#waterloo week

"My troops are on the point of marching. But here in Brussels, the partisans of Napoleon are beginning to agitate. We must reassure our friends. Therefore let us show ourselves at the Duchess of Richmond’s ball, and we will be in the saddle by 5 to-morrow morning.” Wellington told Müffling, the Prussian attached to his Staff. (Hibbert 154)

15 June 1815. The Duchess of Richmond's ball, held at her villa in the Rue de Blanchisserie, was particularly anticipated by the attendees. The Duchess had transformed the barn adjoining her home into a sumptuous hall in which the guests could dance to the sound of military music. The guest list was distinguished, a mixture of the elite of the British army and the most cosmopolitan of Brussels' society: foreign diplomats, English peers, and French emigres. (Hibbert 154)

Wellington attended, though he was constantly receiving messages and giving orders to the officers. Not long after supper began, he announced it was time for him to go to bed. Yet first he asked Richmond for a map. They adjourned into Richmond's study/dressing room. (Hibbert 155)

Legend tells us this happened next:

Wellington shut the door. “Napoleon has humbugged me, by God! He has gained twenty-four hours march on me.” “What do you intend doing?” Richmond inquired. “I have ordered the army to concentrate at Quatre-Bras; but we shall not stop him there, and if so, I must fight him here." Wellington passed his thumbnail over the position of Waterloo. Wellington then said adieu, and left the house by another way out. (Hibbert 156)

The ballroom turned to chaos as the evening wore on. Officers began to hurry away to join their regiments. Lord Uxbridge came to the door and said, “You gentleman who have engaged your partners had better finish your dance, and get to your quarters as soon as you can.”* Many never had the chance to change and would arrive at the Battle of Quatre Bras the next day still wearing the uniforms they'd worn to the ball. (Hibbert 155, 157-58)

*I've heard this order attributed to Wellington before, but I don't have a source that says it came from him.

Source: Hibbert, Christopher. Waterloo: Napoleon's Last Campaign. Mentor Books, 1967.

Happy 257th Birthday, Viscount Castlereagh!

This was one of the scenes that struck me when I first watched Waterloo (1970). It gives such a fascinating insight into Wellington's character.

Andrew Roberts puts it best: "By contrast to today, when an enemy head of state constitutes a legitimate military target, Wellington refused an artillery officer under his command permission to fire his battery at Napoleon.” (Waterloo. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2005. p.15.) Christopher Hibbert quotes Siborne, a Waterloo historian who served as a lieutenant in the 9th foot, providing more detail:

“An officer of the artillery came up to the Duke, and stated that the had a distinct view of Napoleon… that he had the guns of his battery well pointed in that direction, and was prepared to fire. His Grace instantly and emphatically exclaimed, “No! No! I’ll not allow it. It is not the business of commanders to be firing upon each other.” (Hibbert, Christopher. Wellington, A Personal History. Addison Wesley, 1997. p.212.)

Tactically, eliminating Napoleon before the battle ever began would have made sense. Without Napoleon, the battle might not even occur. Even if the Marshals tried to rally and fight for Napoleon's son, French morale would be wrecked. Wellington himself estimated that Napoleon's presence was worth 40,000 men; with his death would go all the personal charisma he could muster. (Hibbert, Christopher. Waterloo: Napoleon’s Last Campaign. Mentor Books, 1967. p.141.)

Consider that French sharpshooters particularly targeted Lord Nelson during the Battle of Trafalgar and killed him. (The Great Commanders, "Horatio Nelson.") There was precedent for giving the order, yet Wellington chose not to. I've seen it argued that Wellington was trying to kill Napoleon, and yet this choice makes that point of view very difficult to defend.

I cannot say precisely what drove Wellington to make this decision, but I suspect it had to do with his ideals of honor, his commitment to being a gentleman. Perhaps there were political considerations as well, but if Siborne tells it accurately, the instant response belies such careful thinking. Siborne doesn't say that he deliberated, but that he instantly and emphatically denied permission. I don't discount a flash of genius on Wellington's part, I just find honor the likelier explanation.

It's late morning, June 18th, 1815. The roar of the Grand Battery's guns is audible even several miles to the east. Marshal Grouchy has reached the strawberry stage of a late breakfast, at a farm on the road, accompanied by some of his senior commanders. Napoleon has given written and verbal orders that Grouchy is to march to Wavre, chasing the Prussians away from Wellington. His subordinates, especially General Gerard, implore him to give up this chase and march toward the battle. But Grouchy will not face the consequences of disobeying Napoleon, no. He and his men will march on Wavre, strawberries and all.

Let's raise a glass to Decoster the Fleming today.

Decoster owned a little inn on the side of the road between Rossomme and La Belle Alliance. At 5 o'clock in the morning on the 18th of June, this poor man was kidnapped and brought before Napoleon, who needed a local guide. Napoleon's maps indicated the features of the ground only in a very general and summary way, so he needed someone native to the area.

Decoster was not well pleased to be hoisted on a charger tied to one of the escorts, and he spent the battle wriggling around and trying not to get shot. At one point, Napoleon told him, "Now, my friend, do not be so restless. A musket-shot may kill you just as well from behind as from the front, and will make a much worse wound."

Local traditions say that, either through imbecility or malice, Decoster spent the day giving Napoleon false information.

Another guide, Joseph Bourgeois, had more luck. He stuttered with fear and kept his eyes on the ground until Napoleon sent him away.

Source: Hibbert, Christopher. Waterloo: Napoleon’s Last Campaign. Mentor Books, 1967. p.194.

Captain Mercer related, “The first gun fired seemed to burst the clouds overhead, for its report was instantly followed by an awful clap of thunder, and lightning that almost blinded us, whilst the rain came down as if a waterspout had broken over us… Flash succeeded flash, and the peals of thunder were long and tremendous; whilst, as if in mockery of the elements, the French guns still sent forth their feebler glare and now scarcely audible reports—their cavalry dashing on at a head-long pace, adding their shouts to the uproar. We galloped for our lives through the storm, striving to gain the enclosures about the houses of the hamlets… Away we went, helter-skelter—guns, gun-detachments , and hussars, all mixed pele-mele, going like mad, and covering each other with mud, to be washed off by the rain which, before sufficiently heavy, now came down again as it had done at first in splashes instead of drops, soaking us anew to the skin, and, what was worse, extinguishing every slow match in the brigade. The obscurity caused by the splashing of the rain was such, that at one period I could not distinguish objects more than a few yards distant. Of course we lost sight of our pursuers altogether, and the shouts and halloos, and even laughter, they had first sent forth were either silenced or drowned in the uproar of the elements and the noise of our too rapid retreat; for in addition to everything else the crashing and rattling of the thunder were most awful and the glare of the lightning blinding.”

Hibbert, Christopher. Waterloo: Napoleon's Last Campaign. Mentor Books, 1967. p.179-81

Happy Waterloo Week!

This week marks the 211th anniversary of the Battles of Quatre Bras, Ligny, and, of course, Waterloo. Because Wellington is my darling and I cannot resist yapping about him, I've decided to dedicate an entire week to posts about him and the period surrounding the battles. Some posts will be original, others reblogs of relevant content. I've even made a meme!

So stay tuned for a bit of serious information, a bit of humor, and a bit of tragedy. I hope you enjoy seeing what I've put together as much as I enjoyed curating it.