Battle of Waterloo

Emanuel Charles Greene was an extra-ordinary character: A creole who served as an officer under Napoleon at Waterloo, (unlike the British Army, the French did commission “people of colour”). Later remanded into Newgate Gaol, Greene was convicted following a high profile case, during which he conducted his own defence. Transported to Van Dieman’s Land, Greene married into the Anglo-Irish gentry, and lived the life of an officer and a gentleman, whilst acting as a thorn in the side of authority.
The story below is true. Everything can be supported by contemporary documents. My only question is was Emanuel Charles Green an Officer and a Gentleman, or “no regular bred Frenchman”?

Nicolas Battis, a man of colour, and a Private in the band of the 13th Light Dragoons, lived a life that included service at the battle of Waterloo and transportation to Australia as a convict.
In May 2023 Nicolas Batise’s (sic) place of enlistment was identified: According to the Edinburgh, Scotland, Army Attestation Registers, 1796-1857 on ancestry.co.uk Nicolas Batise, a labourer born in Guadeloupe enlisted in the ‘Loyal Macleod Fencibles’ at Edinburgh in November 1798. On enlistment he had a black complexion, very dark eyes, black hair, was 20 years of age and 5/7” tall.

This book is designed as a companion volume to The Great Waterloo Controversy, the Story of the 52nd Foot at the Battle of Waterloo and both books will be published at the same time by two different publishers.

In the process of searching out the evidence for the complete story of the actions of the 52nd Foot at Waterloo, a number of previously unpublished accounts have been unearthed and a number of obscure accounts rediscovered.

Much of the material inevitably brought together extends across the entire period of the Waterloo campaign and throughout the following three years the regiment remained in France as part of the Army of Occupation. A great deal of this is of course outside of the remit of the book on their actions at Waterloo, but it was deemed too valuable to simply ignore. It also means that for the first time ever, all of the accounts by members of the 52nd Foot at Waterloo and of those who were eyewitnesses to their actions have been brought together to give the clearest picture of the regiment during these entire four years it is possible to ascertain.

You will find much here on the actions of the regiment at Waterloo and the controversies that followed, but there is also much on their honourable entry into Paris, the social life of the regiment in Paris and during the long boring years in Northern France, including setting up a regimental hunt, with a full complement of hounds from England.

There is also a great deal on the disciplinary record of the regiment, which was surprisingly bad regarding desertions and with high numbers of court martials, the results of which are sometimes very intriguing.

The inspection reports by senior officers also hint at a surprisingly poor level of ability of Colonel Colborne at drill and manoeuvres, not perhaps what one would expect given his high reputation. These are only a few of the interesting events that occur, including last minute pardons from execution, other soldiers on murder charges, accidental shootings, stabbings and unfortunate drownings, alongside regular reviews and mock battles re-run for the Emperor of Russia.

Hopefully it will provide the reader with a much more rounded view of the regiment during the period of 1815 to 1818 and will challenge many preconceptions. It is an honest view of the officers and men of the regiment and their abilities, warts and all.

Gareth Glover
Cardiff

Quatre ans de recherches palpitantes pour faire revivre Enghien depuis la fin de la période autrichienne jusqu'en 1815. Découvrons ensemble le duc Louis-Engelbert d'Arenberg, seigneur d'Enghien, aveugle à 20 ans, spolié de ses avoirs en Germanie lors de la Confédération du Rhin et finalement, nommé sénateur impérial par Napoléon. Pourquoi est-il devenu franc-maçon et comment la franc-maçonnerie s'est-elle établie dans nos régions au XVIIIe siècle ? Que dire du fils du duc, le prince Prosper-Louis qui leva le régiment des chevau-légers du duc d'Arenberg à l'origine du 27e régiment belge des chasseurs à cheval ? Le canton d'Enghien, pris dans les serres de l'Aigle impérial, livra 475 conscrits qui, intégrés dans la Grande Armée, se sacrifièrent aux quatre coins de l'Europe.

