"British Guns at Waterloo" Topic

I read recently that when charged by the French cavalry, the British gunners at Waterloo removed one of the wheels from their guns and rolled it back to the relative safety of the squares behind them. This apparently thwarted the French from souveniring the guns. As the French cavalry recoiled and reformed, the gunners would remount the wheels and proceed to fire. I was just wondering what size guns were involved in this tactic?

Anything up to and including 12 pdrs, I should think.

I'm pretty sure all the British guns at Waterloo were 6 and 9 pounders, mostly 9s.

Do you have a source for the wheel removal idea?

B

Having removed the wheel from a Civil War 12pdr Napoleon by hand on a number of occasions, I will presume the weight is somewhat similar to a British 9pdr of the period.

The procedure is as follows: you use the trail spike to lift one side of the gun of the ground so you can knock out the retaining pin and pull the wheel. It takes 4 men to lift the gun, one to knock the pin and two to pull the wheel. (Normally you would then grease the axel and return the wheel, the gun is kept level because it is easier to hold it place than to lower the axel to the ground and then pick the gun up later.)

I would not like to do it in combat, especially in the presence of French cavalry.

My reaction as a gunner to run to the nearest square and wait until it was safe to go back.

Like Kevin, I'd like to see the source material.

Sounds ridiculous.
I've read that the gunners fired until the last moment and then RAN for cover, sometimes to a nearby infantry square.
How long would it take to dismount a wheel ?

I think it is ridiculous. 138 Squadron clearly has some experience with artillery being a reenactor and it appears damn hard to remove a wheel.

It might be possible if the gunners started when the cavalry was some distance away, but that would negate the use of the gun as the wheel off would prevent its use.

I have done some reenacting and know that any type of maneuver is difficult and takes time. It is much more difficult in combat with noise, smoke and flash. Watching guns prolong in mock battles supports the notion that it would be extremely hard if not dangerous.

My family manufactures, finances and sells agricultural fertilizer spreading equipment. Some of the machines are wheeled and about the weight of a 12lb gun. We use overhead hoists to move them about. I would be very hesitant to jack a machine off the ground with 4 men and have to pull off one of the wheels.

It might be possible, but let's see a primary source.

I was just reading "Face of Battle" again, and in the discussion of cavalry charges against guns all that he said was something like, "It's a mystery why the French didn't spike the guns." No mention of bringing wheels back to the squares.

Doesn't sound practical.

I always though the gunners pegged it back to the nearest square and returned when the threat was nulled. If they had time to remove a wheel they would probably had time to remove the whole gun right?

I believe the French couldn't spike the guns as they didn't expect to be facing batteries and squares so they didn't bring any spiking equipment.

Pretty sure you need limbers to remove the guns and the limbers didn't charge. I know Mercer stayed at his guns to prevent the nearby squares from routing so the infantry were certainly close enough to engage limber teams. Spiking the guns with a soft nail would be more achievable under the circumstances but I haven't read that any British guns were spiked in this way.

David

I have never read where French cavalry would carry equipment to spike guns that were overrun. I can't see cavalry doing it.

What they did do if possible and if the gun teams were overrun was either to attempt to capture the gun teams and make them take the guns away, or to cut the traces on the gun teams so that they couldn't withdraw as well as saber the train drivers.

B

Wonder why the farriers didn't supply nails to spike the guns…some of the horsemen likely had some in their kit as well. Guess the nails were the wrong size, wrong shape, heat of battle, smoke and confusion, etc. I understand not trying to spike the guns the first charge, but a few charges later it seems that some would have been spiked. That whole series of continued charges seems odd, but must have made sense to those there on the day.

Well I'm not sure if its relevant but Royal Navy Field Gun Competition gunners would regularly dismantle field guns, including taking and running with the wheels, in fractions of a second…And I do mean fractions of a second, I vividly remember typing up the signals reporting on the times to the Fleet…

YouTube link

Wonder why the farriers didn't supply nails to spike the guns…some of the horsemen likely had some in their kit as well. Guess the nails were the wrong size, wrong shape, heat of battle, smoke and confusion, etc. I understand not trying to spike the guns the first charge, but a few charges later it seems that some would have been spiked. That whole series of continued charges seems odd, but must have made sense to those there on the day.

Spiking a gun is not just slapping any old nail down a vent. It requires a specific type of plug that requires time and skill to remove without damaging the gun.

Well I'm not sure if its relevant but Royal Navy Field Gun Competition gunners would regularly dismantle field guns, including taking and running with the wheels, in fractions of a second…And I do mean fractions of a second, I vividly remember typing up the signals reporting on the times to the Fleet…

That is a specific type of gun that is lighter than a Napoleonic field piece. I don't know the technical specs but I doubt it's the 2,000lbs and up of the typical field gun. Yes it's spectacular, but it's not regular equipment of the Horse and Musket period.

Excerpt from "A voice from Waterloo" By Sgt Maj Cotton.
Page. 77

As those on the right neared the ridge, their artillery discontinued firing; and ours opened with grape, canister and shrapnel shells which rattled like hail on the steel clad warriors; but still they pressed on, regardless of our fire, towards the guns, the horses of which had been sent to the rear. Every discharge (the load was usually double), dreadfully shattered their ranks, and threw them into great disorder; but excited by the trumpets sounding the charge, they rode up to the cannons mouths, shouting Vive L'Empereur!

