| John Franklin | 09 Feb 2012 12:57 p.m. PST |
As before, I'd like to share some material on the Waterloo campaign, and this time relating to the charge of the Heavy cavalry. The attached PDF is a typeset of a letter written by George De Lacy Evans, who served as Aide-de-camp to Sir William Ponsonby during the campaign. PDF link John |
| John Franklin | 09 Feb 2012 1:28 p.m. PST |
For those of you who are interested and not averse to Facebook, there's an active discussion on Waterloo, with lots of wargame material, on the Project Hougoumont Group page: link |
| Edwulf | 09 Feb 2012 4:19 p.m. PST |
Very interesting. Cheers. |
| Lord Hill | 10 Feb 2012 3:40 p.m. PST |
Wow, that's a pretty bland account Mr Evans – it could have been written by anyone and offers no juicy eye witness detail. Thanks for posting John but I wonder why he wrote such a boring synopsis of the battle, who was it written for? My notes say he had two horses shot from under him at Waterloo so he must have been there but from this account I'd have otherwise guessed that he was with the baggage in Brussels! |
| Le General | 10 Feb 2012 3:45 p.m. PST |
yes it reads as if its his history of the battle, rather than his personal account of it, which is what we all want to read. But its one more document to add to my collection, thanks |
| John Franklin | 10 Feb 2012 6:13 p.m. PST |
Agreed, There were, of course, many such accounts of Waterloo, which tends to elevate those with more passion. However, I would prefer a bland and understated account to one that has been spiced-up. John |
| Lord Hill | 11 Feb 2012 2:48 a.m. PST |
I dont want spiced-up I just want him to tell us what he saw/heard/felt! It reads like one of the countless British histories of the battle, whichdo nothing but name THE KEY British commanders and the positioning of brigades. |
| John Franklin | 11 Feb 2012 3:04 a.m. PST |
Yes, I agree with you. De Lacy Evans's account is not the finest example. But if I'm honest, some many of thr British accounts are like this. Perhaps the German (especially the Brunswick) and Dutch are the most 'honest', while those from the French are generally concerned with excusing the individual from the blame. |
| 3rd Div | 13 Feb 2012 7:23 a.m. PST |
Unfortunately, I think this was seen at the time as THE appropriate style for a British military report – stiff upper lip and all that.
But what I haven't seen before (and I'm no expert)was the bit about the French cavalry charging the British artillery on the ridge when d'Erlons attack went in and being seen off by the Household Brigade. Evans was an Aide-de-camp with the cavalry so presumably knew what he was talking about here.
He also describes the 5th Division being "unavoidably broken" by d'Erlons column before Ponsonby's Heavy Cavalry charged.
Interesting! Dave. |
Ligniere  | 15 Feb 2012 11:26 a.m. PST |
I just came across this image whilst surfing the web [lunchtime at work]….
It's cited as being Lt.Gen Sir George De Lacy Evans GCB, MP, and was taken during the Crimean War – so approximately 40 years after Waterloo. I thought it would be interesting to see a photo of the author of the letter in John's link
npm |
looks at a multi-period building.