EDITED BY GARETH GLOVER
272pp., 21 contemporary illustrations of the battlefield in June-July 1815, 3 maps. 2020.
Gareth continues to find more and more unpublished material. This is the third volume we have published in the Waterloo Archives series. It includes significant material relating to the Guards & the 52nd, the 33rd & the 92nd.
https://kentrotman.co.uk/featured/the-waterloo-archive-volume-ix-british-sources/

This is an English translation for a Dutch publication in the jubilee book for the military-historical society 'Mars et Historia' celebrating its 55th anniversary with a symposium on the topic of military camouflage.
This English translation is only accompanied with two maps at the end, whilst other illustrative material will be shown later on when due published in the Dutch original text (here on Academia.edu).

When Wellington pushed forward all of his horse artillery into the line, one of these was overlooked by history. The combined half horse batteries under the command of captains Gey and Petter also joined in the battle, almost immediately behind the farm of Hougoumont.
This article was first published in First Empire in the July/August issue of 2005.

ADAM’S LIGHT BRIGADE (52ND, 71ST & 95TH RIFLES) IN THE NETHERLANDS AND WATERLOO, 1813-15 – Susan Law and Dr. Stephen Summerfield
This sixth book in the Shorncliffe Lectures series, explores the Light Infantrymen in the context of the Netherlands Campaign of 1813-14 and at Waterloo. It uses original texts, contemporary newspapers and documents supported by 9 figures, 27 maps, 23 orders of battle, 20 tables and over 190 short biographies (Chapters 16-19). The more famous exploits of the 1/95th can be found in other books and as they were not part of Adam’s Light Brigade have not been covered here. It is interesting that these four original companies of the 95th were still wearing the same tattered uniforms in which they had marched out of Shorncliffe Camp, almost two years before.

The connections between the officers and men who were trained at Shorncliffe is central to the story as outlined in Chapter 1 and many of their biographies can be found in Chapter 16 and 17. The 52nd Light Infantry, 71st Light Infantry and the 95th Light Infantry were all trained their under the same enlightened methods developed by Sir John Moore, Kenneth Mackenzie and Baron de Rothenberg that had been explored in our (2016) Sir John Moore and the Universal Soldier then our (2019) The Baker Rifle and the Early Campaigns of the 95th Rifles. The origins of the modern British Army.

In November 2015, Dr Stephen Summerfield gave a Shorncliffe Lecture at the Tower Theatre inside the former Garrison Church at Shorncliffe Camp. This concluded that the only way to defend Kent and hence Britain was secure the Netherlands from enemies (Chapter 2).

In late 1813, a mixture of new recruits and convalescent veterans of the 2/52nd and 95th Rifles were dispatched from Shorncliffe in Kent (Chapter 3). These men remained in the Netherlands (Chapter 4). At the end of the War of the Sixth Coalition in 1814, Wellington’s Army returned to Britain or was directly shipped to North America. Only certain elements that were unable due to bad weather to sale were available when Napoleon escaped from Elba (Chapter 5). This once again threatened the borders of the Low Countries due to the lack of natural barriers as described in Chapter 6.

In April 1815, the 1/52nd, 1/71st and 2-3/95th Rifles formed Maj-Gen Frederick Adam’s Light Brigade in Lt-Gen Clinton’s 2nd Division at Waterloo (Chapter 7). These were among the most experienced troops available to Wellington being a blend of Peninsular and Netherlands Campaign veterans (Chapter 8). They formed his only Light Brigade, so essential for rear- and advance guard work. Chapter 9 gives Maj-Gen Adam’s Brigade Orders between the formation of his brigade and the occupation of Paris. He instructed all officers to memorise the first three sections of General Robert Craufurd’s Standing Orders for his Light Division (see Chapter 10).

