Friday, December 5, 2014

SECOND AFTERTHOUGHT: AN INTERESTING WEBSITE

Second afterthought:  Wrexham County Borough Museum

I stumbled upon this site recently and have not explored it thoroughly, but there are so many interesting things here that I felt I needed to share it immediately.  A silver chamber pot used in the Peninsula?  Why not!

Wrexham is a town in the north of Wales and has a wonderful website with many interesting articles – look at the right side of the page.  It’s a treasure trove.



SOME AFTERTHOUGHTS: THE WATERLOO MODEL

Some afterthoughts: The Waterloo Model

Through the fog of war, and after 200 years, I felt it was useless to put much emphasis on critiquing the battle strategies used in 1815.  We did remark on several points in the battle when Napoleon might have had the opportunity to retreat and re-group, and on his initial decision to split his army, something he had usually considered a bad strategy.

There was also criticism of how Wellington handled his army, the army he thought “infamous,” which included units whose loyalty and skill he doubted. He placed a number of troops to the west, guarding a possible route of retreat to the coast, if needed.  These men, held in reserve, fought not at all in the battle, and might, if Wellington had summoned them, have reinforced the center of the Anglo-Allied line. Would this have shortened the battle and resulted in a faster Anglo-Allied victory? Who can say?

Some observers, looking for blunders in Wellington’s command, fault him for not coming to the aid of Blücher at Ligny on the 16th, but others point out his troops were well occupied at Quatre Bras, and his pledge of assistance to the Prussians had been conditional on not being so heavily engaged.
 
One controversy might be pursuing.  In 1830, army Captain William Siborne, (1797-1849) was asked to make a model of the battlefield, though he had not been present in Belgium at the time.  Siborne was an expert in topography and mapping; the display was destined for a new United Services Museum.

For many months, he explored the battlefield and interviewed survivors from the British, Dutch, Prussian and French armies. When he lost official funding after three years, he paid his own expenses.

In 1838, his model was displayed and brought considerable controversy.  The Duke of Wellington had refused his cooperation, repeating his statements that no one could reconstruct such a long and complicated series of bloody engagements. Wellington’s objection to Siborne’s version of the battle was the timing of the arrival of Blucher’s Prussian troops on the scene. Had the Prussians arrived in force at 7 p.m. as stated in Wellington’s post-battle dispatch?  Or had they arrived several hours earlier, about 4:40 pm as some survivors later recalled?

The battle was portrayed on a base 24 by 19 feet in size, with more than 90,000 model soldiers, as well as horses, cannons, and models of La Haye Sainte and Chateau Hougoumont. Siborne’s model portrayed the battle at 7:15 pm with the Prussians fully engaged in fighting the French. It was first shown in the Egyptian–hall in Piccadilly.

The Duke of Wellington was not amused. He refused to view the model, though it was very popular with the public. Siborne was almost ruined financially by the expenses of the  effort. The Duke and some other officers felt the Prussians had been given far too prominent positions for the timing. Siborne offered to correct any mistakes he had made, but again the Duke did not cooperate. Eventually many Prussians were ‘removed’ from the model.

Siborne went on to assemble and enhance his reports of interviews with the survivors, in the hopes of publishing a History of the battle, which he did in 1844 in two volumes. He died in 1849, by some accounts having recovered financially, by other accounts, a disappointed and bitter man. Peter Hofschröer has written a detailed account of Siborne’s project, Wellington’s Smallest Victory, published in 2004.

A second slightly smaller (7 x 18 feet) model, made by Siborne about the same time and first exhibited in 1844, can be seen at the Royal Armouries Museum in LeedsIt was displayed at Dover Castle until about 1996 when it was moved to the new facility in Leeds.

I have seen the model in the National Army Museum in London and it is amazing.  However, I do recognize the validity of the Duke’s protests that no one can really capture a huge battlefield with tens of thousands fighting at a specific moment.  Sometime when you are in London, take a look and see what you think! But be aware that the National Army Museum is currently undergoing renovation and closed until 2016. I have posted a few more pictures on the blog.



