The Waterloo Roll Call
doubtless owing to the _lâcheté_ of their colonel, who, when ordered to
lead his regiment to the charge, declined to do so, saying he had no
confidence in his men. It is related that Captain Horace Seymour, who
had brought this officer Lord Uxbridge’s orders, addressed “a few words
of plain Saxon” to him, “which no gentleman ought to have listened to
unmoved,” but the only effect they had on the Hanoverian was to hasten
his departure to the rear. The Brunswick Contingent fought at a
disadvantage at Waterloo, having lost their brave leader (the Duke of
Brunswick) at Quatre Bras. Of the Nassau, Dutch, and Belgian troops it
is only fair to say that they were, mostly, utterly useless at Waterloo.
The glamour of Napoleon was upon them. They had lately been in his
service, and had a settled conviction that Wellington would be defeated
and his army cut to pieces. “Come over to us, brave Belgians!” shouted a
French regiment at Waterloo to their Belgian opponents in the battle.
But the “brave Belgians” preferred making “a retrograde movement for
strategical reasons,” and retired from the field, carrying news of
Wellington’s defeat to Brussels.
Now for Napoleon’s army: This consisted on the 15th of June of about
128,000 men[A]—mostly veterans who had served in many campaigns, and to
whom defeat was rare. Add to this, that they all belonged to one nation,
and were all equally devoted to their beloved emperor. “No army,” says
Colonel Chesney, in his _Waterloo Lecture_, “was probably ever so well
furnished with leaders as his, as none had ever the like experience
wherewith to train them.” It is no slight to Wellington to say that
Napoleon was, for rapid and offensive warfare, by far the first general
of his day. In defensive warfare Wellington was much in advance of his
great rival. Taking the words out of Philip the Second’s mouth,
Wellington might have with truth said, “Time and I against any other
two.” Once more: Wellington himself told Earl Stanhope that he
considered the presence of Napoleon with the French army at Waterloo
fully equivalent to an additional force of 30,000 men! Now this was the
total of the force sent under Marshal Grouchy, on the 17th June, to
follow the Prussian army, which had been defeated at Ligny by Napoleon
on the previous day, and which was supposed to be in full retreat on
Namur and Liége, so that, in round numbers, Napoleon was himself
considered equal to a whole army corps! If the British had a Picton, the
French had a Ney, who was considered almost Napoleon’s equal in handling
troops in the field, and who had pressed us so sorely at Quatre Bras, on
the 16th of June, when only half our army had arrived at that position.
Then as a leader of cavalry Lord Uxbridge was well matched by
Kellermann, whose fame as a cavalry general dated from Marengo. And
General Mouton (Count Lobau) was an infantry leader of whom any army
might have been proud. It was he who, at the head of the Imperial Foot
Guards, had wrested the victory from the Prussians on the bloody field
of Lützen, in 1813, and saved the French army from a reverse. Enough has
now been said to show what a splendid army the British had opposed to
them on the 18th of June, 1815. “I have them at last, these English!”
exclaimed Napoleon, in a transport of joy, early in the morning of that
day, when he saw our army drawn up in position, with their backs to the
forest of Soignies. But he underrated Wellington’s generalship, nor
could he foresee how the British generals, officers, and men of all
ranks would fight that memorable day, when the eyes of all Europe were
upon them, because upon the issue of that contest depended the fate of
empires and kingdoms, as well as the future peace of the world. And
knowing, as we all do, what glory the victory at Waterloo brought to our
countrymen and our country, we must be generous enough to give the brave
Prussians the full share due to them for their co-operation on that day.
Had it not been for them, Waterloo would have been as barren a victory
as Borodino, and Napoleon would have retreated in as good order,
probably, as Blucher was able to do after his defeat at Ligny. As it
was, our troops bore the whole brunt of the battle without losing an
inch of ground, and the arrival of the Prussians, at the close of the
day, sealed the fate of Napoleon.[B]
Footnote A:
Lord Wolseley, in his _Decline and Fall of Napoleon_, says the French
army consisted of about 123,000 men of all arms and 344 guns.—ED.
* * * * *
In offering this, the first annotated Waterloo Army List, to the British
public, I must ask their indulgence for any omissions and errors it may
contain. Although I have spared no trouble in the matter, there must be,
I well know, a few names of British Waterloo officers who have escaped
my notice. But when the following list is compared with the very
defective lists given by Siborne and George Jones (the foundation of all
other lists), I think the following ROLL CALL will be found infinitely
more trustworthy. I have also added the regimental and army commissions
of the Waterloo officers up to the date of the battle, and the honours
and promotions bestowed after Waterloo. The war services of _many_ of
these same officers now appear in print for the first time, and are not
to be found in the _Military Calendar_ of field officers which was
published in 1820, nor in Hart’s _Army Lists_, which date from 1840, and
are such valuable works of reference. Of course, a large proportion of
the names I have annotated, genealogically, are names of well-known
families of the present time, but there are also many names in the
following ROLL CALL which belong to families that are now extinct or
lost sight of. I have endeavoured to rescue as many names from oblivion
as time would allow, but there are a certain number of whom I can give
no information beyond their obituary notices:
“Here lies Pat Steele. That’s very true.
Who was he? What was he? What’s that to you?”
