1815.

  112 WS, X, p. 481, Dörnberg to FitzRoy Somerset, 15 June 1815.

  113 WD, XII, pp. 472–4, Wellington’s memorandum of 15 June for De Lancey & Wellington to the Duc de Feltre at 10 p.m. on 15 June; WS, X, pp. 509–12, Müffling on Quatre Bras.

  114 M. De Lancey, A Week at Waterloo, pp. 5–6; The Times, 5 & 29 May, 14 June 1815.

  115 Gash, ‘Wellington and the Waterloo Campaign’, pp. 222–4.

  116 J. Ropes, The Campaign of Waterloo, pp. 373–4.

  117 Fortescue, The Campaign of 1815, pp. 75–6, 91, 117; Gash, ‘Wellington and the Waterloo Campaign’, pp. 224–5.

  118 See below, p. 189.

  119 The Times, 22 June 1815.

  120 Glover, Letters, pp. 203–8, letter of Captain Albertus Cordemann.

  121 G. Gourgaud, The Campaign of MDCCCXV, pp. 76–7, 85–6, 121–2, 199; Stanhope, p. 109.

  122 Stanhope, pp. 109–10.

  123 E. Owen (ed.), Waterloo Papers, p. 10.

  124 Ropes, Waterloo, p. 386; WD, XII, p. 475, Wellington to Hill, 17 June 1815.

  125 Stanhope, pp. 110–11; Gourgaud, Campaign of MDCCCXV, p. 81.

  126 Pattison, Personal Recollections, pp. 20–1; Stanhope, p. 244.

  127 WD, XII, pp. 476–8, Letters to Sir Charles Stuart, the Duc de Berri & the Governor of Antwerp; WS, X, p. 501, Wellington to Lady Frances Webster.

  128 WD, XII, pp. 476–7, Wellington to the Duc de Berri, 18 June 1815; Fraser, p. 37. This thesis would also explain why, when/because the Battle of Waterloo was in the balance, Wellington dare not summon the force at Hal to Mont St Jean. Leaving them at Hal was neither oversight nor mistake but deliberate calculation.

  129 D. Chandler, Waterloo, pp. 120–2.

  130 Gash, ‘Wellington and the Waterloo Campaign’, pp. 222–3; Chandler, Waterloo, pp. 116–20; Longford, Years of the Sword, p. 490.

  131 Cotton, Voice from Waterloo, p. 37; Owen, Waterloo Papers, p. 40.

  132 Cotton, Voice from Waterloo, p. 37.

  133 Ellesmere, p. 182; C. von Müffling, History of the Campaign, p. 143; Owen, Waterloo Papers, p. 12.

  134 Cotton, Voice from Waterloo, pp. 32–3; Müffling, History, p. 147.

  135 Cotton, Voice from Waterloo, pp. 42–3; Morning Post, 12 July 1845.

  136 Stanhope, p. 18.

  137 Fortescue, Campaign of 1815, pp. 137–9, 147; Gourgaud, Campaign of MDCCCXV, p. 89.

  138 Fortescue, Campaign of 1815, p. 137; WD, XII, p. 529, Wellington to Beresford, 2 July 1815.

  139 Müffling, History, p. 26.

  140 Müffling, History, pp. 155–6, for the full letter which was widely reproduced.

  141 MacBride (ed.), With Napoleon at Waterloo, pp. 169–78.

  142 J. Weller, Wellington at Waterloo, pp. 106–15; Fortescue, Campaign of 1815, p. 165; Gourgaud, The Campaign of MDCCCXV, p. 102. Ney had attacked the Prussian line without orders at Jena in October 1806, necessitating Napoleon’s rescuing him when he became over-extended.

  143 Glover, Letters, pp. 241–52 for Major Baring’s account of his defence of La Haye Sainte.

  144 Ellesmere, pp. 208–9; Owen, Waterloo Papers, p. 13.

  145 Bradford Observer, 10 July 1845.

  146 Ellesmere, p. 101.

  147 Fortescue, Campaign of 1815, p. 204; Müffling, History, pp. 18–9.

  148 M. Adkin, The Waterloo Companion, pp. 83–4.

  149 Weller, Wellington at Waterloo, chapters 11 & 12.

  150 The Times, 27 June 1815; Owen, Waterloo Papers, pp. 42–3. The Times of 11 August 1815 carried a letter alleging that the wounded General Duhesme of the Young Guard, offering his surrender, had been cut down by a Brunswicker with the words “‘the Duke fell yesterday, and thou shalt also bite the dust.” So saying the black hussar cut him down. The fury of the Brunswickers no longer knew any bounds.’