Our Gunners fled to the squares, which were all ranged in chequer; the front ones had advanced again nearly close to the guns. The French, not perceiving the advantage which the squares afforded the gunners, imagining that they had captured the guns, shouted out in triumph, and then crossed over the ridge; here they were assailed by a rolling fire from our squares, which were all prepared, two front ranks on the knee, the two rear ranks at the "ready".

When the cuirassiers had passed over the ridge, they were out of sight of the lancers and chasseurs, who immediately pressed on to share in the contest. Our artillery received them in the same manner; some men rushing back to their guns, and after discharging them at the foe, taking shelter again within the squares, or under the guns. The fire produced a much greater effect upon such of the enemy's cavalry as were not protected by the cuirass and casque; consequently their ranks where much more disordered than were the cuirassiers; still they pursued their onward course, passed the guns, raised a shout and swept round the squares.

Sgt Maj Cotton bought the inn at Mont St. Jean, just after the battle, many soldiers and ex soldiers from both sides came to talk with him and related their experiences. He pieced this book together with these stories. While maybe not the most definitive piece of work, his book brings to life the battle and describes it from these soldiers experiences.

No mention of removing wheels are in this book.

Interesting discussion. Here's the direct quote and the source:
"…when the French withdrew and reformed and charged up the ridge again – and again and again at ever-decreasing speed over the heavy, trampled ground – they were again blasted by Wellington's artillery, guns manned to the last possible moment, gunners removing a gun-wheel and bowling it like a hoop to the shelter of the nearest square, gun immobilized and then rapidly restored to effectiveness when the enemy next withdrew. This was by Wellington's direct order – for which he has by some, been criticized."
Sir David Fraser, "The Battle of Waterloo, 1815," in David G. Chandler, ed., Great Battles of the British Army (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991) p. 72.
I was stunned when I read the description. We have two 12 pounder Civil War pieces at the museum where I work. Dismantling them under controlled conditions is a dangerous business. I can't imagine it being done in the heat of battle.

Dismantling them under controlled conditions is a dangerous business. I can't imagine it being done in the heat of battle.

The Royal Navy Field gun competition shows how quick it is to remove/replace the wheel on an artillery piece:
link

- and they do it with a 12 pdr!

Thanks for the quote, Digger! "Bowling a hoop" under battlefield conditions sounds pretty iffy to me still. Could it be one of those things that were in the instructions, but in practice overtaken by circumstances?

As for spiking captured guns, that's simply not a cavalryman's business: It would require dismounting and giving up your main advantage – not something you want to do unless the position is fully secured, buy which time it may as well be left to the infantry following up.

In practical terms, spiking the vent requires a rammer to bend the point of the spike inside the bore, so it can't just be pulled out. If the gunners took care to take all their tools with them, that would have prevented such a move.

The Royal Navt Field Gun competition is not very good evidence as to the practicality of removing a wheel as:
1. It is a different type of gun entirely; the mechanics of releasing the wheel may well be different and simpler, and the piece may well have been adapted to serve the purposes of the competition.
2. The exercise is being performed on a level surface, not under fire and with no danger – other than injuries caused by mishandling the piece.
3. The crews have trained extensively for the competition, probably far more than artillerymen of 1815 would have done.
4. The men do not begin the competition already fatigued from workings guns for some time.

IMHO 138SquadronRAF's experience is a more reliable guide.

With a modern 12 pounder.
While not being charged at.
In ideal conditions.
With about 12 guys ( I think)
After practicing extensively for the express purpose of rapid dissembly.

I'm not sure the field gun challenge of today proves anything. Fun and awesome to watch as it is.

I've read abit about Waterloo. I've not seen this mentioned before. I think the gunners ran for cover but left their guns behind.

The Royal Navy Field Gun competition is not very good evidence as to the practicality of removing a wheel as:

While your observations may be true to some extent, the competition nevertheless demonstrates that swift wheel removal is possible. Given the fact that the wheel is probably the most vulnerable part of a gun carriage, I would think that wheel replacement is something that would be regularly rehearsed by gun crews in training.

We have had this dicussion before. Cavalry are very reluctant to get off a horse especially that close to the enemy. Spiking a gun is possible by driving a nail into the touchhole and breaking this off. Even if it was not successful it would damage the vent and probably make the gun unreliable to fire. Enlarging the vent would increase the gas loss so making ranging and elevation an increasing problem.

I have a number of diagrams in various manuals and explanation in Adye (1813) that go through campaign repair and replacement of wheels. None of which is a trivial thing to do. The best way would be to rig a A frame crane. This I have done and it took about half hour with a full crew. The other ways revolve around the use of levers etc… Difficult to explain without the pictures. None of the methods would be able to be completed very quickly.

