"Different version of the death of the Duke of Brunswick?" Topic

The other day, I came across an on-line website that gave a slightly different account of the death of the Duke at Quatre Bras on 16th June, 1815.

Instead of encouraging his men (the usual story) he approached the French line and exhorted them to desert to the Allies, at which point the commander of a carabinier company (suggesting he was facing a Light Infantry unit) ordered his men to fire, resulting in the Duke's mortal injury.

Unfortunately, this website disappeared when my computer rashed during the evening, whilst I was having dinner and I cannot now seem to find it again.

So, has anyone come across this account before (I certainly had not heard of it) and could anyone link me back to the on-line site? Thanks.

Try "The Art of War Annual" Issue 20 at link

Original version in French "Mémoires et correspondance du roi Jérôme et de la reine Catherine Tome 7" at link

I believe that the "Dentu" account is incorrect. He conflates events. I am working on a Quatre Bra project. Here is what I think happened: General Letor commanded the Imperial Guard Dragoons. He recognized the fusiliers who were wearing their distinctive Berg uniform. The previous year, Berg lancers had served with renown in the Guard cavalry. Letor rode up to the square to demand the fusiliers surrender. Fusilier Kaufmann stepped forward and shot Letort (wounded) from his saddle.

There may be a confusion here.

Lieutenant-general Louis-Michael Letort, commanding the Empress Dragoons was mortally wounded at Gilly on the 15th June 1815 engaging the Prussian Infantry.

The Duke of Brunswick met his demise as stated on the 16th at Quatre Bras.

Field states that he was attempting to rally his shaken troops who had been attacked by Wathier's cavalry.

I have not come across the idea he was trying to persuade the French to desert before, although I believe that Letort was trying to do that with the Prussians.

Best wishes,

Chris

Thank you, gentlemen – that certainly puts a different perspective on the account. I must confess that I had never heard this version of the Duke's demise before, or even seen a reference to it, so it came as something of a shock to me (I tend to immerse myself in anything Brunswick related!).

(And thank you, especially, Prince of Essling – I did in fact find the original page – again – on the internet.)

Of course, there's no reason BOTH accounts can't be true…..

The Mandela effect ?

It's worth noting that Jerome himself made no mention of it in the letter he wrote to his wife on 15 July which is in said Mémoires et correspondance du roi Jérôme et de la reine Catherine Tome Septieme. All he said about Brunswick's death in a rather brief mention of the battle was:

"un événement remarquable de la première de ces deux batailles , c'est que le duc de Brunswick fut tué en même temps que j'étais touché par deux balles :"

"a remarkable event of the first of these two battles is that the Duke of Brunswick was killed at the same time as I was hit by two bullets:"

And the report by Lieutenant General August von Herzberg on the actions of the Brunswick Corps which is in Gareth Glover's Waterloo Archive vol V states that he was killed while attempting to rally his troops:

"The 1st Line Battalion moved back on the highway; the duke and the Leib Battalion, however, retired by the side of the road. Major von Pröstler tried to have this movement performed in as slow and compact a manner as was possible. But the hot pursuit of the emboldened enemy, the column being struck by several cannon balls and the approach of a French cuirassier regiment, resulted inevitably in some disorder among the inexperienced troops. The duke was attempting to restore order when he was hit by a shot that struck him off his horse."

Mr. Arnold,

Please let me know if you need any help with your research on the battle. I have two officers from the 3e Ligne and 72e Ligne with citations from the battle and other information about the 3e and 72e Ligne officers in 1815. I mainly research the 1806-1809 time period, but plenty of information is hidden in service records.

Michael

@ Cpl Trim,

I find it quite interesting that several authors, including a couple of Brunswickers themselves, refer to the Leib Battalion as "inexperienced" or "green" troops. This unit was formed by the returning "Owls" from Spain, strengthened (supposedly) by a draft of extra men from the Avante-Garde light infantry who had absored quite a lot of Westphalian veterans.

I know that the Duke of Wellington is reputed to have said: "Even the best troops run away sometimes!" (or something to that effect), but the Leib Battalion does not seem to have performed well as Quatre Bras.

I think the returning Oels would have formed a minority of the Leib Battalion. By the end of the Peninsula campaign, native Brunswickers were outnumbered by other Germans and non-Germans, including prisoners of war, who would want to go back to their homelands rather than join the newly formed Brunswick army. I don't know when the Leib Battalion itself was formed but the Duke started raising the army in December 1813 with a mixture of volunteers and conscripted personnel when Brunswick was liberated, but the Oels only went back there about a year later.

Andrew Field in Wellington's Waterloo Allies has the following comment:

"The volunteers represented about 50 percent of the Leib Battalion (presuming that these included the returned Brunswick Oels) and Avantgarde, and between only 10 percent and 40 percent in the line and light battalions; the higher number of volunteers being in the senior battalions which had been raised first."