On 14 June 1814, Napoleon invaded Belgium to split the Anglo-Allied Army from the Prussian Army then destroy them in detail. In response, the Duke of Wellington issued a series of orders to concentrate his army (Chapter 11). Chapter 12 followed Adam’s Brigade up to the eve of the Battle of Waterloo and their important role in the battle is described in Chapter 13. Susan Law’s Chapter 15 was an exercise to place one man in a battle and followed the story of Corporal William Law of the 2/95th Rifles, who lost an arm at Waterloo. This had been undertaken for her husband, Vince Law, who is a re-enactor in the 3/95th. The actual records found have been included.

Chapter 16 gives the biographies of British commanders associated with the Netherlands Campaign of 1813-14. It is interesting that all the commanders of Lt-Gen Clinton’s 2nd Division had served in the Netherlands. Only Lt-Gen Lord Hill, who commanded II Corps, had not served there. Chapter 17 gives the biographies of the officers of the 2/52nd and 95th Rifles provisional battalion. Most of these then served at Waterloo.

THE SHORNCLIFFE TRUST
The Shorncliffe Trust restarted these lectures in November 2014. The Shorncliffe site encompasses over two centuries of continuous military, social and cultural history. The Trust intends to tell the story of Shorncliffe (and the men and women who trained and lived there) from its earliest days defending Britain against invasion, to its role in the birth of the modern army through the role of Sir John Moore, it’s extension through the Victorian and Edwardian periods and the First and Second World war, to its current role as home of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, who were founded in 1815. The Shorncliffe Trust aims to:
• Preserve and conserve Shorncliffe;
• Develop, preserve and improve the features of historic interest at Shorncliffe, with public amenities; and
• To educate the public in the history of the military and the social impact of military history by the provision and maintenance of a heritage centre.

EDITED BY GARETH GLOVER
272pp., 19 contemporary illustrations of the battlefield in June-July 1815, 3 maps. 2020.
Gareth continues to find more and more unpublished material. Alongside individual accounts, there is a wealth of other source material available, which contains just as much if not more invaluable information for those interested in the organisation of the Army of this time. These are the letter books of various commanding officers, containing a mass of letters sent by a myriad of correspondents on an astounding variety of subjects.
https://kentrotman.co.uk/featured/the-waterloo-archive-volume-x-british-sources/

Graaf Charles de Marnix (1780-1832) speelde een belangrijke rol bij de bevrijding van de Zuidelijke Nederlanden door de Geallieerden op Napoleon en tijdens het Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (1815-1830).

Count Charles de Marnix (1780-1832) played an important role during the liberation of the Southern Netherlands by the Anglo-allies of the Seventh Coalition against Napoleon and during the period of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815-1830).

Le Comte Charles de Marnix (1780-1832) jouait un role important dans la libération des Pays-Bas Belgiques par les Alliés contre Napoléon et pendant la période du Royaume uni des Pays-Bas (1815-1830).

Lead shot analysis is still an undeveloped technique for analysing battlefields, although we can gain a lot of information from it. After an excavation, the lead shot is brought to a university, but is often then forgotten. Therefore, valuable information is lost. A methodology for analysing lead shot in the field can make a difference. But before you can start analysing the individual lead shot, you have to know who fought there and what type of weapons the forces were equipped with. Through the analysis you can match the lead shot calibre, with a specific type of weapon. With this information, you can create a distribution pattern, which can provide information on the battle. For example, pistol balls can suggest close combat. This research will not propose a new methodology for in the field, but it will try to increase our knowledge on lead shot analysis and what exactly happened at Hougoumont during the Battle of Waterloo.

This article explores the service of a number of Black soldiers who served in British Army regiments at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815.
The article discusses the Battle of Waterloo and David Wilkie’s painting Chelsea Pensioners (1822), (the most prominent depiction of a Black soldier in the British Army in the nineteenth century), the presence of Black soldiers in the British Army in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and provides biographies of the Black Waterloo veterans. (The latter starts on page 4).

Volumes VII (07) to XIV (14) have been published by Ken Trotman 2019-2022.

