organisation/structure of armies 6–7
Ostend 40, 49, 125
Papelotte 138–9, 140, 167, 182, 187, 194, 201, 275
Peninsular War 8, 30, 31, 45, 55, 108, 136, 146, 164, 171, 183, 212, 230, 243, 251, 264, 278, 290, 293, 298–9, 300, 301, 315, 322, 327, 345, 346
Percy, Honourable Henry 319–21
Picton, Sir Thomas 4, 45, 83, 85, 103, 110, 173, 189–90, 192, 204, 217, 314, 339
Plancenoit 139, 173, 219, 248, 250, 257–8, 265, 271–4, 276–9, 285, 288, 295, 305–6, 324, 332
Ponsonby, Sir Frederick 214–15
Ponsonby, William 214
Princess Borghese 17, 157
Prussian army
arrival at Waterloo 287–288
left flank 68
march to join Wellington 248–250
right flank 30, 66, 67, 68, 74, 99, 128
Quatre-Bras 51, 53, 54–7, 61–8, 73–4, 76, 81–6, 89, 90, 92, 94–5, 97, 101–2, 105–6, 108–14, 138, 150, 158, 187, 189, 194, 223, 231, 238, 248, 269, 275, 293, 315–16, 321, 324, 329–30, 334, 339
Wellington victory 99
rain and mud 117–18, 136–7
Rebecque, Major-General Baron Jean-Victor Constant- 51, 55, 58, 83
Reille, General 32, 121, 158, 159, 251, 287, 290, 293, 300
Reuter, Captain von 72
Richmond, Duchess of 39, 43, 46, 48, 53, 56, 58, 319, 334
ball on eve of war 43–47
Richmond, Duke of 51
rifle, Baker 84
Roberts, Andrew 121
rocket troop 114–15, 131
Royal Artillery 171, 341, 344
Royal Horse Artillery 33, 131, 277, 304
Royal Scots Greys 145, 193, 194–8, 200, 212, 214
Russia 6, 10, 22, 23, 29, 36
Saint-Amand 67, 73
Saint Helena 16, 317, 339
Saltoun, Lord 298
Sambre, River 41, 47, 48–9, 53, 56, 288
Saxe-Weimar, Prince Bernhard of 56, 63, 81, 83, 275
Shelley, Lady 306, 307, 313, 319, 334, 348
skirmishers 84–5
British 188, 208, 252
Dutch 83, 85, 183
French 83–5, 94, 102, 183, 187, 259, 267, 268, 276, 278, 302
Prussian 249
skirmish line 63, 72, 84, 85, 246, 249, 286
voltigeurs, French 84, 151, 266, 268, 278
Smohain 139
Sombreffe 53, 54, 55, 61
Soult, Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu 26–7, 27, 28, 32, 121–2, 131, 144, 146, 174–5, 188, 192, 339, 340
Sourd, Colonel 116
Stuart, Sir Charles 122–3
Suchet, Marshal 27
Talleyrand, Charles-Maurice de 16, 22
troop formation/deployment
column and line 69–70, 252
square 93–4, 233–4, 236
Tuileries Palace 18, 19, 37
Uxbridge, Lord 46, 115–16, 125–6, 131, 194, 222, 305, 314
injury 305
Vandamme, General 20, 73
Vitoria, battle of 32, 39, 45, 82, 143, 212, 230
Waldie, Miss Charlotte 62
Wavre 107, 108–9, 113, 120, 127, 146–50, 153, 173–5, 220, 249, 250, 274, 285, 317, 324, 330
Wellington, Duke of
British ambassador 8
centre of forces 96, 139, 156, 162, 201, 264, 269, 278
Copenhagen (horse) 92, 93, 217, 297, 313
early life 9
later career 341–2
left flank 94, 158, 172, 259, 287
meeting with Blücher at La Belle Alliance 306
meeting with Blücher before battle 65
promise of help to Blücher at Ligny 330
‘reverse slope’ tactic 64–5, 67, 137
right flank 5, 140, 156, 172, 181, 201, 245, 290, 299
Wedderburn-Webster, Lady Frances (mistress) 45–6
William of the Netherlands, Prince (Slender Billy) 8, 43–4, 51, 55, 94–5, 102, 124, 187, 208, 210, 262–4, 268, 293, 326, 341, 343
Zieten, General von 49–50, 248, 270, 274–6, 277
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
NO ONE CAN WRITE ABOUT WATERLOO without leaning on the labours of other historians. I am particularly indebted to Mark Adkin, whose book, The Waterloo Companion, is indispensable. It is a magnificent compilation of almost everything you might ever wish to know about the battle. The book is lavishly illustrated, the maps are superb, the research exhaustive and the opinions judicious. Whenever I found myself confused, usually by contradictory eyewitness accounts, I discovered that Mark Adkin had already cleared a path through the disagreements. I owe him thanks.
The battlefield today is dominated by the enormous Lion Mound, a memorial erected by Slender Billy’s father on the spot where his son was wounded. The Duke of Wellington, on seeing the mound, remarked, ‘They have ruined my battlefield,’ and so they had because, to make this monstrous lump, tons of soil were removed from the crest of the ridge so that visitors today cannot see the land as it was when the Imperial Guard made their final attack. Nevertheless the battlefield is well worth a visit, and the best guide is David Buttery’s Waterloo Battlefield Guide, which not only leads the visitor around the locations of the campaign, but tells the story of those four momentous days. The book is an essential companion for anyone visiting the battlefields of the campaign.
Nothing can take us closer to the battle than the words of the men who were there, and no one has done more to preserve those accounts than Gareth Glover. By far the majority of the quotations I used in the book are drawn from Gareth Glover’s compilations, either Letters from the Battle of Waterloo or his three volumes of The Waterloo Archive. I am enormously grateful for his painstaking work.
I was fortunate to meet the late Jac Weller and so had the privilege of listening to his robust opinions on Wellington, Napoleon and the battle of Waterloo. Peter Hofschröer’s opinions are just as robust, and the debate he sparked with his writings has broadened our knowledge of the battle. I am grateful to him, and to all the authors whose work has made mine so much easier. Patrick McGrady generously gave me his research on Elizabeth Gale, the five-year-old girl who witnessed the battle.
I have been fortunate, too, in having the same publisher for all my writing career. The support I have received from Susan Watt, Helen Ellis, Liz Dawson, Kate Elton, Jennifer Barth, Jonathan Burnham, Myles Archibald and Julia Koppitz has been extraordinary, thank you! And thank you to my agent, Toby Eady, who has been with me from the first book and without whom there might have been no books.
There would certainly have been no books without my wife’s support. Judy has been an inspiration throughout. It can be said of her, as Wellington remarked of the British infantry at Waterloo, that she is ‘the best of all instruments’. She is.
Insignia derived from shako plates, buttons and regimental badges appear on the following pages: p. 5 & 8 – Royal Artillery shako plate (1813); p. 15 – Chap. 1, French Imperial eagle; p. 39 – Chap. 2, French Imperial Guard, shako plate; p. 61 – Chap. 3, 95th Rifles 1st Battalion; p. 81 – Chap. 4, bronze totenkopf worn on shakos by Prussian black Hussars; p. 105 – Chap. 5, French Life Guard shako plate; p. 133 – Chap. 6, King’s German Legion shako plate; p. 155 – Chap. 7, French 9th Hussars shako plate; p. 181 – Chap. 8, Gordon Highlanders insignia; p. 207 – Chap. 9, Royal Artillery shako plate; p. 229 – Chap. 10, 52nd Foot Infantry insignia; p. 257 – Chap. 11, Saxe Weimar badge; p. 285 – Chap. 12 – French Imperial Guard, shako plate; p. 313 – Aftermath, Royal Scots badge; p. 339 – Afterword – Royal Artillery shako plate.
PICTURE CREDITS
The listed page numbers and image credits relate to the hardback edition of this publication and should therefore be referenced in accordance with a copy of the physical edition.
All reasonable efforts have been made by the author and publishers to trace the copyright owners of the material quoted in this book and of any images reproduced in this book. In the event that the author or publishers are notifie
d of any mistakes or omissions by copyright owners after publication, the author and publishers will endeavour to rectify the position accordingly for any subsequent printing.
