Flashman's Waterloo (Adventures of Thomas Flashman Book 6)

by Robert Brightwell

  I reached forward and topped up my glass as I imagined him unbuttoning and lifting the lid of the commode to sit down. Would he spot my waiting friend before he lowered his wedding tackle well within the reach of those vicious pincers? I held my breath for a moment as I lifted my glass and then an ear-piercing shriek came from forward. It was a howl of animal agony that you could never imitate and it sent my brother officers running down the passage to investigate.

  I did not need to hasten after them, I knew what they would find. It is true what they say: revenge is a dish best served cold. Grant had planned to sell me out when we were last in Paris together and then he kept quiet about my existence so my father and others thought me dead. I could just imagine how much he had enjoyed landing me in the soup when I was in Paris this time, not to mention the threat to my teeth. Well if you cross Flashy you had better watch your back… and your vitals too, for I will get even one way or another.

  In their rush to leave the cabin no one noticed that I had stayed seated, and as the last officer left I raised my glass and smiled. Now, what was that toast of Jennings? Ah yes, “To the final victory!”

  Historical Notes

  As always, I am indebted to a range of sources for confirming the information detailed in Flashman’s memoirs. These include Waterloo by Tim Clayton, Marshal Ney by A H Atteridge and Napoleon and the Hundred Days by Stephen Coote. These, in turn, reference a huge range of source material including hundreds of first-hand accounts, Wellington’s despatches, Fouché’s memoirs and other documents such as Napoleon’s proclamations. So it is that most of the events and even some of the dialogue in Flashman’s account is authenticated by others who were present at the time, the main exception being actions principally involving Flashman himself.

  These references confirm not just the major incidents but the more trivial ones too, such as the last minute changes to the carpet in the Tuileries Palace and Napoleon being given too much help to mount his horse on the morning of Waterloo. But as well as being aligned with known historical facts, Flashman’s extraordinary account also goes a long way to answering many of the questions that have puzzled historians for generations, such as why Ney changed sides, why Wellington was so sure that the initial French attack was only a diversion, whether Napoleon was ill on the day of the battle and how that extraordinary cavalry charge started. It also solves one of the great disputes that was bitterly argued between several generals after the battles. Soult and others were insistent that a message had been sent to Ney explaining the emperor’s intentions for D’Erlon’s men at Quatre Bras, but those around Ney were equally adamant he did not receive it.

  I am pleased to say that Flashman also gives full credit to General Chassé’s command in the outcome of Waterloo, something that was often omitted from contemporary British accounts that did not want to embarrass the regiments who fell back. It was often claimed that Halkett’s brigade somehow ‘re-formed’ while being charged and then fought off the first column of the Imperial Guard. Some may well have re-joined the battle, but it is clear that they could not have done so alone. Chassé complained bitterly that his men’s efforts were not recognised in despatches while accounts from them, and survivors of the Imperial Guard, confirm that it was Chassé and his brave Dutch (and Belgian – although Belgium did not exist at that time) men that saved the allied line at this critical point. One can only wonder what would have happened if Napoleon had committed the three squares of the Old Guard left in the valley as well.

  Finally, in the interests of public health, I should also point out that the yellow staining mushroom mentioned by Flashman exists and grows in French hedgerows in the summer, particularly during damp weather. Agaricus Xanthodermus can, in fact, be found across Europe and North America and does resemble a field mushroom. If you are in doubt which kind you have picked, you should cut them in half. If there is a yellow stain near the bottom of the stem, it should not be eaten.

  Louis XVIII

  Louis XVIII was the brother of Louis XVI, who was executed on the guillotine during the Revolution. He spent many years in exile before being given the throne of France on Napoleon’s abdication in 1814. He was, as Flashman describes, grotesquely obese, far too big to mount a horse, never mind lead an army. His return was accompanied by many royalists who expected to have their lands and privileges restored. Louis XVIII was in a near impossible position as he had to balance the demands of loyal courtiers who had been in exile with him for over twenty years with the need to win over post-revolutionary France, which had culturally and economically moved on from the reign of his brother. On top of that, his treasury was empty after years of war, forcing him to go back on promises to abolish various taxes and pay Napoleon a pension.

  The Duc d’Orleans was considered by some an alternative monarch, but the overthrow of a legitimate crowned head of state was unlikely to have been supported by royal families ruling the allied powers. Louis was restored after the Waterloo campaign and continued to rule France until his death in 1824. The Duc d’Orleans finally became king in 1830 and ruled until 1848 when he was overthrown and a second republic created – with its president Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of the man beaten at Waterloo and later to become Emperor Napoleon III.

  The One Hundred Days

  Napoleon Bonaparte’s second period of rule in France, lasting just one hundred days, is one of the most fascinating events in history. The emperor of the French had been forced to abdicate in April 1814, his soldiers defeated, betrayed by some of his generals and with parts of the country in open revolt. He had feared being lynched by his own people on his journey to Elba and yet less than a year later he was able to reconquer the country without firing a shot.

