Tag Archives: Wellington

June 14, 1815

Updated on June 14, 2010 by Diane Gaston

This week marks the 195th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, a battle that figures prominently in history and also in our Regency Historicals. The first book in my Three Soldiers Series, Gallant Officer, Forbidden Lady, ends at Waterloo. Book number two, Chivalrous Captain, Rebel Mistress, begins there, smack in the middle of the battle.

I wondered what the two men whose names are nearly synonymous with the battle were doing on June 14, 1815. Both, I discovered, were writing dispatches.

Napoleon’s was in the form a a proclamation to his troops.

“Soldiers: This day is the anniversary of Marengo and Friedland, which twice
decided the destiny of Europe. Then, as after the battles of Austerlitz and
Wagram, we were too generous. We believed in the protestations and oaths of
princes to whom we left their thrones. Now, however, leagued together, they
strike at the independence and sacred rights of France…After having swallowed up twelve millions of Poles, twelve millions of Italians, one million Saxons, and six
millions of Belgians, they now wish to devour the States of the second order
among the Germans. Madmen! one moment of prosperity has bewildered them. To
oppress and humble the people of France is out of their power; once entering our
territory, there they will find their doom. Soldiers: We have forced marches
before us, battles to fight, and dangers to encounter; but firm in resolution,
victory must be ours. The honor and happiness of our country are at stake! and,
in short, Frenchmen, the moment is arrived when we must conquer or die!”

Napoleon knew he was days away from engaging the Prussians and one can understand his need to inspire his troops. Still, his words are brimming with arrogance, of the certainty of his superiority.

Napoleon had the advantage. He knew he was on the attack. The Allies knew only that engagement was imminent; at this point, they did not know where or when Napoleon would meet them.

Because of this, Wellington’s dispatches of June 14, 1815, deal with more practical matters. On this day he wrote to other Allied leaders, including Prince Metternich. In his dispatch to Metternich, Wellington, like Napoleon, is looking forward in time and planning for the occupation of France. He proposes a plan that will increase the cooperation of the conquered people, ceding control to Louis XVIII. He also reiterates his characteristic policy of reimbursing the citizenry of any property the army may need to take from him.

Wellington writes:

…It tends to make partisans instead of enemies of those who shall have
given their property for the subsistence of the several armies. Every man who
shall have in his possession a voucher or receipt on the part of the officers of
Louis XVIII. will feel an interest in the success of the cause, in proportion as
he shall value the property taken from him.
…It will put an end to very disagreeable discussions between the Commanders of the several armies, myself particularly, and Louis XVIII. His Majesty…will naturally claim to take possession of the country which shall fall into the hands of the Allies… His Majesty Louis XVIII. and the Allies, will appoint officers to govern that country….By adopting this system, which is the most simple and, as I have above shown, the most beneficial to the allied armies, we should at the same time hold out something to France to which the public opinion might attach itself….We should avoid the evil of seizing the public treasures in France; an evil which it will be very difficult to avoid under any other system, and which will be fatal to the discipline and reputation of the allied armies, and will give but too much reason to the French people to believe that the Allies have forgotten, or have omitted to act upon, the system laid down in their public declarations and their
treaties.

It appears that Wellington had no intention for the Allies to “swallow up” France, but rather to restore the country to the monarchy.

Neither Napoleon nor Wellington could have known the outcome of the ultimate battle. Moreover, neither one could have known that this battle would take a prominent place in history as one of the greatest battles of all time.

My friends Kristine Hughes and Victoria Hinshaw are attending this year’s Waterloo reinactment and I’m so envious I could just…..something. Check out their activities on Number One London blog.

So…what are you writing today? Any dispatches or proclamations?

Don’t forget to visit me at Diane’s blog on Thursday when I’ll give away another signed copy of Gallant Officer, Forbidden Lady. I’ll announce last week’s winner there tomorrow.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Napoleon, Waterloo, Wellington | 6 Replies

Waterloo, A Very Near Run Thing

Updated on June 18, 2007 by Diane Gaston

Bow your heads in honor of the 47,000 brave men who fought and perished June 18, 1815, 192 years ago today at the Battle of Waterloo: 15,000 British, Belgian, Dutch and German soldiers; 7,000 Prussians; 25,000 French. Inconceivable numbers of men lost in a battle that changed history.

When I first decided to write Regency historicals, I immersed myself in as much of the history as I could. My library had a nice collection of audiobooks, and I used to listen to them driving to and from work. One of those books was Waterloo: Day of Battle by David Howarth (published in Great Britain under the title A Near Run Thing: The Day of Waterloo, 1968).

Waterloo: Day of Battle tells the story of Waterloo through the eyes of the soldiers who fought in it, making it a very personal story, very real and emotional. Howarth says the individual soldier experienced the battle “half-blinded by gunsmoke, half-deadened by noise, and either half-paralyzed by fright or driven to a kind of madness by exaltation and the hope of glory.” It is a wonderful book, available used on sites like Allbookstor es.com

There are some good online sites that tell of the battle:
Waterloo for the Uninitiated – June 18th 1815
Wikipedia
or more in depth
BritishBattles.com The Battle of Waterloo

From BritishBattles.com I’ll show some highlights of the battle memorialized in paintings. You can purchase some of these prints at Art.com

Early in the battle the British cavalry, including the Scots Greys shown here, charged the French, at first overwhelming the French, but intoxicated with their success, they advanced too far and did not hear or heed the bugles to retreat. French Cavalry, fresh in the battle, soon cut them off. The regiments were almost completely destroyed.

On the western side of the Allied line was the chateau and farm of Hougoumont, 3,500 men were charged with the defense of Hougoumont to protect the Allied forces from being outflanked by the French. Hougoumont was one part of the battlefield that Napoleon could see clearly and perhaps it is for that reason he poured many French resources in attempting to take it, unsuccessfully.

French General Ney ordered his cavalry to attack what he thought were retreating Allied troops, but he found instead solid British squares, and though his cavalry attacked again and again, the squares held. The movie Waterloo , starring Rod Steiger as Napoleon; Christopher Plummer as Wellington, shows an wonderful aerial recreation of this cavalry attack.

In spite of the brave, heroic, and stubborn British forces, the day might have gone to Napoleon had not the Prussians under General Blücher arrived in time.

After the battle, two square miles were covered with those 47,000 dead and dying, their shrieks and cries could be heard throughout the night as more horror assaulted them. Looters, primarily from the British and Prussian armies plundered the dead and killed the dying for their loot.

Throughout Howarth’s Waterloo: Day of Battle, he weaves a love story. Colonel Sir William De Lancey, on Wellington’s staff, had married Magdalene Hall three months earlier and she had followed him to Belgium. When word came to her that he was wounded, she searched for him and found him in a cottage near Mont St, Jean, no more than a hovel. She stayed by his side, nursing him for eleven days. At his request she lay next to him one night. The next day he died in her arms.