As regards the orthography of the names in the regimental lists, I am
not responsible, as they are copied from the “official” _Army List_. The
same rule applies to the precedence of the different regiments.
I am indebted to Colonel F.A. Whinyates, late R.H.A., for some
interesting information regarding artillery officers, and to George
Tancred, Esq., late captain Scots Greys, for the Waterloo muster-roll
and some memoranda relating to the Scots Greys.
CHARLES DALTON.
32 WEST CROMWELL ROAD, LONDON, S.W.
_June 1, 1890._
Footnote B:
“I should not do justice to my feelings, or to Marshal Blücher and
the Prussian Army, if I did not attribute the success of this
arduous day to the cordial and timely assistance I received from
them.”—_Wellington’s despatch to Earl Bathurst._
ABBREVIATIONS.
Par. = Peninsular.
Pa. = Peninsula.
G.C.H. = Knight Grand Cross of Hanover.
K.C.H. = Knight Commander of Hanover.
K.H. = Knight of Hanover.
K.M.T. = Knight of Maria Theresa of Austria.
K. St. A. = Knight of St. Anne of Russia.
K. St. V. = Knight of St. Vladimir of Russia.
K. St. G. = Knight of St. George of Russia.
K.T.S. = Knight of the Tower and Sword of
Portugal.
K.M.B. = Knight of Maximilian of Bavaria.
K.W. = Knight of Wilhelm of Holland.
W. after an officer’s name = Wounded.
K. ” ” = Killed.
M.I. = Monumental inscription.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE WATERLOO ROLL CALL.
-------
STAFF.
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.
F.-M. Arthur, DUKE OF WELLINGTON, K.G., G.C.B., &c.
MILITARY SECRETARY.
Lt.-Col. Lord Fitzroy Somerset, 1st Ft. Gds., W.
AIDES-DE-CAMP.
Lt.-Col. J. Fremantle, 2nd Ft. Gds.
Lt.-Col. C.F. Canning, 3rd Ft. Gds., K.
Hon. Sir Alexander Gordon, K.C.B., 3rd Ft. Gds., K.
Lt. Lord George Lennox, 9th Lt. Dns.
Hered. Prince of Nassau-Usingen.
EXTRA AIDES-DE-CAMP.
Maj. Hon. Henry Percy, 14th Lt. Dns.
Capt. Lord Arthur Hill, h. p.
Lt. Hon. George Cathcart, 6th Dn. Gds.
* * * * *
GENERAL.
H.R.H. The Prince of Orange, W.
AIDES-DE-CAMP.
Lt.-Col. Baron Tripp, 60th Foot.
Capt. Lord John Somerset, h. p.
Capt. Hon. Francis Russell, h. p.
EXTRA AIDES-DE-CAMP.
Capt. The Earl of March, 52nd Foot.
Capt. Viscount Bury, 1st Ft. Gds.
Lt. H. Webster, 9th Lt. Dns.
* * * * *
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL.
The Earl of Uxbridge, G.C.B., W.
AIDES-DE-CAMP.
Major W. Thornhill, 7th Hussars, W.
Capt. H.B. Seymour, 18th Hussars, W.
EXTRA AIDES-DE-CAMP.
Capt. T. Wildman, 7th Hussars, W.
Capt. J. Fraser, 7th Hussars, W.
* * * * *
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL.
Lord Hill, G.C.B.
AIDES-DE-CAMP.
Lt.-Col. C. Hill, R.H. Gds., W.
Major R. Egerton, 34th Foot.
Major C.H. Churchill, 1st Ft. Gds.
Capt. D. Mackworth, 7th Foot.
EXTRA AIDE-DE-CAMP.
Capt. Hon. O. Bridgeman, 1st Ft. Gds., W.
* * * * *
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL.
Sir Thomas Picton, G.C.B., K.
AIDES-DE-CAMP.
Capt. Algernon Langton, 61st Foot, W.
Capt. J. Tyler, 93rd Foot, W.
Capt. N. Chambers, 1st Ft. Gds., K.
EXTRA AIDE-DE-CAMP.
Capt. B. Price, h. p.
* * * * *
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL.
Sir Henry Clinton, G.C.B.
AIDES-DE-CAMP.
Capt. F. Dawkins, 1st Ft. Gds.
Capt. J. Gurwood, 10th Hussars, W.
* * * * *
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL.
Charles, Count Alten, K.C.B.
AIDES-DE-CAMP.
Lt. W. Havelock, 43rd Foot, W.
Bt. Maj. A. Heise, 2nd Lt. Batt. K.G.L.
* * * * *
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL.
Sir Charles Colville, G.C.B.
AIDES-DE-CAMP.
Capt. J. Jackson, 37th Foot.
Lt. F.W. Frankland, 2nd Ft. Gds.
EXTRA AIDE-DE-CAMP.
Capt. Lord James Hay, 1st Ft. Gds.
* * * * *
MAJOR-GENERAL.
V. Count Alten.
AIDE-DE-CAMP.
Lt. Baron Estorff, 2nd Dns. K.G.L.
MAJOR OF BRIGADE.
Capt. Einem, K.G.L.
* * * * *
MAJOR-GENERAL.
Sir John Vandeleur, K.C.B.