Wellington ordered the retiring of the gunners to the square. Only Mercer who had never fought under Wellington did not do this. He was reprimanded after the battle and was fortunate not to have been put on a charge.
Stephen

Whether or not the RN field gun competition provides any supporting evidence or not, the quote that Digger cites:
"gunners removing a gun-wheel and bowling it like a hoop to the shelter of the nearest square, gun immobilized and then rapidly restored to effectiveness when the enemy next withdrew."

must be understood in context. First of all, the author of the quote, Sir David Fraser, was a distinguished British army officer who became the Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies. Secondly, the book the quote comes from is editted by David Chandler, probably the most eminent modern military historian of the Napoleonic era. If both of these gentlemen believe that there is evidence to support wheel removal during the battle, then I for one am not sufficiently qualified to question that statement.

That is not to say that it is definitely accurate. More than one historian has been called to account for perpetuating myths about military conflict, however, in this case, at present I have no evidence to the contrary and therefore feel that we cannot decry the statement.

The Royal Navy gun race should be an Olympic event!
Aren't the guns they use a mountain carriage that is designed to be easily broken down and carried by men or mules though?

Gunners used to pull guns forward or back by man-power in battle so they were used to man-handling them. Familiarity with their guns and the techniques associated with them may have allowed for the swift removal and replacement of wheels.

With no disrespect to our re-enactor friends, the re-enactors main objective is to have fun whist remaining un-injured and fit for work on Monday morning. The Waterloo artillerymans' motivation was to stay alive and keep their guns firing as long as possiblle. I would have thought the deciding factor of whether the wheels were taken off or nor would have been the distance to the squares and what was considered to be "the last moment possible."

I've not heard of this before, but in Booth's:
"The Battle of Waterloo, Also of Ligny and Quatre-Bras, Described by the Series of Accounts Published by Authority, with Circumstantial Details By a Near Observer"
A note in the second part of the book p. 37 (about 3/4 thru) has a description of what Digger is talking about.
link

Booth says "The Editor is informed .." but doesn't give a specific source. He also says the dismounting of a wheel is part of the regular drill of Horse Artillery which implies a set of Orders detailing the procedure.

Cavalry are very reluctant to get off a horse especially that close to the enemy. Spiking a gun is possible by driving a nail into the touchhole and breaking this off. Even if it was not successful it would damage the vent and probably make the gun unreliable to fire. Enlarging the vent would increase the gas loss so making ranging and elevation an increasing problem.

I think people are missing something in this discussion of cavalry spiking guns – horse artillerists. French cavalry formations typically had a horse artillery component. In an action like Waterloo, it would have been entirely possible to have some horse gunners (who, after all, have their own horses) follow the cavalry with the proper tools to spike guns. This wasn't done, probably because the French thought the British were retreating, but I think that if someone had thought of it they could have done it.

I'm intrigued with the concept of getting that wheel off in the face of the French cavalry and hightailing back to the square. As an historian I'd love to know the primary source or sources that provide the evidence, and I'm also astounded that so many Napoleonic buffs have never heard of this before. I've not specialized in this period as either a gamer or historian, but it seems to me that if true, Wellington must have been using standard rather than innovative tactics, and if so, there must be evidence of this in drill manuals. Or was this possibly a specialized practice of the horse artillery rather than heavier field pieces? Again, I don't have a precise knowledge of the battle, or whether lighter guns might have been positioned forward of the squares. All I know is that a 12 pounder is very heavy and it would have been no mean feat to remove and replace a wheel under those conditions.

I think I can help. The original eye-witness account comes from the memoirs of Sir William Gomm of the Coldstreams who was at Wateroo as Chief of Staff for Picton. I first came across it while in the archive of the Guards at Birdcage walk and nearly fell of my chair when I read it – it seemed to be a pretty important "discovery" and would provide an answer to decades of people asking why the French cavalry didn't throw ropes over the unmanned cannons and tow them away.
I was hoping to include this little gem in my book that I am writing (and will doubtless never finish!) but I hadn't realised it had already been mentioned by Chandler, so I can stop patting myself on the back for "discovering" it!

He also says the dismounting of a wheel is part of the regular drill of Horse Artillery which implies a set of Orders detailing the procedure

Dismounting a wheel is part of any artillery regular drill – greasing the wheel was done regularly as part of the standard maintenance of the guns. If you look closely at a Civil War gun and limber you find that there are two buckets. The one under the gun is for water, for swabbing the gun. The one under the limber was for grease – used for greasing the wheels.

What has to be taken into consideration was that the order from Arty; if pressed closely, particularly by cavalry, the gunners were to abandon their cannons to seek shelter in the nearest infantry square; was an 'unusual' order for artillerymen to do. It was also unusual for the Horse Artillery to be deployed in virtually a static Foot Artillery role

Perhaps the eyewitness account of wheels being removed was a local tactical order given by the BC for his guns alone. others perhaps just 'as is noted in most other accounts' ran back into (a KGL account says at times, near to a square) the shelter of the squares with their rammers.

And without drag-ropes at hand, how could the French Cavalry pull them off. And if drag-ropes were by some weird reason, left just laying around, who was going to organise or allocate 'lets say 4' cavalrymen to faff about by tethering the gun, swing it round, pull it away under fire and in a very hap-hazard way?