Many readers will know that I published a series of six volumes entitled
The Waterloo Archive, between 2010 and 2014. When I commenced the
series I had no idea that I would discover so much material on the Battle
of Waterloo and indeed the final volume was crammed with material as
the publishers, Frontline Books had deemed that they could not support
any further volumes, following the standard publishing mantra of ‘the law
of diminishing returns’ by which each volume sells less.

At the time, I was not overly concerned, as I had published all I had and I
had no idea that there was any further mass of material to be discovered,
but how wrong I was. Over the succeeding five years I have accumulated
another huge mass of material on Waterloo, but with all attempts to
persuade the original publishers to carry on the series failing, I turned to
Richard Brown and his Ken Trotman Publishing, whom I am very pleased
to say, has agreed to proceed and this is the first new volume of this
revived series.

Design and Layout by Dr Stephen Summerfield

Injuries and consequences for Dutch veterans of the Waterloo campaign. An investigation into musket wounds via, among others, the Fonds 1815.
This is an English computer genrated translation of the original article written in Dutch, and recently published in the military history magazine Mars et Historia.
For accompanying illustrations see the original article. Some annotations of original Dutch books and articles may have been translated into English, so be aware of proper sources.
Two errors are made in translations in tables. Where is reads "Lies" it means 'groin". And where is reads "Handle" a 'hand-to-hand fighting" is meant.

The following is a 2013 PhD thesis, successfully defended at the University of Ulster, 2013.
"Current textual studies of Finnegans Wake have identified sigla chiefly as notebook shorthand, but this thesis argues that this interpretation has enforced limitations on future research, owing to the lack of significance mere abbreviation has within literary analysis. The thesis aims to free sigla research from this restrictive critical viewpoint and overturn its present state of neglect in Joyce studies. The research studies the James Joyce Archive and uses a genetic approach.  However, instead of its analytical focus being on the notebooks (where the majority of sigla are located), it contains case studies of diagrams from the chapter drafts which are designed using sigla shapes.
I have shown the functions of three types of sigla: the first are ‘static’ (which are shown isolated and not in a relationship to any other characters, which would imply movement); the ‘kinetic’ status of sigla is a different actualisation of static sigla wherein they are presented in relationships with other sigla or in diagrams which imply their movement within a certain space; and finally the ‘three dimensional’ sigla are sigla which are brought to the status of a diagram on the basis of parallels between the siglum and meanings of the same shape in the tradition of knowledge.
To analyse the narrating quality of a siglum, the minimal condition is that at least one character is in the final version of Finnegans Wake and in a draft drawing. This is the starting point wherein comparisons can be made or symmetries can be established. This process of analysis reveals plotlines and shows how sigla can move within the drawing’s space. In conclusion, sigla function as elementary plot units, which develop the plot of Finnegans Wake".

This is the story of the towering ambition of a man willing to impoverish his people in pursuit of personal glory. From the disastrous invasion of Russian in 1812 to his defeat on the battlefield of Waterloo three years later, Napoleon's fall has a certain inevitability about it. Writing in a clear, non-technical way, and making use of new research and insights from a variety of other academic disciplines, Alasdair White explores the events of 1815 and sets them in perspective, showing how close Napoleon came to an improbable victory despite his many failings.

The way in which Napoleon used cavalry to shape the battlefield and to support his infantry attacks made cavalry operations play a unique role in Napoleonic warfare. Studying the cavalry operations during the decline of the Empire from 1813 through 1815 enabled an analysis not only of the capabilities of the soldiers and leadership of the French cavalry, but also a better understanding of the changes that occurred in Napoleon's operational and strategic art of warfare. This study required an analysis of cavalry operations in all of the major campaigns of the period. The operations of General Francois-Etienne Kellermann from 1813 through 1815 provided an excellent case study of cavalry operations to analyze the changes in Napoleonic warfare. This detailed analysis presented different conclusions than many historians and questions much of the traditional interpretation of the capabilities and operations of Napoleon and his armies.

This second volume deals with the final preparations for war, including the arrival of the Duke of Wellington. The operations, particularly of the Second Division during the whirlwind campaign of Waterloo and the consequent march to Paris are described in great detail as are the details of the Army of Occupation which lasted until 1818, concluding with their embarkation.