PART 6, GROUP C: THE WATERLOO MODEL

THE WATERLOO MODEL


Captain William Siborne 1797-1849

National Army Museum, London
closed for remodeling until 2016
http://www.nam.ac.uk/

Views of the model










PART 6 -: GROUP B THE 200TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS




THE 200TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS



WATERLOO 200:
 


EXHIBITION UPCOMING AT NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY:

EXHIBITION AT BRITISH MUSEUM

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/bonaparte_and_the_british.aspx

Bonaparte and The British,  The British Museum   February 5, 2015


WATERLOO, BELGIUM

The Allied Counterattack

The 1815 Monument Men




CHATEAU HOUGOUMONT RENOVATION





RECOVERY: STOLEN CROSS FROM CHATEAU'S CHAPEL HAS BEEN FOUND
 OCTOBER 2014

OLD VIEW OF RUINED CHAPEL


Monday, December 1, 2014

LESSON SIX: BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO


The Beau Monde Regency Academe


THE BATTLE THAT RESHAPED EUROPE:

BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE BRITISH VICTORY AT WATERLOO


Lesson Six:


I. After Waterloo

A. A century of peace in Europe?

Many assessments of the settlements after the Napoleonic Wars praise the re-establishment of stable governments and the prevention of continent-wide wars until the outbreak of The Great War in 1914. Others emphasize the return to monarchies and centralized power in large European powers which were already anti-modern and unprogressive, engendering the rise of nationalism and actual instability. I believe one could make a case for either interpretation, depending on upon your point of view.

There were many smaller wars in Europe, lasting shorter times, but causing great death and damage. Some were wars of independence (e.g. Greece, 1821-32 breaking from the Ottoman Empire), others involved unification movements among Italian and German states, which could even include the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.

The 19th Century also saw Europeans fight wars in Asia and Africa where European powers were intent on trade and colonization. The British Empire expanded globally.

The Spanish Empire in Latin America, however, declined; many nations achieved independence in South and Central America.  The U.S. fought Indian wars, in addition to the Civil War 1860-65, and wars over Mexico and Texas, Cuba and the Philippines.  A depressingly long list.

B. France

After Napoleon left for the final time, Louis XVIII was back on the throne, succeeded by his brother, Charles X (1757-1836), from 1824 until 1830.  The July Revolution brought Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orleans, into power as the King of France. Louis-Philippe was part of a “cadet” branch of the Bourbons, a cousin of Louis XVIII and Charles X.  He had been in exile during the Napoleonic era, traveling extensively including in the US.  He was proclaimed King by the Chamber of Deputies in August 1830. Two years later in 1832, Louise-Marie, his daughter, married Leopold I of Belgium (see below).

During the February 1848 revolution in France, part of the revolutionary movement that swept Europe that year, Louis-Philippe abdicated and fled to England (where he lived at Claremont House, Surrey, once the home of his son-in-law Leopold when he was married to the late Princess Charlotte).

The Second Republic began, and who should they elect as President but Louis Napoleon, son of Napoleon’s brother Louis and Hortense, daughter of Napoleon’s first wife Josephine.  (Are you keeping score??).  In 1851-52, Louis Napoleon dissolved the elected Republic and declared himself Napoleon III, thus establishing the Second Empire, which lasted until the Franco Prussian War in 1870-71. Napoleon III followed repressive policies and limited freedoms, but it is his reign that gave us most of the beauties of Paris we enjoy today, a legacy we can appreciate without admiring his other policies. 

When Napoleon III was a captive of Prussia, deputies in Paris declared a government of national defense, which tried to continue the war against Prussia, but within a few months, capitulated and ended the war. The Third French Republic was declared but stiff war reparation payments and other issues led to the Paris Commune.

The two-months of the Paris Commune in 1871, one of many uprisings of Paris workers and socialists during the century, was defeated by the regular army by the end of May 1871. Its short life became an inspiration to communist leaders such as Lenin and Mao.

