Tango01 | 14 Nov 2020 9:16 p.m. PST |
"The Scots Greys and Waterloo stand firmly together in the memory. The paintings, the Ensign, the Greys; some consider their carge the turning point of the Battle of Waterloo. They remain one of the best known aspects of the famous battle. As we commemorate 200 years since the famous showdown of 1815 we look at the guns and the horses that helped secure our victory. And for those planning something festive, see our Waterloo recipes: Braised Belgian endive among others for suitable inspiration. The Duke of Wellington was never pleased with his cavalry. In Spain he condemned them for "charging at everything", getting cut up in the process or finding themselves on a distant part of the battlefield, horses blown, at the very moment they were needed elsewhere: "They never consider the situation, never think of manoeuvring before an enemy and never keep back or provide a reserve." So at Waterloo the Iron Duke intended to keep the mounted arm on a tight rein…"
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link Amicalement Armand
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deadhead | 15 Nov 2020 3:49 a.m. PST |
Rarely lost for words. But almost….. We had a book entitled "The Cavalry that Broke Napoleon" but insisting it was the KDG. But then there was the "Lie at the heart of…" telling us it was all down to the 52nd of Foot. Mind you, "The Men who Saved the Day etc" said it was the Foot Guards. Hof would insist it was the Prussians (not unreasonably) but none say it was the ordinary footslogger, from countries all over North West European Continent and the British Isles, who hung on to that ridge until help arrived. |
bgbboogie | 15 Nov 2020 3:55 a.m. PST |
No it was the Houselhold brigade that did the real damage ! Not the union brihade. |
bgbboogie | 15 Nov 2020 3:56 a.m. PST |
As to Hof well the Prussians were NOT at Hougomont nor La Haye if they had been lost, then the battle was lost ! |
Artilleryman | 15 Nov 2020 4:08 a.m. PST |
Well said Deadhead. It was a multi-national team effort. All the various 'famous events' added up to the final victory. It would be wrong to attribute it to a single action. However, even Wellington said that it was Gneisenau's decision to retreat to Wavre on the evening of Ligny that was the key …. |
dibble | 15 Nov 2020 5:14 a.m. PST |
Not forgetting Vivian's accounts and those from within his 6th Cavalry Brigade. Probably about the most level-headed of all the accounts leading up to and the route itself. |
4th Cuirassier | 15 Nov 2020 6:09 a.m. PST |
To be fair, the intro spiel isn't written by Allan Mallinson and is therefore about what you'd expect from a shoppin', shootin' and huntin' comic aimed at people who inherited their furniture. There's a better case that the charge of which the Scots Greys were 1/7th was the moment when the battle was nearly lost. By getting themselves constructively destroyed they left Wellington with no heavy cavalry to speak of to oppose Napoleon's. So he was left hoping the latter would squander this advantage by doing something improbably stupid with their own heavies. |
Allan F Mountford | 15 Nov 2020 12:17 p.m. PST |
Unluckily for the Greys, Jacquinot had two Polish lancer regiments tucked away. |
Brechtel198 | 15 Nov 2020 12:38 p.m. PST |
Allan, I believe that Jacquinot's lancers were French, not Polish. The only Polish troops in Nord were the 1st Squadron of the Guard Lancer Regiment. And don't forget Farine's cuirassier brigade who hit the Greys and their sister regiments in the front while Jacquinot hit them on the left flank. |
Tango01 | 15 Nov 2020 3:28 p.m. PST |
Thanks!. Amicalement Armand |
Allan F Mountford | 16 Nov 2020 4:55 a.m. PST |
@Brechtel I should have added a ;-) Colonel Bro's memoirs are a personal favourite of mine. ;-) |
Brechtel198 | 16 Nov 2020 5:06 a.m. PST |
Allan, Do you have a link or the title to Col Bro's memoirs? |
Allan F Mountford | 16 Nov 2020 7:53 a.m. PST |
Kevin Bro's memoirs are on Gallica (this link should take you to 1815): link There is a fairly recent reprint. |
Brechtel198 | 16 Nov 2020 8:33 a.m. PST |
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