There is no indication of what proportion of the 50 per cent would have been ex Oels though, even assuming that his presumption is correct. Many of them would, also presumably, have become NCOs due to their experience but the majority would have been young and inexperienced. He does have better figures for the officers which are taken from a 1912 article by Dr Paul Zimmerman in Braunschweigisches Magazin:

Those who served in the Brunswick army before the French took over the country and did not serve again until 1813 – 2
Those who had served in the Westphalian army (some of these also had experience in the old Brunswick army) – 56
Foreign officers – 10
Those who served under British command in the Brunswick Oels – 47
Volunteers – 43
Allies – 11

Something I didn't initially notice when I had a look through the linked article was that it was written 30 years ago. The question which springs to my mind is what do French historians say about it now, and also which French historians was the author referring to.

Houssaye, for example, mentions it in a footnote but says it is unlikely to be correct, at least in the original French as the English version I have doesn't include any footnotes.

"D'après une tradition rapportée dans les Mémoires de Jérôme, Brunswick aurait été blessé pendant qu'il haranguait la tête de la colonne du 1er léger pour l'engagera abandonner la cause de l'empereur. Le fait paraît peu probable, étant donnée surtout la haine que le duc de Brunswick avait rouée à tous les Français."

"According to a tradition reported in the Memoirs of Jerome, Brunswick would have been wounded while he harangued the head of the column of the 1st light to get it to abandon the cause of the emperor. The fact seems unlikely, especially given the hatred that the Duke of Brunswick had towards all the French."

At least no one blamed Sharpe.

Brilliant, raised a good laugh in our household.

thanks to John Franklin

Ernst Külbel (Die letzten Augenblicke unsers Durchlauchtigsten Herzogs Friedrich Wilhelm bei Quatrebras den 16.Juni 1815. Celle, 1865)
At this point I would like to interject an account which does not form part of the Zimmermann collection, but which is a well-known – at least in Germany – account of events. This was written many years after events by Ernst Külbel, who served as a Private in the Leib Battalion in 1815. This appeared in a book published in 1865 (translated from German):
'At this moment the duke rode forward, completely unaccompanied, either coming from the Hussars or Uhlans, which were on the right, between us and the French cavalry, who, at this moment opened fire.The duke's horse became nervous and did not wish to continue, resulting in a second French salvo which caused the duke's injury. As I discovered later, a musket ball passed through the wrist of his right hand, then through the right side of his chest and left the body below the left shoulder. The duke fell to the ground, to the right of his horse, half way between us and the French, approximately 25 paces in front of our line. Not leaving our duke to the enemy, I convinced two of my fellows, Hornist Auer and Jäger Reckau, to try to bring him to our lines despite the danger of the situation. We bravely ran forward and lifted him as carefully as the situation allowed in the face of the enemy, then hurriedly carried him back to our line, with his weight on my musket. At this time our line had withdrawn: the Leib Bataillon had to withdraw to its former position and was on the way back when the disaster occurred. This is the reason that only a few witnessed the event. Fortunately, we reached the second line and upon my request to let us pass, a whole section stepped aside (due to my bayonet still being fixed). A tall man – a corporal, I believe – asked who was the man we were carrying. After I replied, 'The duke!', he shouted 'Goodness!'
Conrad Bosse (Archival Reference: 249 AN 191)
Among the many items in the Zimmermann collection which I have not published previously is the diary of Private Conrad Bosse, who belonged to the 2nd Company of the Brunswick 3rd Line Battalion. Bosse was from Hötzum and noted the following (translated from German):
‘16th June: We went from Ahren at 1 o'clock in the night. On that day the French had taken a very good position in a wood, while our troops were on the open field completely exposed. Thus, for several hours they stood fast, when suddenly the French came on the left wing along the edge of the wood with the Dragoons in front. The Duke advanced at the head of the Hussars, but they could not do anything. As time went on the French advanced so that they could shoot at our square with their cannon, and so we had to retreat, and when we were setting out, a cannon ball took the nose off a Lieutenant. We had to stand behind two large buildings made of stone, and now our artillery arrived and deployed on the left and around the houses. They shot from the flank at the French. The Dragoons were killed and retreated at once. The Duke received two wounds and died, as did Major von Strombeck. We advanced with the 2nd Battalion who suffered a lot, and as darkness fell we moved into the wood, where we spent the night.'

Interesting stuff Mr W.

The references to ‘Dragoons' is common with British accounts of this action.

My understanding is that they were not present at Quatre Bras and the 11th Cuirassiers who were primarily unarmoured were confused for them as their uniforms ( apart from the jacket colour) were very similar.

Best wishes,

Chris

I seem to recall that Dawson has researched the cuirass issue and found that to be a myth – returns showing the regiment wore cuirass

Interesting

Dear Michael,

Back from dive holiday on Dominica
(where I could not access TMP but did find a rusted cannon at a coastal defense site high in the rain forest with an "N" inscribed on the trunnion, given the British had recaptured the island from the French I wonder how it came to this site)…anyway, thank you for your kind offer. I must get back to work on the QB project and would welcome the information you mentioned. Can you e-mail it to my home site so TMPers don't have to suffer through my meanderings? napoleonbooks@gmail.com.

Cheers,

James