BRIDGEMAN IMAGES: p. 35: National Gallery, London, UK – p. 36: (top left) Louvre, Paris, France / Giraudon; (top right) Musee de l’Armee, Paris, France / Giraudon; (bottom right) Musee National du Chateau de Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaison, France / Giraudon; (bottom left) Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2014 – p. 37: (top) Musee de l’Armee, Brussels, Belgium; (bottom left) De Agostini Picture Library / G. Costa – p. 58: (top) The Trustees of the Goodwood Collection – p. 77: Private Collection / Giraudon – p. 78/9: (top) Private Collection / The Stapleton Collection; (bottom) Musee de l’Armee, Brussels, Belgium / Patrick Lorette / Giraudon – p. 101: (top) Private Collection / The Stapleton Collection; (bottom right) Private Collection / © Look and Learn – p. 102: (top left) Private Collection / The Stapleton Collection; (bottom) National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia – p. 103: (top) Private Collection / The Stapleton Collection; (bottom) Brown University Library, Providence, Rhode Island, USA – p. 129: Private Collection / Photo © Mark Fiennes – p. 130: (top) Private Collection / The Stapleton Collection; (bottom right) Château de Versailles, France; (bottom left) Musee du Val-de-Grace, Paris, France / Archives Charmet – p. 131: (top left) Private Collection / Photo © Christie’s Images; (top right) © The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, UK; (bottom) Private Collection / The Stapleton Collection – p. 151: (top) Private Collection / The Stapleton Collection; (middle) R.S.A.F. Enfield Lock, Middlesex, UK – p. 152: (top) Musee des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux, France / Giraudon – p. 153: (top) Château de Versailles, France; (bottom) Private Collection / The Stapleton Collection – p. 177: (middle) National Army Museum, London; (bottom right) Musee des Beaux-Arts, Reims, France / Roger-Viollet, Paris; (bottom left) © The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, UK – p. 178/9: Private Collection – p. 202/3: Leeds Museums and Galleries (Leeds Art Gallery) U.K. – p. 204: (top) © Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London, UK; (bottom right) Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2014 – p. 225: (top left) Private Collection / Topham Picturepoint; (bottom) National Army Museum, London – p. 254: (top) Bibliotheque Marmottan, Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France / Giraudon; (bottom) National Army Museum, London – p. 255: (top) Apsley House, The Wellington Museum, London, UK; (bottom) Private Collection / Photo © Christie’s Images – p. 279: Private Collection / Photo © Bonhams, London, UK – p. 280/1: Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany – p. 282/3: (bottom) Apsley House, The Wellington Museum, London, UK / © English Heritage Photo Library – p. 308: Musee de l’Armee, Brussels, Belgium / Patrick Lorette – p. 309: (top) Brown University Library, Providence, Rhode Island, USA – p. 309: (bottom) National Army Museum, London – p. 310/11: Palace of Westminster, London, UK – p. 312: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, Germany / © DHM – p. 337: (top) Musee de l’Armee, Brussels, Belgium; (bottom) © Royal Hospital Chelsea, London, UK – p. 338: (top) Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia; (bottom) De Agostini Picture Library / G. Dagli Orti.
OTHER SOURCES: p. 4: Turner Worldwide / Sotheby’s– p. 34: © INTERFOTO / Alamy – p. 37: (bottom right) Getty Images / ©The British Library Board – p. 58: (bottom left) © Musée historique de Lausanne; (bottom right) English Heritage / Mary Evans – p. 59: akg-images – p. 101: (bottom left) akg-images – p. 102: (top right) Getty Images / Art Media / Heritage Images – p. 151: (middle) © INTERFOTO / Alamy; (bottom) © INTERFOTO / Alamy – p. 152: bpk – p. 177: © RMN-Grand Palais (Château de Fontainebleau) / Gérard Blot – p. 204: (bottom left) © Paris- Musée de l’Armée, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Pascal Segrette – p. 205: painting hangs in The Great Hall, Edinburgh Castle / Reproduced by kind permission of Royal Hospital Chelsea / Photograph courtesy Eric Gaba, Wikimedia Commons – p. 225: (top right) © National Portrait Gallery, London – p. 226/7: © National Museums Scotland – p. 282/3: (top) akg-images / Erich Lessing – p. 342: © Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Foreword
Preface
1 Glorious news! Nap’s landed again in France, Hurrah!
2 Napoleon has humbugged me, by God!
3 The fate of France is in your hands!
4 Avancez, mes enfants, courage, encore une fois, Français!
5 Ah! Now I’ve got them, those English!
6 A cannon ball came from the Lord knows where and took the head off our right-hand man
7 The Big Boots don’t like rough stuff!
8 Those terrible grey horses, how they fight!
9 We had our revenge! Such slaughtering!
10 The most beautiful troops in the world
11 Defend yourselves! Defend yourselves! They are coming in everywhere!
12 Next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained
Aftermath: A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee
Afterword
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
Picture Credits
About the Publisher
Waterloo: The True Story of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles Page 33