Paul :)

Ive seen this proposed before as well. I cant recall the source, it might have been Sutherland or Wellar….

Looking at the terrain west of the crossroads, they would have trouble running a wheel across that road and down to the squares. They might well have removed a wheel and dropped it to stop someone towing them off, or, more likely, using it against the squares. At least one battery sergeant misunderstood his orders and limbered up the guns and rode them off to the rear.

As regards spiking, I thought Heavy Cav routinely had gun spikes stuck in their white cross belt. Of course, getting a Heavy Cav trooper to get off his horse to spike a gun is no easy thing. The French even slept on theirs the night before Waterloo!!!

And not forgetting a Sergeant of Major Rogers battery who spiked his gun.

As for abandoning your gun, It was akin to putting down the battalion colours and running away. To even be seen leaning on a gun (other than working on it) or sitting on it (other than the layers seat) was to be disrespectful to your colours and you could be reprimanded big time!

Paul :)

What I've always found odd was how few casualties (relatively) there were among the RA and RHA. Despite several high profile casulties among some officers, for a unit supposedly in the thick of the action all day they seem to have lived pretty charmed lives.

That is a specific type of gun that is lighter than a Napoleonic field piece. I don't know the technical specs but I doubt it's the 2,000lbs and up of the typical field gun

Sometimes when you try to make a point on TMP you have to make assumptions about your fellow TMP'ers knowledge, and conversely what they might think you know…

Clearly in this case I overestimated wildly – all right then, for the record, I do realise that an 18pdr breechloading gun from the Boer war at the start of the 20th century might be dissimilar in many respects from a 9Pdr Muzzle loader designed a century before! Can we now take that as read please?

However I doubt that the weight of the wheels were significantly different, 200 pds in the case of the Boer War piece that the video showed could be sprinted around with by trained and committed men with consumate ease….

Which was also my point…

While your observations may be true to some extent, the competition nevertheless demonstrates that swift wheel removal is possible.

With the specific type of gun used in that competition, it is. That says nothing about the model of 9 pounders in use at Waterloo.

My current bicycle has quick-release hubs that allow me to take off the wheel in seconds. The bicycle I had in high school required the use of a wrench, which of course took longer. Technology improved between the 1970s and now. I don't think it is unreasonable to entertain the possibility that wheel-attachment technology may have improved between 1815 and 1899 (the siege of Ladysmith, which the race commemorates), making removal of the wheel easier.

Lord Hill said it, quoting Chandler, this is a daft idea which has however been mooted before. It can be done, but not on a muddy field at the last second. Hard enough to detach the wheel, imagine trying to relocate it in time to hit the retreating lines. Show me one single account of this happening.

Allied artillery was solely 6 and 9 lbs and howitzers; 12 lbs may well have been wanted but were not seen at Mt St Jean. The tale of the Sgt spiking his gun has good provenance (poor chap, like everything else, seemed like a good idea at the time). As for the French cavalry failing to follow his example, as Summerfield tells us, it is hard to imagine horsed soldiers getting dismounted to spike guns, whilst nearby infantry are firing upon them. OK, I do often wonder just how nearby were these squares, to a given gun line and how late the gunners left it to run. The answer must be late enough to slaughter the attackers however.

The whole problem here was a failure to launch a co-ordinated all arms assault. In hindsight that is easy to say. But French massed cavalry attacks had worked before and saved the day………and with D'Erlon's Corps in a mess and Reille's involved with that now derelict Chateau, and Lobau involved with keeping Calpe's folk out of it…

It was down to the cavalry. Is there a single example of French (indeed any) cavalry ever spiking enemy guns? Ever? Their own, yes, in 1812…….I may be totally wrong…….but ever enemy guns in midst of a battle?

On 105 Light-gun today you have to do wheel off, wheel on, in order to rotate the barrel into the firing or towing position. You whack the wheel Knock off Hub (locking nut which is on the right hand wheel) with a nylon hammer to loosen it, spin it off, Pull the wheel off the axle, resting it on your boot and leg. lean back so as the breach area clears your body as its rotated then put the wheel back on and replace the Knock off Hub. takes a matter of seconds the gun itself kept lifted for this action by a jack bar.

I think that they have upgraded the system so the wheel doesn't have to be removed.

Paul :)

As Sgt Maj of the 7th Hussars and participant in the battle says. The squares had advanced towards the guns. Making the guns most likely within musketry range of the squares.

That being the case, I doubt any cavalryman will dismount within range of muskets and start to spike or try to drag off artillery. They would stay on their horse and ride, making themselves a tougher target to hit on the move.

According to Franklin's "British Napoleonic Field Artillery"
a 9 pdr is 2,850 lbs. total with each wheel being 240 lbs.

The wheels are held in position with a large washer and a linchpin. I assume not that hard to take apart, but you are dealing with a 240lb. wheel and 2610 lb rest of the gun.
And there are angry Cuirassiers approaching !

I'm not sure what type of 6 pdrs. were used but their wheels were 201 lbs. each.

Just some gas for the fire, from memory as my books not at hand.