  151 P. Hofschröer, 1815. The Waterloo Campaign, passim, especially p. 339. Napoleon abdicated on 22 June; on 3 July the Provisional Government agreed a convention to end hostilities.

  152 The Times, 18 June 1934; Croker, I, p. 124; WS, X, p. 531, Wellington to Lady F. Webster, 19 June 1815.

  153 R. Muir, At Wellington’s Right Hand, pp. 404–9; Stanhope, p. 136.

  154 Creevey, I, pp. 236–7; Morning Post, 25 September 1852. The letter is not currently in the public domain.

  155 Extracts of the letter appeared in the Morning Post, 26 June 1815. It was auctioned in 1904. The fullest version is in The Times, 18 June 1915.

  156 Adkin, Waterloo Companion, pp. 73–4; Chandler, Waterloo, pp. 171–2. The balance, beyond killed and wounded, is accounted for by c.3,300 who went missing. Half of these were Dutch-Belgians, c.500 Hanoverians. French losses are more problematic, perhaps 30,000 or more.

  157 Morning Post, 25 September 1852; R. Weigall, The Correspondence of Lady Burghersh with the Duke of Wellington, pp. 112–3.

  158 WD, XII, p. 562, Wellesley to Bathurst, 23 June 1815; Bew, Castlereagh, p. 400.

  159 Scott, Paul’s Letters, p. 195; Morning Post, 27 June 1815.

  3. The Battle of Posterity: Opening Shots 1815–1818


  160 The Times, 21 June 1815.

  161 Stanhope, pp. 122, 172–4.

  162 The Times, 3 August 1815.

  163 The Times, 24 April 1811; Royal Cornish Gazette, 6 August 1814.

  164 WS, X, pp. 508–9, Wellington to Sinclair, 8 June 1816; Ellesmere, p. 111; Stanhope, pp. 170–2; Woolgar, Wellington, His Papers and the Nineteenth-Century Revolution in Communication, pp. 16–9.

  165 WS, X, pp. 534–8, letters from Alten and Kempt of 19 June 1815. WD, XII, pp. 478–87, for the Waterloo Despatch.

  166 A. Zamoyski, Rites of Passage, pp. 488–9.

  167 The Times, 23 June 1815.

  168 WS, X, pp. 507–8, Wellington to Sinclair, 13 April 1816.

  169 R. Harvey, The Mavericks, p. 246.

  170 Müffling, History of the Campaign, p. 158; W. Scott, Paul’s Letters to his Kinsfolk, p. 195.

  171 Gourgaud, The Campaign of MDCCCXV, pp. 208–9; The Times, 6 October 1815.

  172 Morning Post, 26 June 1815; Royal Cornish Gazette, 1 July 1815.

  173 K. Curry (ed.), New Letters of Robert Southey, II, pp. 124–7, Southey to Wynn, 15 December 1815; Owen, Waterloo Papers, pp. 38–44, Barlow to his father, 7 July 1815; The Times, 8 November 1815.

  174 WD, XII, p. 475, Wellington to Hill, 17 June 1815; Leeds Mercury, 5 August 1815.

  175 Curry, Southey, II, pp. 124–7, Southey to Wynn, 15 December 1815; WS, X, pp. 508–9, Wellington to Mudford, 8 June 1815.

  176 WD, XII, pp. 488–9, Wellington to Aberdeen, 19 June 1815 & Wellington to Beaufort, 19 June 1815; The Times, 23 June 1815; Morning Post, 26 June 1815.

  177 PD, 1st series, XXXI, 23 June 1815, cols. 971–6; The Times, 24 & 29 June 1815.

  178 The Times, 29 June 1815.

  179 Morning Chronicle, 24 August 1815; Lancaster Gazette, 28 October 1815. See also Morning Post, 27 June 1815, Liverpool Mercury, 30 June 1815, Caledonian Mercury 3 & 27 July 1815.

  180 The Times, 3 August 1815; WS, X, pp. 508–9, Wellington to Mudford, 8 June 1815.

  181 The Times, 6 & 12 December 1815, 15 April & 7 August 1816.

  182 The Times, 4 June 1816.

  183 The Times, 3 February 1816.

  184 The Times, 13 May 1816 & 30 April 1818; Morning Post, 18 November 1815 & 5 March 1817.