The Third French Republic continued until the Fall of France in 1940 and the establishment of the Vichy government.  It was not until the 1880’s that the quarrels over re-establishment of a monarchy with competing claims of various pretenders was overcome.

C. Belgium

Gallica Belgica was the name of a Roman province in northern Gaul.  The region often called “the low countries” has been the scene of many wars, involving the French, the Habsburgs, the Austrians, the Spanish, and various Germanic peoples.  Cities in the region were important trading partners of Britain across the North Sea. During the Revolutionary Wars, France absorbed parts of the low countries, which were brought together as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. In 1830, the southern areas of this kingdom set up an independent Belgium as a constitutional monarchy. Chosen as first King of Belgium was Leopold I, formerly Prince of Saxe-Coburg, husband of the late Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817), daughter of the Prince Regent and his late unlamented wife Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales (17968-1821). The current Belgian royal family descends from Leopold and his second wife, Louise of Orleans (1812-1850).

Leopold was the uncle of Princess Victoria, daughter of his sister, Princess Victoire. Victoire married (as her 2nd husband) Edward, Duke of Kent. After Victoria became Queen of Great Britain in 1837, Leopold advised her mostly from afar, and promoted the suit of his nephew, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, who married the Queen in 1840 and fathered her nine children.


II. Britain and the British Empire

A period of economic difficulties followed the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars.  Falling agricultural prices caused the government of Lord Liverpool to enact the 1815 Corn Laws, which helped the large landowners maintain high prices but hurt the average person and caused rioting in various areas.

Things were not helped by the severe cold in 1816, which caused poor harvests and grain shortages.

The 1817 death in childbirth of Princess Charlotte, the only legitimate grandchild of King George III, led to a period of intense national mourning.  The aging brothers of King George IV scurried to find reasonable wives to replace their many mistresses, in the hopes of siring an heir to the throne though they already had a large number of illegitimate offspring.  The Duke of Kent won the hand of Victoire, a widow with two children, a proven breeder. Their daughter became Queen Victoria in 1837.

The unstoppable progress of steam-driven machinery and transportation, mining improvements, canal-building, and scientific achievements pushed Britain forward while often creating dislocation of people, dreadful conditions in urban slums, child labor, and unrest. The middle class grew and became more and more prosperous while the working class suffered , not always in silence.

The government tried to stifle dissent. In 1819, a reform rally in Manchester was set upon by a cavalry charge, resulting in at least 15 killed.  It was always to be known, in a sad reference to the great battle, as the Peterloo Massacre.  The next year, the Cato Street Conspiracy was suppressed before causing any damage except to public confidence. The Luddites and others caused disturbances as they protested the new machines which replaced cottage industry and displaced workers.

Taxes rose to pay off the war debts and caused more conflict and distress.

In 1820, George the III finally died after years of madness.  The Prince Regent became George IV, and prevented his estranged wife from attending his lavish coronation.  When news from St. Helena arrived in July, 1821, George was told “It is my duty to inform your  Majesty that your greatest enemy is dead.” Reputedly the King replied, “Is She, by God?”  Queen Caroline did die shortly, in August, 1821.

Also in 1821, Robert Castlereagh became the 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, though he remained the leader of the House of Commons, he was severely criticized for repressive government actions, particularly after Peterloo.  His health suffered and he became paranoid and delusional, and committed suicide by cutting his throat in August, 1822.


Lord Liverpool left office in 1827, after fifteen years of providing leadership in stormy, war-torn times; he died in 1828. He was succeeded by several Prime Ministers who served very short terms, both times passing over the Duke. George Canning (1770-1827) died after just over four months in office. Viscount Goderich served for another four months, resigning in frustration in January 1828.

At last, the Hero of Waterloo, by now a strong Tory, agreed to form a government.  Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, after his first cabinet meeting, is reported to have remarked, “An extraordinary affair.  I gave them their orders and they wanted to stay and discuss them.


Although he was generally known as very conservative, he did shepherd through Parliament a nearly complete Emancipation for Catholics in 1829. He said he would resign if the King did not endorse the bill. In March, he fought a duel with the Earl of Winchilsea over the matter, though no one was hit, and the Earl later apologized.