Mercer was in the second line with the Brunwickers so I think that the French cavalry move off when he fired. Mercer was in the center which might explain why Kellerman rode up and around and to the west of Monte ST. Jean then truned west and rode to the west of Hougmont to get back to his side. Mercer later move up to the first line. Cresting that ridge and seeing Mercer and the 2nd line might explain the general west move of all the French,

The French horse artillery that was with the cavalry divisions was task some where else, Hougomont or the other flank. So no Horse artillery going in with their unit except for one battery which did and did a bit of damage. Empire and Eagles Magazine had a great article on the deployments ten years ago or so.

this was one of the many things during this battle of things they did right (HA with Cavarly) for the last decade that they decide to forget.

The artillery that started the battle deployed to the front line when the French Cavalry charge limbered up and left for the day. Wellington stated that with out his reserve of the Royal Horse artillery he would not have had any artillery at the end. I believe after four hours they where ammo out and used this attack as a chance to go back to the artillery park and reammo, which is why no heads rolled but they were not mention in dispatches.

Nice thread

Thanks
Lord Ghee

This is an excerpt from Capt. Mercers Journal.

It's a bit disjointed, sorry. No mention of removing wheels.

It might have been, as nearly as I can recollect,
about three P.M., when Sir Augustus Frazer
galloped up, crying out, "Left limber up, and
as fast as you can." The words were scarcely
uttered when my gallant troop stood as desired in
column of subdivisions, left in front, pointing towards
the main ridge.
" At a gallop, march!"
and away we flew, as steadily and compactly as
if at a review. I rode with Frazer, whose face
was as black as a chimney-sweep's from the
smoke, and the jacket -sleeve of his right arm
torn open by a musket-ball or case-shot, which
had merely grazed his flesh. As we went along, he
told me that the enemy had assembled an enormous
mass of heavy cavalry in front of the point to
which he was leading us (about one-third of the
distance between Hougoumont and the Charleroi
road), and that in all probability we should immediately
be charged on gaining our position.
;< The Dukes orders, however, are positive" he
added,
"that in the event of their persevering
and charging home, you do not expose your men,
but retire with them into the adjacent squares of
infantry.'' As he spoke, we were ascending the
reverse slope of the main position. We breathed
a new atmosphere the air was suffocatingly hot,
resembling that issuing from an oven. We were
enveloped in thick smoke, and, malgre the incessant
roar of cannon and musketry, could disinctly hear around us a mysterious humming
noise, like that which one hears of a summer's
evening proceeding from myriads of black beetles;
cannon-shot, too, ploughed the ground in all
directions, and so thick was the hail of balls and
bullets that it seemed dangerous to extend the
arm lest it should be torn off. In spite of the
serious situation in which we were, I could not
help being somewhat amused at the astonishment
expressed by our kind-hearted surgeon
(Hitchins), who heard for the first time this sort of
music. He was close to me as we ascended the slope,
and, hearing this infernal carillon about his ears,
began staring round in the wildest and most comic
manner imaginable, twisting himself from side to
side, exclaiming,
" My God, Mercer, what is that 1
What {5 all this noise ? How curious ! how
very curious !
" And then when a cannon-shot
rushed hissing past,
" There ! there ! What is
it all ?
"
It was with great difficulty that I persuaded
him to retire : for a time he insisted on
remaining near me, and it was only by pointing
out how important it was to us, in case of being
wounded, that he should keep himself safe to be able
to assist us, that I prevailed on him to
withdraw. Amidst this storm we gained the
summit of the ridge, strange to say, without
a casualty; and Sir Augustus, pointing out our
position between two squares of Brunswick infantry,
left us with injunctions to remember the
Duke's order, and to enconomise our ammunition.
The Brunswickers were falling fast the
shot every moment making great gaps in their
squares, which the officers and sergeants were
actively employed in filling up by pushing their
men together, and sometimes thumping them ere
they could make them move. These were the
very boys whom I had but yesterday seen throwing
away their arms, and fleeing, panicstricken,
from the very sound of our horses' feet. To-day
they fled not bodily, to be sure, but spiritually,
for their senses seemed to have left them. There
they stood, with recovered arms, like so many
logs, or rather like the very wooden figures which
I had seen them practising at in their cantonments.
Every moment I feared they would
again throw down their arms and flee ; but their
officers and sergeants behaved nobly, not only
keeping them together, but managing to keep
their squares closed in spite of the carnage made
amongst them. To have sought refuge amongst
men in such a state were madness the very
moment our men ran from their guns, I was convinced,
would be the signal for their disbanding.

