Waterloo

You may imagine the excitement I felt when John told me that there was the opportunity on June 20th to see a reenactment of the Battle of Waterloo--at Waterloo in Belgium! He told me this last week, but I didn't mention this on my blog, or e-mail about it to any of my friends (other than the local ones who were going along), just in case mentioning it might jinx it. Yes, that's how anxious and excited I was to attend this once-every-five-years event.

It meant that we had to get up at an ungodly hour of the morning (for me, anyway), get ready, and be at the place where the tour bus would pick us up. The bus would leave at 6:30 am, so we had to be there before that time. But heck, this was research! I would of course get up at 5 am to attend such a marvelous event, no complaints. I already had our lunch packed the night before, and was ready to go, and then the doorbell rang when our ride to the bus (Doug and Anna) arrived.



A spat of rain hit my nose as I emerged from the Hanson's car and walked to the bus; the clouds looked heavy and grey, and I wondered if the weather would do its best to simulate the conditions of the battle that day: very rainy and very wet.

I hardly remember much about the bus ride over, other than that the bus had rather narrow seats, even for thinner people like John. Oh, and Jean, an Englishwoman who works in John's area, also went, and she had a copy of Georgette Heyer's The Spanish Bride to read on the way over (she had already read Infamous Army, of course). The bus would let us off at a shopping center, and we would have to walk 15 minutes to the battlefield, which I guess is about a mile away. I didn't even think "ugh," because after all, this was for research and therefore worth it. Besides, I've been walking so much since we came to Germany that it wasn't a big deal. I was too excited by the prospect of seeing the re-enactment. I've written more than a few Regency-set novels in the past years, but I never, never thought I'd see a re-enactment set in one of my most favorite of all historical periods.

We walked up the Route du Lion to the battlefield and saw re-enactors in full dress also walking along the way. I took out my camera to take a picture of a young woman in a very elegant cherry-red pelisse (British, I imagine, as the coat was quite military in cut and decoration), only to find that my camera refused to work! No, it was not the batteries, as I had just put in new ones. Just in case, I frantically replaced those batteries with other new ones, but still, it did not work.

I nearly wept. My one and only chance in my life to see a reenactment of the Battle of Waterloo in person (we will not be here in the next five years for the anniversary), and my camera failed! Anna, however, came to my rescue: bless her heart, she saw my distress and offered me her extra Sony camera (she had another one with her). It was with deep gratitude that I took it. The chance to take a picture of the young Regency-era lady had passed, but at least I had a camera with which to take pictures of the rest of the reenactment. Thank God!

As we neared the battlefield, a huge pyramid-like mound arose in the distance, atop which was a statue of a lion. This was the Butte du Lion, which is dedicated to the Battle of Waterloo, commissioned by the King of the Netherlands and erected on the spot where it is believed his son, the Prince of Orange, was wounded. The mound is made up of earth taken from the surrounding countryside. It's reported that when Wellington saw it, he said, "they've spoiled my battlefield."

As you can see from the picture, people were climbing up to the top to get a large view of the battlefield.  But I didn't want to go up there, as I wanted close-up shots.  Instead, John, Anna, Doug, and I turned our backs to the mound and faced the battlefield, looking for a good spot.

I managed to situate myself in a place where I thought I might see some action, but then another disaster struck: I now had to choose between losing my place (standing room only), and having to, er, use the ladies' room. Seriously, I did go before we left home, but it was a LONG drive.

I chose to take advantage of the facilities, because I figured it was better I do so now, rather than when the battle was at its peak. As it turned out, it was for the most part a fortunate choice, because I was able to see the armies enter the field, and took more than a few pictures of the costumes and artillery.  The soldiers wearing dark green in the picture on the right are, if I recall correctly, the 95th Rifle Regiment of Foot (British).  

When I saw them, I very much regretted that I had not packed my Osprey Men at Arms books of Wellington's Army and had them shipped to Germany, but I hadn't thought I'd need them, as I'm not writing something set during that period at the moment. Though I understand the Osprey collection of Napoleon's army has some errors, the collection of Wellington's that I have is supposed to be very good. I think I can identify some of them from memory, but others...well, if anyone wants to e-mail or comment with accurate info, I'd be grateful.  The French troops for the most part wore dark blue uniforms, with white and red accents, and some gold for the officers.

I returned to the place I had been, and much to my dismay (but not entirely unexpected), there were more than a few rows of people between me and the edge of the battlefield. Tall people. As I'm rather short, you can imagine my consternation. I moved as close as I could, but could see nothing. Perhaps if I held up the camera in the air--luckily, it had one of those turnable viewscreens--I could see something.

I did so, and got a few pictures--crooked, but luckily there is iPhoto and Photoshop to fix that.  As you can see, there is short little me (in the purple jacket and taupe hat) trying to look over someone's shoulder (photo taken by Anna, I believe).  Still, I couldn't help feeling horribly disappointed. This was the only time I'd be here! It was so important to me to see something! Once again, I felt near tears.

But I was not born an Eriksen for nothing. I was going to see the battle, by God, one way or another! I kept lifting up the camera and taking pictures, but also watched out for every little inch I could move forward, and little by little, I reached close enough to the edge of the field so that I could at least get some decent shots. Yes!!!

Here is the field of battle (click any photo to enlarge, by the way).  The sky is appropriately gray and threatening a downpour.  The farmland here has been planted with, I believe, wheat.  According to our map, we were situated near the area where the British and Allied forces would make their stand.  The direction of the photo is toward the French side.