Wellington resigned after his government was defeated in the House of Commons over the reform bill in 1830. The bill did not pass the House of Lords, but in 1832, a great Reform Act finally was passed by a Whig majority in the  House of Commons and backed by the House of Lords after years of agitation and rioting on behalf of an extended franchise. Wellington never approved of it.  After the first Parliament elected by a broader electorate sat, Wellington is quoted as saying, “I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life.”


King George IV had died in 1830 and was succeeded by his brother, the third son of George III, as King William IV (the second brother, Frederick, Duke of York, had died in 1827).  

In 1834, the Tories came into power again, with a ministry to be headed by Robert Peel. But since he was in Italy, the Duke of Wellington was interim Prime Minister for three weeks, then becoming Foreign Minister in the Peel Cabinet.

In 1837, Victoria took the throne and for the rest of his life, the Duke was a trusted advisor to her and her husband, Prince Albert.

This quick summary of British politics to 1837 how the stability, even in the face of difficult national issues, of the British system of government, contrasted with the French experience.

This was also a time if great expansion of the British Empire, the empire on which the sun never set.

III.  The Napoleon Myth – legendary hero remembered for his original aims, not for his slaughter of millions

In his concise volume The Napoleonic Wars: A Very Short Introduction published by Oxford University Press, Mike Rapport quotes Francois-René Chateaubriand’s memoirs from 1839, expressing his frustration with his contemporaries for ignoring – or forgetting the destruction and thinking only of the Gloire:

“It is fashionable today to magnify Bonaparte’s victories: those who suffered by them disappeared; we no longer hear the curses of the victims and their cries of pain and distress; we no longer see France exhausted, with only women to till her soil…we no longer see the conscription notices pasted  up at street corners, and the passer-by gathering in a crowd in front of those huge lists of the dead, looking in consternation for the names of their children, their brothers, their friends, their neighbors.”

Napoleon’s memoirs as told to his secretary on St. Helena, Emmanuel de Las Cases, published shortly after the Emperor’s death in 1821, presented his version of his life story, emphasizing his victories and his goal to spread the values – Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, French for "Freedom, equality, brotherhood", of the French Revolution – ignoring the fact he ruled as a tyrant and dictator.  And caused the death of millions, from battle casualties, from the spread of disease, and from displacement and starvation.

There is no shortage of apologists: Byron1 and many Whigs2 in Britain, some of whom changed their minds later; Victor Hugo3 even has a monument at Waterloo commemorating his stay there in 1861; plans for a Napoleon Theme Park have been suggested.4

Nevertheless, Napoleon’s reign brought many reforms and institutions which have endured for centuries. He put a final period to feudalism, and the ideal of equality of all men (and later, women) prevails in Western societies and has spread through much of the world. Equality and other concepts growing out of the Eighteenth Century Enlightenment – toleration, reason, the scientific process – were essential to the American and French Revolutions, and to the more evolutionary British philosophy of government.

Napoleon created bodies to put such concepts into practice in France, such as the Napoleonic code which made all men equal before the law, a gendarmerie to enforce the law, and promoted religious toleration. At first, Napoleon was eager to abolish aristocratic privilege, but in the end, he named himself emperor and ruled autocratically.  However, he did uphold the idea of promotion by individual achievement, not family or wealth. Some of his generals came from the lowest rungs of society; others came from old families.

Napoleon scorned the re-reestablishment of the ancien regime in France and elsewhere, as decided by the Congress of Vienna.  The Hapsburg Empire in Austrian eventually collapsed under its own weight, but the German-Prussian and Russian situations led to bloody war and excessive revolution.

Some observers try to link Napoleon with the 20th-21st Century movement for European integration, but I personally find that a bit of a stretch. The kind of integration he wanted was domination by France, by HIM, not a voluntary and gradual union of independent states. 

Assessing Napoleon is complex and requires that old fallback: tolerance of ambiguity as well as some cognitive dissonance. In other words, don’t forget a dash of skepticism when reading about Napoleon – or any of the other players in this 200-year-old saga.

NOTES:


2. Whig Samuel Whitbread, MP, son of the famous brewer, committed suicide by slashing his throat over the defeat of Napoleon; the Holland House Circle and many essayists such as Hazlitt  praised Napoleon almost unreservedly.

3. See Victor Hugo, Les Miserables, “Cosette” Book First: Waterloo.



IV. Waterloo in Literature and Culture:

In addition to the memoirs, diaries, and letters published about Waterloo and Brussels, the battle has figured in countless works of fiction and nonfiction. Among the most famous fictional portrayals is Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-63). Subtitled, “A Novel Without a Hero,” Vanity Fair was first published in 1847, skewering the society of the Regency era and the reign of George IV.

 I know of two relatively recent filmed versions of the novel. In 2004, it was a feature film starring Reese Witherspoon as Becky Sharp.  A better version, in my opinion, was produced for the BBC in 1996 with Natasha Little as Becky.  Many other versions for film and tv are also around.

Speaking of a Natasha, Leo Tolstoy’s (1828-1910)  Russian masterpiece, War and Peace, cannot be surpassed for its sweeping scope and tortured characters. The unforgettable Pierre, Prince Andrei, and Natasha, to name the most obvious three.  The BBC will present a six-part miniseries in 2015, with a screenplay written by Andrew Davies, and starring among others, Lily James as Natasha – she is currently known for playing Lady Rose on Downton Abbey and the title character in the upcoming Cinderella.

Many of us might remember the 1956 Hollywood version starring Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Mel Ferrar. A 7-hour version was produced in 1966-67 by the Soviets, greatly admired by Roger Ebert and winner of an Oscar for best foreign film.  The BBC did a miniseries in 1972.  Sergei Prokofiev’s opera  has been seen all over the world, including productions at NYC’s Metropolitan  Opera in 2002 and 2007.

It has been many years since I read Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal, but it too has dramatic scenes set at the Battle of Waterloo.  Stendhal fought for Napoleon and was a survivor of the Russian campaign.

A favorite of many readers is Georgette Heyer’s An Infamous Army, with descriptions of the Battle of Waterloo so vivid that it was supposedly recommended reading for students at the British Military Academy Sandhurst. Heyer also wrote The Spanish Bride, a fictionalized life of Juana Smith, the Spanish orphan who married British officer Sir Harry Smith in the Peninsula and became the inspiration for the naming of the town of Ladysmith in South Africa (as in Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the famous singing group).

The final book of the Poldark saga by Winston Graham, The Twisted Sword, has Waterloo scenes.

In my TBR pile is Susanna Clark’s  Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, a 2004 novel about two magicians in early 19th Century Britain, with a chapter set at the Battle of Waterloo, where Wellington has some supernatural help. A seven-part mini-series will be released soon by BBC One and is supposed to run on BBCAmerica in 2015. The series stars Bertie Carvel as Strange and Eddie Marsan as Norrell.



An excellent account, though highly fictionalized of course, is Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe’s Waterloo. The TV version is also available on DVD and on Youtube.


According to Wikipedia, in To Say Nothing of the Dog, author Connie Willis uses the Battle of Waterloo “as a reference point to model how reality is believed to adjust to neutralize the effects of a temporal paradox. There are so many critical turning points in the battle, it's explained, that a time traveler would have many opportunities to affect the outcome. Oddly - whether by accident or design - Willis consistently refers to the battle as taking place on 18 June 1814, precisely one year earlier than it did.”  Hmmm.

Among the uses of Waterloo in British comedies, look for it in Black Adder.  Dr. Who episodes reference the battle as well.

In the 1970 film, Waterloo, Wellington is played by Christopher Plummer and Napoleon by Rod Steiger. Though I have never seen it on a wide screen, it is worth watching even on a small screen.  Jack Hawkins plays General Picton, Dan O’Herlihy is Marshal Ney, Virginia McKenna is the Duchess of Richmond, and Orson Welles does a fantastic job of portraying Louis XVIII.  There is a cast of thousands, including the Gordon Highlanders and the Soviet Army! Some of the melodrama is a bit heavy–handed, but most of the battle scenes are quite spectacular, even on a small screen.