We had better, then, fall at our posts than in
such a situation. Our coming up seemed to reanimate
them, and all their eyes were directed to
us indeed, it was providential, for, had we not
arrived as we did, I scarcely think there is a
doubt of what would have been their fate.* Our
first gun had scarcely gained the interval between
their squares, when I saw through the
smoke the leading squadrons of the advancing
column coming on at a brisk trot, and already
not more than one hundred yards distant, if so
much, for I don't think we could have seen so
far. I immediately ordered the line to be formed
* One day, on the Marine Parade at Woolwich, a battalion
coming up in close column at the double march, Lieutenant-
Colonel Brown, who stood near me, remarked,
" That puts me in
mind of your troop coming up at Waterloo, when you saved the
Brunswickers." Until this moment I never knew that our having done so had been remarked by anybody ; but he assured me i twas kno wn to the whole army ; and yet the Duke not onlywithheld that praise which was our due, but refused me the brevet rank of major ; and, more than that, actually deprived me of that troop given to me by Lord Mulgrave, the then Master- General, for that action, as recommended by my commanding officer, Sir G. Adams Wood.
That the Duke was not ignorant of their danger I have from
Captain Baynes, our Brigade-Major, who told me that after

Sir
Augustus Frazer had been sent for us, his Grace exhibited considerable
anxiety for our coming up ; and that when he saw us crossing
the fields at a gallop, and in so compact a body, he actually
cried out, "Ah ! that's the way I like to see horse-artillery move."
Another proof.
for action case-shot ! and the leading gun was unlimbered and commenced firing almost as soon
as the word was given : for activity and intelligence
our men were unrivalled. The very first
round, I saw, brought down several men and
horses. They continued, however, to advance. I
glanced at the Brunswickers, and that glance told
me it would not do ; they had opened a fire from
their front faces, but both squares appeared too
unsteady, and I resolved to say nothing about
the Duke's order, and take our chance a resolve
that was strengthened by the effect of the remaining
guns as they rapidly succeeded in coming
to action, making terrible slaughter, and in
an instant covering the ground with men and
horses. Still they persevered in approaching us
(the first round had brought them to a walk),
though slowly, and it did seem they would ride
over us. We were a little below the level of the
ground on which they moved having in front of
us a bank of about a foot and a-half or two feet
high, along the top of which ran a narrow road
and this gave more effect to our case-shot, all of
which almost must have taken effect, for the carnage
was frightful.* I suppose this state of things occupied but a few seconds, when I observed
symptoms of hesitation, and in a twinkling,
at the instant I thought it was all over with
us, they turned to either flank and filed away
rapidly to the rear. Ketreat of the mass, however,
was not so easy. Many facing about and
trying to force their way through the body of the
column, that part next to us became a complete
mob, into which we kept a steady fire of caseshot
from our six pieces. The effect is hardly
conceivable, and to paint this scene of slaughter
and confusion impossible. Every discharge was
followed by the fall of numbers, whilst the survivors
struggled with each other, and I actually saw
them using the pommels of their swords to fight
their way out of the mlee. Some, rendered desperate
at finding themselves thus pent up at the muzzles of our guns, as it were, and others carried
away by their horses, maddened with wounds,
dashed through our intervals few thinking of
using their swords, but pushing furiously onward,
intent only on saving themselves. At last the rear
of the column, wheeling about, opened a passage,
and the whole swept away at a much more rapid
pace than they had advanced, nor stopped until
the swell of the ground covered them from our
fire. We then ceased firing; but as they were
still not far off, for we saw the tops of their caps,
having reloaded, we stood ready to receive them
should they renew the attack.
One of, if not the first man who fell on our
side was wounded by his own gun. Gunner
Butterworth was one of the greatest pickles in
the troop, but, at the same time, a most daring,
active soldier; he was No. 7 (the man who
sponged, &c.) at his gun. He had just finished
ramming down the shot, and was stepping back
outside the wheel, when his foot stuck in the
miry soil, pulling him forward at the moment the
gun was fired. As a man naturally does when
falling, he threw out both his arms before him,
and they were blown off at the elbows. He
raised himself a little on his two stumps, and
looked up most piteously in my face. To assist
him was impossible the safety of all, everything,
depended upon not slackening our fire, and I was
obliged to turn from him. The state of anxious
activity in which we were kept all day, and the
numbers who fell almost immediately afterwards,
caused me to lose sight of poor Butterworth ;
and I afterwards learned that he had succeeded
in rising and was gone to the rear ; but on inquiring
for him next day, some of my people
who had been sent to Waterloo told me that they
saw his body lying by the roadside near the farm
of Mount St Jean bled to death ! The retreat
of the cavalry was succeeded by a shower of shot
and shells, which must have annihilated us had
not the little bank covered and threw most of
them over us. Still some reached us and knocked
down men and horses.
At the first charge, the French column was
composed of grenadiers a cheval"* and cuirassiers,
the former in front. I forget whether they had or
had not changed this disposition, but think, from
the number of cuirasses we afterwards found, that
the cuirassiers led the second attack. Be this as it
may, their column reassembled.
They prepared
* (These grenadiers & cheval were very fine troops, clothed
in blue uniforms without facings, cuffs, or collars. Broad, very
broad buff belts, and huge muff caps, made them appear gigantic fellows.)

