As part of my Waterloo project, I've been working on the 12 Cuirassiers regiments, all of which fought at Waterloo, along side the two Carabinier, two dragoon and all the Guard cavalry regiments in the Reserve Cavalry charges which are, arguably, the most iconic moment of the battle.
The strength of these regiments varied hugely with the Guard regiments being much larger:
Horse Grenadiers 796
Empress Dragoons 816
1st Polish Lancers 200
2nd Red Lancers 1,134
Horse Chasseurs 1,223
Mamelukes 26
1st Cuirassiers 485
2nd Cuirassiers 311
3rd Cuirassiers 480
4th Cuirassiers 314
5th Cuirassiers 518
6th Cuirassiers 285
7th Cuirassiers 180
8th Cuirassiers 459
9th Cuirassiers 412
10th Cuirassiers 359
11th Cuirassiers 332
12th Cuirassiers 258
1st Carabiniers 434
2nd Carabiniers 413
2nd Dragoons 593
7th Dragoons 517
Total 10,545
The Reserve Cavalry was committed into this area of the battlefield:
The Cuirassier regiments were distinguished by their facing colours: 1-3rd Regiments red; 4-6 Regiments Aurore; 7-9th Regiments yellow; 10-12th Regiments pink. They are currently in plastic boxes and even though they look quite clinical and compressed in this environment, I thought you would be interested to see what all 12 Regiments look like. Casualty figures are among them. Another 100 charging figures for the 11th Regiment are still to come, plus many more casualties.
The figures have been painted by the Waterloo Remodelled team and have needed some adjustment by me to achieve alignment. The 3rd and 12th regiments are currently a collection of second figures and need quite a lot of sorting out
The two Line Dragoon, two Carabinier and Guard cavalry will follow. This has been a lot of work and I'm hugely grateful to everyone who helps the project.
ponders nirvana.