As well as his correspondence, Henry Clinton also kept a personal diary that was completed each evening. All of this various material has been put into date order and each day’s diary entry precedes the correspondence for the day (inserted by date of writing rather than of receipt) and the letters have been put in sequential order wherever it is possible or a time of day is indicated.

The appendix gives extracts recorded by an officer in Adam’s Brigade of his Brigade orders that  dovetail with the correspondence between Sir Henry Clinton and his brigade

An account of the life of the characterful second son of Mary née Sandys and her husband the 2nd Marquess of Downshire: he served as one of Wellington's ADCs at Waterloo and as MP for co. Down before inheriting his mother’s title, becoming 2nd Baron Sandys of Ombersley of the second creation: drawn mainly from previously unpublished letters and other archive material, with copious illustrations: Sandys of Ombersley: fragments of nine lives, no. 4

For many generations British historians have decried the conduct of the Dutch troops at the battle of Waterloo as cowardly, an accusation which Dutch and Belgian historians, in their turn, have tried time and again to refute. This accusation of cowardice results from the exclusive and uncritical use a chauvinistic British historiography made of compatriotic eyewitness accounts. The slighting assessments of the Dutch military they contain, in most cases, derive from misinterpretation: the smoke and noise, the chaos and danger of battle precluded an objective appraisal of each other’s combat performance. Miscommunication further enhanced this negative opinion. Since the occasional allies of Waterloo were not allowed time to get to know and appreciate one another, they were unfamiliar with each other’s language, uniforms, and command structure. Nonetheless, the British were certainly acquainted with fighting side by side with foreign troops, and they were more than willing, if applicable, to appraise their professionalism. As this common battle experience was lacking at Waterloo, historical prejudices could easily prevail.

Quali sentimenti compongono l’animo del soldato in battaglia? Come si manifestano e cosa li influenza? Cosa lo spinge a mettere a repentaglio il bene più prezioso in suo possesso, la sua stessa vita, e a non volgere le terga in cerca di scampo?

Napolyon Bonapart, tarihteki en büyük askerlerden biridir. Birçok kaynakta    " En fazla muharebe kazanan komutan" olarak geçmektedir. Kendisi ihtilalden hemen sonra ortaya çıkarak Fransa'yı dünya sahnesinde önemli bir yere taşımıştır. Üstlendiği bu görevi yerine getirirken zorlu mücadeleler vermiştir. Napolyon sadece bir asker değil aynı zamanda bir devlet adamıdır.  Murat Can YILDIZ, bu yazıda Napolyon konusuna kısaca değinmektedir.

Ce travail interroge l’impact de la bataille de Waterloo (18 juin 1815) sur le Brabant wallon, où elle s'est déroulée, et sur sa population civile, dans les faits et dans la mémoire, jusqu'au Bicentenaire commémoré en 2015. En 1815, les populations locales locales ont subi les opérations militaires; leur vécu reste encore largement dans l’ombre, contrairement à celui des combattants, de mieux en mieux étudiés. Par la suite, elles ont également subi la mémoire de la bataille. D’un simple lieu géographique, Waterloo devint en quelques années un mythe dématérialisé et délocalisé. Pendant longtemps, ce mythe est animé loin du lieu éponyme par des étrangers. Le site n’est visité qu’en fonction du mythe. Ne peut-on dire à cet égard que les habitants ont subi, passivement, une mémoire collective dominante venue d’ailleurs ? Une réappropriation progressive par des acteurs locaux, entamée dans les années 1950, permet désormais à la Bataille de faire sens pour la région (communes, Province et Région) où elle se déroula. Ce mouvement contribue à définir la forme que prend la commémoration du Bicentenaire, conçue essentiellement au niveau local mais destinée à un public largement international. Outre l'émergence du phénomène de living history et sa forte croissance depuis une quinzaine d'années, signalons encore que les lieux de mémoire locaux, issus d'une sédimentation séculaire, ont bénéficié à l'approche du Bicentenaire d’une (re)valorisation qui apporte plus de cohérence et réactualise l’infrastructure mémorielle, tant sur le plan de l’aménagement que du message. Waterloo est ainsi un cas exemplaire où, dans une évolution foisonnante, se combinent  mémoires nationales diverses, mémoire européenne et mémoires locales.