for a second attempt, sending up a cloud of skirmishers,
who galled us terribly by a fire of carbines
and pistols at scarcely 40 yards from our
front. We were obliged to stand with port-fires
lighted, so that it was not without a little difficulty
that I succeeded in restraining the people
from firing, for they grew impatient under such
fatal results. Seeing some exertion beyond words
necessary for this purpose, I leaped my horse up
the little bank, and began a promenade (by no
means agreeable) up and down our front, without
even drawing my sword, though these fellows
were within speaking distance of me. This
quieted my men ; but the tall blue gentlemen,
seeing me thus dare them, immediately made a
target of me, and commenced a very deliberate
practice, to show us what very bad shots they
were and verify the old artillery proverb,
" The
nearer the target, the safer you are." One fellow
certainly made me flinch, but it was a miss ; so I
shook my finger at him, and called him coquin,
&c. The rogue grinned as he reloaded, and again
took aim. I certainly felt rather foolish at that
moment, but was ashamed, after such bravado,
to let him see it, and therefore continued my
promenade. As if to prolong my torment, he
was a terrible time about it. To me it seemed

an age. Whenever I turned, the muzzle of his
infernal carbine still followed me. At length
bang it went, and whiz came the ball close to the
back of my neck, and at the same instant down
dropped the leading driver of one of my guns
(Miller), into whose forehead the cursed missile
had penetrated.
The column now once more mounted the
plateau, and these popping gentry wheeled off
right and left to clear the ground for their charge.
The spectacle was imposing, and if ever the word
sublime was appropriately applied, it might surely
be to it. On they came in compact squadrons,
one behind the other, so numerous that those of
the rear were still below the brow when the head
of the column was but at some sixty or seventy
yards from our guns. Their pace was a slow but
steady trot. None of your furious galloping
charges was this, but a deliberate advance, at a
deliberate pace, as of men resolved to carry their
point. They moved in profound silence, and the
only sound that could be heard from them amidst
the incessant roar of battle was the low thunderlike
reverberation of the ground beneath the simultaneous
tread of so many horses. On our part
was equal deliberation. Every man stood steadily
at his post, the guns ready, loaded with a round
shot first and a case over it ; the tubes were in
the vents ; the port-fires glared and sputtered behind
the wheels ; and my word alone was wanting
to hurl destruction on that goodly show of
gallant men and noble horses. I delayed this,
for experience had given me confidence. The
Brunswickers partook of this feeling, and with
their squares much reduced in point of sizewell
closed, stood firmly, with arms at the recover,
and eyes fixed on us, ready to commence their
fire with our first discharge. It was indeed a
grand and imposing spectacle ! The column '*
was led on this time by an officer in a rich uniform,
his breast covered with decorations, whose
earnest gesticulations were strangely contrasted
with the solemn demeanour of those to whom
they were addressed. I thus allowed them to
advance unmolested until the head of the column .
might have been about fifty or sixty yards from
us, and then gave the word, "Fire !" The effect
was terrible. Nearly the whole leading rank fell
at once ; and the round-shot, penetrating the
column, carried confusion throughout its extent.

He speaks of the cavalry of reserve of the Guard. Could these be
the people ?