On the other side, closer to us, the British were getting ready.  As you can see, the wheat is thigh-high to these soldiers.  It is not, however, something the horses seem to mind.

It took a while for the forces to amass, and the initial action was slow.  A few men (and women) here and there walked carefully through the wheat, and a few rifles/muskets were shot, but they seemed not very enthusiastic.  I looked behind me for John, and found that he also was taking pictures, bless him!  Some of the photos here as a result were taken by John, and I have to say they are good ones. I'll identify them as I go along, as I don't like to post photos without attribution.

I should mention that women also acted as soldiers in the re-enactment, although of course this was not allowed back in 1815.  During that war, the women who were there were either wives or daughters of the soldiers, or camp followers.  Regardless, many of them did help with medical care, cooking, and making sure the supplies were distributed and brought to the battlefield.  I also saw some teenaged and pre-teen soldiers as well, and that was true to life.  Boys as young as 12 carrying arms and fighting in the war was not uncommon.

Finally we heard the call to fire, and guns were shot in earnest.  I jumped as cannon shot not far away, loud enough to feel through the ground.  Soon, the air below the darkening clouds was as thick with grey as that above.

An odd feeling overcame me then, a sense that I had seen this before, combined with a feeling of disorientation.  I kept looking toward the French side, looking for some kind of ridge or land formation similar to a ridge.  I have no idea why I should feel as if I had already seen this, because I've never seen a battle re-enactment before, and to tell you the truth, just writing about this gives me an odd feeling in my stomach.

I pulled my attention back to the action and to the gunfire nearby.  Remembering that it took about a second or so after the trigger was pulled for a flintlock to fire, I managed to figure out when to snap the picture so that it could capture the actual firing.  It's clear from this particular photo that accurate aiming was not a priority in this re-enactment.

Here are some pictures of the reloading process.  (Sorry to those who aren't that interested in antique firearms, but who knows when it might come in handy.)

 And then more action--charges and swordfights and dashing about on horses.  :-D

 John took the photo above and below.  I want to put in a good word for the Prussians during this battle.  Prussians did a great deal to support--and many say save--Wellington during the Battle of Waterloo.  When I look at the battle map and the way the armies moved to close off France's Marshal Ney, I can't help thinking that Blucher did indeed save Wellington's ass.  At the very least, they were instrumental in making the battle a lot shorter than it could have been.  As it was, the Prussians fought with a white-hot heat, mostly I believe from their hatred of the French.  I don't say that just because I live in Germany at the moment.

 This next picture I took came out crooked, but for some reason, I rather like it that way.  Maybe it was related to my sense of disorientation.

Below is a good photo of two riflemen from (I believe) Britain's 95th Rifle Regiment of Foot.  I'm sorry, but I did not see Richard Sharpe amongst them.  :-D 

What you are seeing (I hope) are the Baker Rifles, which were highly accurate for its time.  While the usual Brown Bess musket (carried by the line regiments and light infantry) could only hit something about 80 yards away, these rifles could kill a man at as far away as 300 yards.

They look about the size and weight of the Civil War replica rifle I have at home, but as I've never held one of these Baker Rifles, I don't know for sure.  The disadvantage to the Baker Rifles over the Brown Bess was that the Bakers took longer to load.

Throughout the battle, I heard the skirling of bagpipes; I couldn't see them at first, but at last--the Highlanders!


If I seem to be focusing on the British more than the French, you are right.  The Regency-set novels I've written have been set in England, and so I'm a bit more interested in that side of the conflict.  However, for the Napoleon fans, below are some pics of the French side.

Since these soldiers were so close, I decided to take a closer picture of their accessories.  Note the gourd in both the picture above and below.  It holds gunpowder.  Some of the soldiers grinned and showed their hands, which were quite black with it.

Below is Napoleon's 113rd Infantry Regiment of the Line.  It looks like the soldier in the blue cloak following them is doing some reconnaissance with a camera.  Yes, that would be an anachronism and way out of character.  No doubt, however, it was a choice shot.

Much of war is a matter of waiting and feeling bored.  These particular French soldiers had time to chew the...wheat, as well as throw wheat spears at each other.

And then there are the casualties.  These soldiers are supposed to be dead, but they had to be dead for quite a long time before the battle ended, so they had a habit of reviving every once in a while to look at the action around them.

 After the battle, I made my way to the gift shop.  I'm afraid that despite the fact that Wellington and his allies (Blucher and the Prince of Orange) won the battle, the majority of the shop was dedicated to Napoleon!  I was somewhat disappointed, especially when I saw that there were no Osprey Men at Arms books regarding Wellington's Army, but there were of Napoleon's.  You would think that the victor would have gift items prominent in the shop, but it seems not.  On the other hand, Waterloo is in a French portion of Belgium, so perhaps that is the reason for the dominance of Napoleon, even though he LOST.  Hmph.  However, there is a museum dedicated to Wellington in the area, so I suppose that balances things out a bit.  We didn't get a chance to go to this museum, as we had to get back to the tour bus by 3 pm, and I for one was by this time exhausted.

All in all, I had a very satisfying time, even though I think I got a stomach bug from eating the rather greasy gyros I bought at one of the food tents.

Anyway, I have posted additional photos of the re-enactment here:

Waterloo, June 20, 2010

and here:

Waterloo - John's photos

For more information on the actual battle, the Regency Collection website has a good run-down.