After the French had evacuated the Northern Netherlands, the new Dutch sovereign, William Frederick, Prince of Orange, began to raise a national army for which he had to commission general officers. In selecting them, during the eighteen months before the battle of Waterloo, three stages can be distinguished. During the first one, the Sovereign Prince could only employ former officers who had remained faithful to his House, but, for that reason, had not worn a uniform for two decades, and “Batavian-French” general officers who had rallied to the Prince, but were already retired or were mostly military administrators. During the second stage, the military organisation was established, first in the Northern Netherlands and subsequently in the Southern Netherlands. By allotting the sedentary posts to the aforesaid Orangist and “Batavian-French” generals the Sovereign Prince once again opted for security. Admittedly, the experienced and skilled commanding officers who had left French service to return home were given the appropriate ranks in the Dutch army, but were not entrusted with any vital commands. When during the third stage, after Napoleon’s return to power, King William I was forced to commission general officers on a large scale, he no longer hesitated to give preference to skills and experience previously acquired in French service, without, otherwise, relinquishing long-standing Orangist loyalties. Accordingly, in view of the forthcoming campaign, the King commended the sedentary posts to the most trustworthy generals, but conferred all field commands to the most experienced and competent generals. Professionalism, thus, prevailed over ideology.

This article provides an in-depth insight into the events for one of the Dutch-Belgian divisions, from its arrival late 17 June on the right flank of Wellington's army, its position around the village of Braine l'Alleud during the morning of 18 June, after which the division was next placed in reserve during the battle, and finally had one of its brigades take part in the final actions of the battle of Waterloo.
This article was published in First Empire (2006) Nr. 86 (Jan/Feb)

In 1778  Austrian General de Ferraris produced a map of the Austrian Netherlands for sale to the public. The latter and its French copy were the maps mainly used by the three armies at Waterloo. According to Belgian historian Bernard Coppens, a printing error on both the “Ferraris” and “Capitaine” maps might have misled Napoleon. Wellington took the decision to fight near Waterloo over a Ferraris map but the map he used during the battle was the outcome of a recent survey by the Royal Engineers. In Blücher’s Army, the crucial decision by Lt Gen von Gneisenau to withdraw towards Wavre might have also been due to the scarcity of large-scale maps among staff officers.

History has been unforgiven for the supposedly ill-managed position of the Dutch brigade under the command of general Van Bijlandt on the forward slopes of Wellingtons' defence line at Waterloo. However, with close examination of both British and Dutch accounts of officers and men who fought in the battle, it becomes clear the infantry brigade took up a well defendable position together with all other Allied troops well in time of the start of the battle.
This article was published in "First Empire" (Jan/Feb) Nr. 104 in 2009.

De aanvang van de slag bij Waterloo en de communicatie onderling tussen Napoleon en zijn commandanten is soms in nevelen gehuld. Enkele jaren terug kwam een nieuw kort briefje op de veilingmarkt met een order van maarschalk Ney, dat meer duidelijkheid kan verschaffen in de opening van de beroemde veldslag.

Almost immediately after the end of the Battle of Waterloo it was claimed in Dutch history that one of General Chassé's brigades in the Netherlands army had participated in the final and climatic defeat of the French army, by throwing back troops of Napoleons' Imperial Guard. Did Detmers' brigade actually participate, or were there other French troops alongside, that were charged? This article will trie to set the record straight.
This article was published in the Dutch military-historical magazine "Mars et Historia", Vol 49 (2015) Nr. 2. (Notice the caption under the photo on page 37; this should read "Photopgraph of Captain Lux".)