A Waterloo Hero

A Waterloo Hero
Author: Friedrich Lindau
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2009-09-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1783461632
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“A rare example of a memoir of a private soldier from the Napoleonic Wars . . . valuable insight into the daily life and preoccupations of Wellington’s men” (HistoryOfWar.org). By all accounts, Friedrich Lindau was a remarkable soldier of the King’s German Legion. He served with distinction under Wellington from Lisbon to as far as Bayonne, and was involved in all major engagements, including Albuera, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vitoria, and San Sebastian. Most notably, he fought and was captured at La Haye Sainte but was the only ranking soldier mentioned by name in Major Baring’s account of the battle. For his actions he was awarded the Guelphic Medal for Bravery. That said, he had a reputation as a notorious forager and looter and was said to have killed a civilian while on leave in 1814. More than 150 years after it was first written, A Waterloo Hero is the first ever translation of his diary. Lindau’s account is unique: no other private soldiers took part in so many engagements and recorded their experiences. This edition includes a foreword by Lindau’s pastor, an introduction by James Bogle, and has been edited by Andrew Uffindel, author of The Eagle’s Last Triumph. “The memoirs ring with authenticity. Lindau does not write about strategy or tactics, but of things that concern the lowest ranks—staying alive and where his next meal would come from. . . . One of my favorite memoirs and I can not recommend it enough.” —The Napoleon Series “They make for vivid reading and are full of fascinating detail. A military memoir that fully deserves to become a classic.” —Military Illustrated Magazine

Napoleon and Grouchy

Napoleon and Grouchy
Author: Paul L. Dawson
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 446
Release: 2017-06-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1526700697
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One of the enduring controversies of the Waterloo campaign is the conduct of Marshal Grouchy. Given command of a third of Napoleons army and told to keep the Prussians from joining forces with Wellington, he failed to keep Wellington and Blcher apart with the result that Napoleon was overwhelmed at Waterloo. Grouchy, though, was not defeated. He kept his force together and retreated in good order back to France.Many have accused Grouchy of intentionally holding back his men and not marching to join Napoleon when the sound of the gunfire at Waterloo could clearly be heard, and he has been widely blamed for Napoleons defeat.Now, for the first time, Grouchys conduct during the Waterloo campaign is analyzed in fine detail, drawing principally on French sources not previously available in English. The author, for example, answers questions such as whether key orders did actually exist in 1815 or were they later fabrications to make Grouchy the scapegoat for Napoleons failures? Did General Grard really tell Grouchy to march to the sound of the guns? Why did Grouchy appear to move so slowly when speed was essential?This is a subject which is generally overlooked by British historians, who tend to concentrate on the actions of Wellington and Napoleon, and which French historians choose not to look at too closely for fear that it might reflect badly upon their hero Napoleon.Despite the mass of books written on Waterloo, this is a genuinely unique contribution to this most famous campaign. This book is certain to fuel debate and prompt historians to reconsider the events of June 1815.

Wellington's Hidden Heroes

Wellington's Hidden Heroes
Author: Veronica Baker-Smith
Publisher: Casemate
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2015-10-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1612003338
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“An excellent account of the contribution of the newly formed (and short-lived) United Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Allied victory” (HistoryOfWar.org). The Dutch-Belgians have been variously described as inexperienced, incompetent, and cowardly, a rogue element in the otherwise disciplined Allied Army. It is only now being tentatively acknowledged that they alone saved Wellington from disaster at Quatre Bras. He had committed a strategic error in that, as Napoleon advanced, his own troops were scattered over a hundred kilometers of southern Belgium. Outnumbered three to one, the Netherlanders gave him time to concentrate his forces and save Brussels from French occupation. At Waterloo itself, on at least three occasions when the fate of the battle “hung upon the cusp,” their engagement with the enemy aided British recovery. Their commander—the Prince of Orange—has been viciously described as an arrogant fool, “a disaster waiting to happen,” and even a dangerous lunatic. According to the assessment of Wellington himself, he was a reliable and courageous subordinate. This book reveals a new dimension of the famous campaign and includes many unseen illustrations. For the first time, a full assessment is made of the challenge which Willem I faced as king of a country hastily cobbled together by the Congress of Vienna, and of his achievement in assembling, equipping, and training 30,000 men from scratch in eighteen months. “An extraordinary and impressively researched, written, organized and presented history that sheds considerable new light on one of the most influential battles of 19th century Europe.” —Midwest Book Review “A fascinating read.” —Military Heritage

'The Scum of the Earth'