1970 film trailer  3:30


full film: 2 hours 8 minutes


And finally, Waterloo figures in pop culture, far beyond the pubs named for the battle and its hero Wellington.

Just one familiar example is ABBA’s famous song, the one that really started their career, anything but a Waterloo for them.


Please share with us other versions of Waterloo in books, movies, tv and music.


V. READING and WATCHING

The best place to find new sources of information is in the bibliographies and notes used by authors.  E.G., the select bibliography for the Wellington: Years of the Sword, the first volume of Elizabeth Longford’s Biography of Wellington published in 1969 (and still the best in my opinion) is nine pages long.

This year brings a plethora of new books on Waterloo and Wellington.  Several more are due in 2015.  Here are a few of the newer ones you might want to read or encourage your library to acquire:

Uglow, Jenny:  In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon’s Wars 1793 -1815, 2014

Blurb: We know the thrilling, terrible stories of the battles of the Napoleonic Wars - but what of those left behind? The people on a Norfolk farm, in a Yorkshire mill, a Welsh iron foundry, an Irish village, a London bank, a Scottish mountain? The aristocrats and paupers, old and young, butchers and bakers and candlestick makers - How did the long years of war touch their lives?

This book follows the gripping back-and-forth of the first global war but turns the news upside down, seeing how it reached the people. Illustrated by the satires of Gillray and Rowlandson and the paintings of Turner and Constable, and combining the familiar voices of Austen, Wordsworth, Scott, and Byron with others lost in the crowd, In These Times delves into the archives to tell the moving story of how people lived and loved and sang and wrote, struggling through hard times and opening new horizons that would change their country for a century and more.

Knight, Roger, Britain Against Napoleon: The Organization of Victory, 1793-181, 2014

How government and society mobilized to assist the army and navy. 


Taylor, Alan  The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, and Indian Allies

Taylor looks at the conflict as "in effect a civil war between related members of a founding nation."

Andrew Roberts  Napoleon: a Life, Viking, 2014


Cornwell, Bernard,  Waterloo 2014 The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles


The author of many historical novels and the Richard Sharpe series writes a nonfiction book about Waterloo.  I bought it last summer in England (available soon in the US) and found it a concise treatment of the subject, if not ground-breaking in interpretation.

Other Waterloo books of Note:

Adkin, Mark, The Waterloo Companion: The Complete Guide to History's Most Famous Land Battle 2002

Blurb: There have been many books about Waterloo, but never one to rival this in scale or authority. The text, based upon extensive research, describes both the battle and the campaign that preceded it in detail, drawing upon the first-hand accounts of participants on all sides in order to give the reader a vivid feeling for the experiences of those who fought upon this most celebrated of all battlefields. The many full-color maps, all specially commissioned for the book, and the numerous diagrams and photographs, the majority in color, as well as sixteen pages of original paintings, make the book a feast for the eyes and a collector's dream

Glover, Michael  The Napoleonic Wars: an illustrated History 1792-1815 ISBN0 88254 473 X  New York: Hippocrene Boo0ks 1978

Hamiton-Williams, David  Waterloo: New Perspectives  ISBN 1 86019 996 8 London: Brockhampton Press  1999

Haythornthwaite, Philip J.,   British Infantry of the Napoleonic Wars               ISBN 1 85409 326 6  London :Arms and Amour Press 1996

Howarth, David   Waterloo: A Guide to the Battlefield, Andover , Hampshire, Pitkin Guides

Rathbone, Julian  Wellington’s War: His Peninsular Dispatches ISBN 0 7181 3841 4 London: Michael Joseph Ltd. 1984

Roberts, Andrew  Waterloo: The Battle for Modern Europe  ISBN 10-06-076215-2, Harper Perennial, 2005

Summerville, Christopher  Who Was Who at Waterloo: A Biography of the Battle, ISBN 978-0-582-78405-5,  Pearson/Longman 2007

And many more; please share with us if you have a favorite.