  While most books on Waterloo concentrate on just the battle, Flashman’s account goes into some detail on the changing circumstances in France that helped facilitate the emperor’s return. His landing with just a few hundred men was viewed with scorn by royalists but they greatly underestimated Bonaparte’s appeal to the army. He had made them masters of Europe while the royal princes generally viewed the soldiery with contempt. Napoleon capitalised on their complacency with rapid marches, bluster and bravado. Many sources both of this period of his rule and earlier, also confirm that Napoleon did indeed also have an exceptional memory for faces. Encounters with old soldiers, as described by Flashman, were one of the things that greatly endeared him to his men.

  He was not universally popular and many questioned whether he could withstand a renewed war with the allies. But he did represent the recent pride and glory of France, while the alternative was to turn the clock back to pre-revolutionary royalist days. His return raised expectations across the political spectrum from the fervent revolutionary Jacobins to the Bonapartists, while many tried to keep their options open in case he was defeated. As Flashman shows, Napoleon was as much a politician as he was a general and not beyond telling lies to achieve his goals in either role.

  He was much criticised for appointing Marshal Davout as his minister of war. Davout was the only marshal who had refused to join the Bourbons and was unquestionably loyal. He was an accomplished and skilful general and his presence instead of any of the marshals that Napoleon did take to Waterloo, may well have changed the outcome. However with Ney, Soult or Grouchy in charge at the War Ministry, there would probably not have been an army at all. Davout oversaw a Herculean effort to organise a massive increase to the French army and have them all equipped and ready in a very short amount of time. His commitment to his emperor meant that he was also the best man to leave in charge in the capital with the likes of Fouché on the prowl.

  Fouché

  Joseph Fouché, Duc d’Otranto was an extraordinary political schemer and plotter, whose remarkable career is well described by Flashman. He was Minister of Police from 1799 to 1810, accumulating an immense amount of information that he used to exert considerable influence. This made him too valuable for Napoleon to ignore on his return to power; indeed, he does seem to have
defused a revolt in the west of the country as described by Flashman. In his memoirs, Fouché asserted that he was in communication with Wellington during the ‘hundred days’ of Napoleon’s second period of rule. While this boast was initially dismissed as a malicious lie, evidence has been found that supports this claim.

  After Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, Fouché formed a provisional government. The emperor returned to Paris where Fouché encouraged him to flee to the United States. He even organised two French frigates to rendezvous with Napoleon on the French coast to convey him on his escape. However, in a typically duplicitous manner, Fouché was also sending messages to the allies to inform them of the emperor’s escape plans and precisely where he could be found. Ultimately, Napoleon surrendered to a British naval vessel and spent his final days as a prisoner on the island of St Helena.

  As a reward for his apparent support of the royalist cause, Fouché was restored to his post as Minister of Police under the rule of Louis XVIII. During that time he enthusiastically pursued and prosecuted a number of his former Bonapartist colleagues during a period known as the White Terror. But many royalists could not stomach the thought of this notorious regicide in government and he was dismissed in 1816. After a lifetime of treachery and intrigue, he died peacefully in his bed in 1820, aged 61.

  Ney

  Marshal Michel Ney’s career is much as described by Flashman. He was unquestionably a courageous commander; the stories of his rescue of de Briqueville and bringing back the French rear-guard from Russia are all confirmed. But he was also notoriously hot-headed and few would describe him as a great strategic thinker. He has been roundly condemned by many as being responsible for the failure of the Waterloo campaign. In particular, he has been blamed for not capturing Quatre Bras late on the 15th or early on the 16th of June, but this seems unfair. On the morning of the 16th, both Napoleon and Ney needed to allow their troops to recover from the previous day’s march and fighting. Even if he had captured the crossroads early on, it was unlikely that he would have been able to disengage from a growing British attack to go to the emperor’s assistance at Ligny.

  However, his decision to recall General D’Erlon did have disastrous consequences for the campaign. If D’Erlon had carried out the emperor’s instructions then the Prussian army would have been comprehensively destroyed and in no position to come to Wellington’s aid two days later. Additionally, if Ney had launched an attack on the British during the morning of the 17th at Quatre Bras he could have kept Wellington and his men pinned down until Napoleon arrived. Outnumbered and attacked on two sides with no prospect then of Prussian support, the British would almost certainly have been beaten.

  There has also been much speculation on who ordered the massive cavalry charge at Waterloo and why it was not supported by infantry – which would have made the venture far more successful. The consensus seems to be that the charge was ordered by Ney, following reports that the British were in retreat. As Flashman suggests, the timing of Napoleon’s announcement that the troops on the horizon were Grouchy, may also have had some bearing on Ney’s need for an early resolution to the battle.

  In the final stages of the encounter, Ney demonstrated almost suicidal courage, having five horses shot from under him during the day, but he remained unscathed. After Waterloo, he fled back to France and was encouraged to go into exile. Instead, he went into hiding and became one of the most wanted Bonapartist figures after the return of the Bourbon government. They could not forgive him his failure to arrest the emperor and eventually he was betrayed and brought to trial. The result was a forgone conclusion and he was sentenced to death by firing squad in December 1815.