'The Scum of the Earth'
Author: Colin Brown
Publisher: The History Press
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2015-05-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 075096426X
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The Scum of the Earth explores the common soldiers the Duke of Wellington angrily condemned as 'scum' for their looting at Vitoria, from their great victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 to their return home to a Regency Britain at war with itself. It follows men like James Graham, the Irishman hailed as the bravest man in the British Army for his heroic action in closing the north gate at Hougoumont, and fresh documentary evidence that he was forced to plead for charity because he was so poor; Francis Styles, who went to his grave claiming that he had captured the eagle that was credited to his superior officer; and John Lees, a spinner from Oldham who joined up at 15, braved shell and shot to deliver ammunition to the guns at Waterloo and was cut down four years later at the Peterloo Massacre by some of the cavalry with whom he served. All this is set against a backdrop of civil unrest on a scale unprecedented in British history. The Regency age is famous for its elegance, its exuberance, the industrial revolution that made Britain the powerhouse of Europe and the naval might that made it a global superpower. But it was also an age of riots and the fear that the mob would win control just as it had done in Paris. Britain came closer to bloody revolution than ever before or since, as ordinary men – including some of the men whom Wellington called the scum of the earth – took to the streets to fight for their voices to be heard in Parliament. The riots were put down by a series of repressive measures while Wellington stood like a bastion against the tide of history. He was defeated with the passage of the Great Reform Act in 1832. There is no one better placed to take a cold, hard look at the battle and its aftermath in order to save us from a bicentenary of misty-eyed backslapping than a former political editor with a reputation for myth busting. Colin Brown provides original research into the heroes of Waterloo and the myths that have clouded the real story.

The Hero of Waterloo

The Hero of Waterloo
Author: M. S. Cockayne
Publisher:
Total Pages: 46
Release:
Genre:
ISBN:
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The Longest Afternoon

The Longest Afternoon
Author: Brendan Simms
Publisher:
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2015-02-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 0465064825
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In 1815, the deposed emperor Napoleon returned to France and threatened the already devastated and exhausted continent with yet another war. Near the small Belgian municipality of Waterloo, two large, hastily mobilized armies faced each other to decide the future of Europe—Napoleon's forces on one side, and the Duke of Wellington on the other. With so much at stake, neither commander could have predicted that the battle would be decided by the Second Light Battalion, King's German Legion, which was given the deceptively simple task of defending the Haye Sainte farmhouse, a crucial crossroads on the way to Brussels. In The Longest Afternoon, Brendan Simms recounts how these 400-odd riflemen beat back wave after wave of French infantry until finally forced to withdraw, but only after holding up Napoleon for so long that he lost the overall contest. Their actions alone decided the most influential battle in European history. Drawing on previously untapped eye-witness reports for accurate and vivid details of the course of the battle, Simms captures the grand choreography and pervasive chaos of Waterloo: the advances and retreats, the death and the maiming, the heroism and the cowardice. He describes the gallant fighting spirit of the French infantrymen, who clambered over the bodies of their fallen comrades as they assaulted the heavily fortified farmhouse—and whose bravery was only surpassed by that of their opponents in the Second Light Battalion. Motivated by opposition to Napoleonic tyranny, dynastic loyalty to the King of England, German patriotism, regimental camaraderie, personal bonds of friendship, and professional ethos, the battalion suffered terrible casualties and fought tirelessly for many long hours, but refused to capitulate or retreat until the evening, by which time the Prussians had arrived on the battlefield in large numbers. In reorienting Waterloo around the Haye Sainte farmhouse, Simms gives us a riveting new account of the famous battle—an account that reveals, among other things, that Napoleon came much closer than is commonly thought to winning it. A heroic tale of 400 soldiers who changed the course of history, The Longest Afternoon will become an instant classic of military history.

The Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence

The Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence
Author: William Lawrence
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2021-04-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:
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This autobiography presents the memoirs of a soldier of Wellington's army called Sergeant William Lawrence. He served during Wellington's Peninsular campaigns, ultimately leading to the Waterloo battle. William Lawrence talks about his early life and the hardships that resulted in his joining. Lawrence does not focus only on the action he partook in but on the logistics. The book runs smoothly from one scenario to another and makes for a quick and delightful read.

The Limits of Glory

The Limits of Glory
Author: James R. McDonough
Publisher: Presidio Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 1991
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780891413844
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On a Sunday afternoon in June 1815, Napoleon and Wellington maneuvered their armies for a final confrontation on the ridgelines near Waterloo. McDonough recaptures this great battle with a devotion to historical accuracy, an understanding of the strategic and tactical thinking of the antagonists, and a sensitivity to human emotions. Maps.