The ground, already encumbered with victims of
the first struggle, became now almost impassable.
Still, however, these devoted warriors struggled
on, intent only on reaching us. The thing was
impossible. Our guns were served with astonishing
activity, whilst the running fire of the
two squares was maintained with spirit. Those
who pushed forward over the heaps of carcasses
of men and horses gained but a few paces in advance,
there to fall in their turn and add to the
difficulties of those succeeding them. The discharge
of every gun was followed by a fall of
men and horses like that of grass before the
mower's scythe. When the horse alone was killed,
we could see the cuirassiers divesting themselves
of the encumbrance and making their escape on
foot. Still, for a moment, the confused mass (for
all order was at an end) stood before us, vainly
trying to urge their horses over the obstacles presented
by their fallen comrades, in obedience to
the now loud and rapid vociferations of him
who had led them on and remained unhurt. As
before, many cleared everything and rode through
us; many came plunging forward only to fall,
man and horse, close to the muzzles of our guns ;
but the majority again turned at the very moment
when, from having less ground to go over, it
were safer to advance than retire, and sought a
passage to the rear. Of course the same confusion,
struggle amongst themselves, and slaughter
prevailed as before, until gradually they disappeared
over the brow of the hill. We ceased
firing, glad to take breath. Their retreat exposed
us, as before, to a shower of shot and shells : these
last, falling amongst us with very long fuses,
kept burning and hissing a long time before they
burst, and were a considerable annoyance to man
and horse. The bank in front, however, again
stood our friend, and sent many over us innocuous.
Lieutenant Breton, who had already lost two
horses, and had mounted a troop-horse, was conversing
with me during this our leisure moment.
As his horse stood at right angles to mine, the
poor jaded animal dozingly rested his muzzle on
my thigh ; whilst I, the better to hear amidst the
infernal din, leant forward, resting my arm between
his ears. In this attitude a cannon-shot
smashed the horse's head to atoms. The headless
trunk sank to the ground Breton looking pale
as death, expecting, as he afterwards told me,
that I was cut in two. What was passing to the
right and left of us I know no more about than
the man in the moon not even what corps were
beyond the Brunswickers. The smoke confined
our vision to a very small compass, so that my
battle was restricted to the two squares and my
own battery ; and, as long as we maintained our
ground, I thought it a matter of course that others
did so too. It was just after this accident that
our worthy commanding officer of artillery, Sir
George Adam Wood, made his appearance through
the smoke a little way from our left flank. As I
said, we were doing nothing, for the cavalry were
under the brow re-forming for a third attack, and
we were being pelted by their artillery.
" Damn
it, Mercer," said the old man, blinking as a man
does when facing a gale of wind,
"
you have hot
work of it here." "Yes, sir, pretty hot;" and I
was proceeding with an account of the two
charges we had already discomfited, and the prospect
of a third, when, glancing that way, I perceived
their leading squadron already on the
plateau.
" There they are again !
"
I exclaimed ;
and, darting from Sir George sans ceremonie, was
just in time to meet them with the same destruction
as before. This time, indeed, it was child's
play. They could not even approach us in any
decent order, and we fired most deliberately ; it
was folly having attempted the thing. I was
sitting on my horse near the right of my battery
as they turned and began to retire once more.
Intoxicated with success, I was singing out,
"
Beautiful ! beautiful !" and my right arm was
flourishing about, when some one from behind,
seizing it, said quietly,
" Take care, or you'll strike
the Duke ;
" and in effect our noble chief, with
a serious air, and apparently much fatigued,
passed close by me to the front, without seeming
to take the slightest notice of the remnant of
the French cavalry still lingering on the ground.
This obliged us to cease firing ; and at the same
moment I, perceiving a line of infantry ascending
from the rear, slowly, with ported arms, and uttering
a sort of feeble, suppressed hurrah ankledeep
in a thick tenacious mud, and threading
their way amongst or stepping over the numerous
corpses covering the ground, out of breath
from their exertions, and hardly preserving a line,
broken everywhere into large gaps the breadth
of several files could not but meditate on the
probable results of the last charge had I, in
obedience to the Duke's order, retired my men
into the squares and allowed the daring and formidable
squadrons a passage to our rear, where
they must have gone thundering down on this
disjointed line. The summit gained, the line was
amended, files closed in, and the whole, including our Brunswickers, advanced down the slope
towards the plain.
Although the infantry lost several men as they
passed us, yet on the whole the cannonade began
to slacken on both sides (why, I know not), and,
the smoke clearing away a little, I had now, for
the first time, a good view of the field. On the
ridge opposite to us dark masses of troops were
stationary, or moving down into the intervening
plain. Our own advancing infantry were hid
from view by the ground. We therefore recommenced
firing at the enemies' masses, and the
cannonade, spreading, soon became general again
along the line. Whilst thus occupied with our
front, we suddenly became sensible of a most destructive
flanking fire from a battery which had
come, the Lord knows how, and established itself
on a knoll somewhat higher than the ground we
stood on, and only about 400 or 500 yards a little
in advance of our left flank. The rapidity and
precision of this fire were quite appalling. Every
shot almost took effect, and I certainly expected
we should all be annihilated. Our horses and
limbers, being a little retired down the slope, had
hitherto been somewhat under cover from the
direct fire in front ; but this plunged right amongst
them, knocking them down by pairs, and creating
horrible confusion. The drivers could hardly extricate
themselves from one dead horse ere another
fell, or perhaps themselves. The saddle-bags, in
many instances, were torn from the horses' backs,
and their contents scattered over the field. One
shell I saw explode under the two finest wheelhorses
in the troop down they dropped. In some
instances the horses of a gun or ammunition-waggon
remained, and all their drivers were killed.""'
The whole livelong day had cost us nothing like
this. Our gunners too the few left fit for duty
of them were so exhausted that they were unable
to run the guns up after firing, consequently at
every round they retreated nearer to the limbers ;
and as we had pointed our two left guns towards
the people who were annoying us so terribly, they
soon came altogether in a confused heap, the
trails crossing each other, and the whole dangerously
near the limbers and ammunition-waggons,
some of which were totally unhorsed, and others in
sad confusion from the loss of their drivers and
horses, many of them lying dead in their harness
attached to their carriages. I sighed for my poor
troop it was already but a wreck.

The entire journal can be read here:

link

I first heard the story about British gunners removing a wheel in 1970, when I was 12 and my form teacher, one Major Watt, was giving us an end of term lecture about Waterloo. I even think he used the words "bowling the wheel along like a hoop".

Major Watt was not a scholar, and gave us a lot of the standard stories, but he had been an army officer. This says nothing for the story's authenticity, but it clearly shows the story had been doing the rounds for a long time…whatever the military equivalent of an urban myth is.

Sounds like Lord Hill has nailed the original source though.

Here is the passage from Gomm's "Letters and Journals of Field-Marshal Sir William Maynard Gomm"
p.373

'By Wellington's orders the gunners, after discharging their pieces when the cavalry were close upon them, unlimbered the near wheel of each gun, and retired rapidly, wheeling the wheels with them, into the nearest square. Speedily the French horsemen came up and threw ropes, prepared for the purpose like the South American lasso, over the gun. But they could not make it move along on one wheel; and while striving to drag along their prize, the deadly volley of the square stretched half of those engaged on the ground, and sent the rest headlong down the slope.'

link

Sounds a bit strange – the French cavalry have "ropes prepared for the purpose"