  Colquhoun Grant

  Colquhoun Grant will be familiar to readers of Flashman in the Peninsula and Flashman’s Escape. He had come to Wellington’s attention as one of his ‘exploring officers’, essentially a uniformed scout behind enemy lines. In this role, assisted by a Spanish guide called León, he had been particularly effective. However, once he had been captured and León summarily executed, his decisions became somewhat more questionable. In particular, he gave a promise not to escape to a French general when Wellington was organising partisans to rescue him. Then when he was set free close to the French/Spanish border, instead of heading back to Spain, he decided to continue on to Paris.

  He was appointed by Wellington as his Head of Intelligence for the Waterloo campaign. But as Flashman describes, he was singularly ineffective, allowing a huge French army to approach the border undetected. He did command some cavalry during the battle and maps show him stationed near Hougoumont.

  His reputation struggled to recover from his failings at Waterloo but eventually he was given a regimental command in the first Anglo–Burmese War in 1821. He fell ill in the Far East and while he returned home his health never fully recovered. He was invalided out of the army in 1829 and died while taking the waters at Aachen the same year.

  For more information on Colquhoun Grant, his biography The First Respectable Spy by Jock Haswell is recommended. It is, however, written in a rather hero-worshiping style, which clashes heavily with the opinion of Grant held by Flashman.

  Thank you for reading this book and I hoped you enjoyed it. If so I would be grateful for any positive reviews on websites that you use to choose books. As there is no major publisher promoting this book, any recommendations to friends and family that you think would enjoy it would also be appreciated.

  There is now a Thomas Flashman Books Facebook page to keep you updated on future books in the series. It also includes portraits, pictures and further information on characters and events featured in the books.

  Copyright © Robert Brightwell 2016

  Also by this author

  Flashman and the Seawolf

  This first book in the Thomas Flashman series covers his adventures with Thomas Cochrane, one of the most extraordinary naval commanders of all time.

  From the brothels and gambling dens of London, through political intrigues and espionage, the action moves to the Mediterranean and the real life character of Thomas Cochrane. This book covers the start of Cochrane's career including the most astounding single ship action of the Napoleonic war.

  Thomas Flashman provides a unique insight as danger stalks him like a persistent bailiff through a series of adventures that prove history really is stranger than fiction.

  Flashman and the Cobra

  This book takes Thomas to territory familiar to readers of his nephew’s adventures, India, during the second Mahratta war. It also includes an illuminating visit to Paris during the Peace of Amiens in 1802.

  As you might expect Flashman is embroiled in treachery and scandal from the outset and, despite his very best endeavours, is often in the thick of the action. He intrigues with generals, warlords, fearless warriors, nomadic bandit tribes, highland soldiers and not least a four-foot-tall former nautch dancer, who led the only Mahratta troops to leave the battlefield of Assaye in good order.

  Flashman gives an illuminating account with a unique perspective. It details feats of incredible courage (not his, obviously) reckless folly and sheer good luck that were to change the future of India and the career of a general who would later win a war in Europe.

  Flashman in the Peninsula

  While many people have written books and novels on the Peninsular War, Flashman’s memoirs offer a unique perspective. They include new accounts of famous battles, but also incredible incidents and characters almost forgotten by history. Flashman is revealed as the catalyst to one of the greatest royal scandals of the nineteenth century which disgraced a prince and ultimately produced one of our greatest novelists. In Spain and Portugal he witnesses catastrophic incompetence and incredible courage in equal measure. He is present at an extraordinary action where a small group of men stopped the army of a French marshal in its tracks. His flatulent horse may well have routed a Spanish regiment, while his cowardice and poltroonery certainly saved the British army from a French trap.


  Accompanied by Lord Byron’s dog, Flashman faces death from Polish lancers and a vengeful Spanish midget, not to mention finding time to perform a blasphemous act with the famous Maid of Zaragoza. This is an account made more astonishing as the key facts are confirmed by various historical sources.

  Flashman’s Escape

  This book covers the second half of Thomas Flashman’s experiences in the Peninsular War and follows on from Flashman in the Peninsula.

  Having lost his role as a staff officer, Flashman finds himself commanding a company in an infantry battalion. In between cuckolding his soldiers and annoying his superiors, he finds himself at the heart of the two bloodiest actions of the war. With drama and disaster in equal measure, he provides a first-hand account of not only the horror of battle but also the bloody aftermath.

  Hopes for a quieter life backfire horribly when he is sent behind enemy lines to help recover an important British prisoner, who also happens to be a hated rival. His adventures take him the length of Spain and all the way to Paris on one of the most audacious wartime journeys ever undertaken. With the future of the French empire briefly placed in his quaking hands, Flashman dodges lovers, angry fathers, conspirators and ministers of state in a desperate effort to keep his cowardly carcass in one piece. It is a historical roller-coaster ride that brings together various extraordinary events, while also giving a disturbing insight into the creation of a French literary classic!