Books about Napoleon:

Napoleon's Men
by Alan Forrest
268pp, Hambledon and London

Napoleon
by Paul Johnson
192pp, Weidenfeld and Nicholson

Napoleon: His Wives and Women
by Christopher Hibbert
400pp, HarperCollins

The Peninsular War
by Charles Esdaile 624pp, Allen Lane

Napoleon and Berlin
by Michael Leggiere
304pp, Tempus

Napoleonic Army Handbook, vol 2
by Michael Oliver and Richard Partridge
365pp, Constable

Again, and many more – please share your favorites.

A few worth while videos  from You Tube

(more can be found on youtube when you have finished these.)

1. Battlefield Detectives: Massacre at Waterloo 49 minutes

Shows some experiments with artillery under conditions similar to the battle day


2. PBS Documentary on Napoleon in Four parts, approximately 50 minutes each 

Episode One to 1796, Victory at the Battle of Lodi


Episode two. Entry into Milan to his crowning as emperor


Episode three crowning to treaty of Tilsit


Episode four  Spain, Russia, Waterloo, St. Helena


3. The Murder of Napoleon Bonaparte. about 46 mins;  asserts he was poisoned by arsenic


4. Napoleon’s Fallen Soldiers  50 mins the men who died in Vilnius after the Russian campaign



VI. WATERLOO AT 200 – a partial list; watch for more on my blog with Kristine Hughes:


We try to keep up with all the news and events from England and Belgium.

1. the scene at the 195th:  See the pictures on my Academe blog


2. Upcoming Events

a. Waterloo200


This site not only tells what will be happening in the 2015 events, but also provides a great deal of history.  In the Media section, under videos, there are some vivid descriptions of battlefield injuries and even an example of an amputation.  Also watch loading and firing the musket known as Brown Bess and a group volley.

b.   Waterloo at Windsor: 1815-2015

Windsor Castle Saturday, 31 January 2015 to Wednesday, 13 January 2016


c. National Portrait Gallery, London --Wellington: Triumphs, Politics and Passions, 12 March - 7 June 2015, Porter Gallery


d. Bonaparte and The British,  The British Museum   February 5, 2015

This exhibition will focus on the printed propaganda that either reviled or glorified Napoleon Bonaparte, on both sides of the English Channel. It explores how his formidable career coincided with the peak of political satire as an art form. Exhibition is free and is open until 16 August 2015 Room 90

130 prints and about 30 other objects in 10 sections:

The Young General – Italy and the invasion threat

Egypt – the Battle of the Nile; the birth of Egyptology

The Coup of Brumaire; Marengo; Peace of Paris

“Little Boney” and Invasion Threat

Emperor; Josephine; Marie-Louise

Trafalgar and Austerlitz – Triumph and Disaster

Spain and Russia

Leipzig and the Collapse of Empire

The Peace of Paris, Elba and Waterloo

After Waterloo


e. Duchess of Richmond’s Ball and Napoleonic Assn. AGM

(Reenactors, Researchers and Wargamers) Jan. 31, 2015,

Bury St. Edmunds, UK



f. The Wellington Museum in Waterloo, Belgium


g.  Events in Belgium:  Note that the maximum of 7,000 reenactors was reached by Nov. 20, 2014


h. Rescuing Hougoumont; read about the famous chateau.


i. This story tells about American Mark Schneider who has portrayed Napoleon a number of times in reenactments of battles and for the 2012 Imperial Jubilee held at Malmaison.



CONCLUSION:

I have enjoyed putting together all this information – and apologize for the typos here and there. One can never learn too much about Waterloo and its times … and I don’t think I mentioned Jane Austen even once!

While I am re-shelving my books, I might find a nugget of worthwhile info, so watch your e-mail in case I find more to say in the next week.  I welcome more comments, more paragraphs on your sources, and all the fun things you can add to this inexhaustible subject.

Have a GREAT  December and 2015…Waterloo at 200!

Cheers, Vicky