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 Leeds. It
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment