Wellington Museum, Waterloo - Belgium 2015

Waterloo 1815 - French guns being taken back to Brussels after the battle, with Wellington's HQ on the left opposite St Joseph's church.

Today we arrived in Waterloo to begin our two day visit to one of the most famous battle sites. Somewhat fittingly, our hotel is situated just down the road from Wellington's HQ and eve of battle accommodation. The first thing that strikes the visitor about Waterloo is it is a busy town with lots of traffic motoring through on the road to Brussels.

The other thing that comes to mind when first visiting Wellington's HQ is the similarity this building has to any other coaching house that can be found in most county towns in England today and I am sure the Duke must have felt very at home in this inn prior to and after the battle.

The Royal Chapel and St Joseph Church of Waterloo as it looks in 2015

We had arrived at about 2.30 pm, and after getting our room at our hotel sorted and grabbing a spot of late lunch we began by visiting the Wellington museum. We also paid a quick visit to the St Joseph's church which is home to some very moving stone tributes to the men of the allied army involved in the battle. Unfortunately, it being a very hot day, we weren't appropriately dressed for visiting a church, so we decided to try and revisit later in the next two days.

These smallish Napoleonic museums all have similar items in their collections ranging from uniform examples on manikins to show them off to the different weaponry and battlefield finds. The Wellington museum is no different and so I thought I would select items that caught my attention the most.

The old coaching house and inn at Waterloo, now houses the Wellington museum. Gun carriages replaced by cars

The most important aspect for me was the building itself, still fitted out and decorated much as it must have been in 1815; you can really get a feel for the place and imagine the hustle and bustle of staff officers coming and going, during those tumultuous days two hundred years ago.

http://www.museewellington.com/

The museum has some wonderful personal items on display, such as these pipes belonging to General Ziethen commander of the I Prussian Corps. As a wargamer I like to see items like these as occasionally you end up painting a figure carrying the trusty pipe. I, for instance, have the AB model of General Lasalle carrying one of these items and these pictures will come in handy when I end up painting him.

Prussian General Zieten's pipe collection

The rooms in the museum are themed around the various armies involved in the campaign and in the French room was this excellent sepia drawing of a French cuirassier corps drawn up in line of battle. The picture is in three parts as seen and really captures the awesome appearance of such a force.

French Cuirassier Corps drawn up in line of battle

As you can see from the close up of the command group the detail achieved was really spectacular.

The close up of the HQ staff, with Imperial ADC heading off having delivered his orders

The classic French bell topped shako is as evocative of Waterloo as much as the British Belgic shako and this one on display had that battered crinkled leather look of an original, with the brass scales looped up to where the company pompom would normally have been atop the French cockade. The sturdiness of the French shako would seem to offer a modicum of protection from the downward cut of an allied cavalry sabre, certainly more so than the British version.

An original French shako of the period

The ironwork collected from the battlefield really brought home Wellington's reference to the "hard pounding" nature of the battle. My son Will is off to medical school in September and was taking a keen interest in the information presented on the medical care and the wounds encountered from these low velocity missiles.

Battlefield debris collected over the years

One display cabinet had a very nice arrangement of the various pistols used by British, French and Prussian cavalry. In the battles of this campaign cavalry were often forced to draw these weapons as their only option of causing harm to the many infantry squares that featured in most of the actions.

By this period the pistol was now a very functional mass produced piece of kit without the fancy metal scroll work seen on pieces from earlier periods.

French light cavalry pistol

British "Tower" cavalry pistol

Prussian cavalry pistol

The tour of the museum concludes with a visit to the rear courtyard where the scene is created of the officers mounting their chargers prior to making their way down to Mont St Jean and the coming battle. Today the rear garden area is host to some grave sites of British officers killed in the battle, the memorial to Lord Uxbridge's leg that was buried here after the battle but later disinterred and returned to the UK on the General's death.

This area also appears to be where old memorial stones replaced for this bicentenary have been relocated as the Scots Guards stone seems to be the one that was at the North gate of Hougomont and that I pictured in 1976 as shown in my Waterloo bicentenary post.

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/waterloo-200-bicentenary-of-battle-of.html

The rear courtyard of the museum

The last time I saw this was at Hougomont in 1976

"Sacred to the Memory of the major Arthur Rowley Heyland of his Britannick Majesty's Fortieth Regiment of Foot who was buried on this spot. He fell gloriously in the Battle of Waterloo on the 18th June 1815, at the moment of victory and in command of the Regiment aged 34 years".

"Here liest the leg of his Majesty's illustrious, brave and valiant Lieutenant General, the Earl of Uxbridge commander in chief of the English, Belgian and Dutch cavalry wounded on the 18th of June at the memorable battle of Waterloo who by his heroism contributed to the triumph of mankind's cause so gloriously decided by the victory of that day".

"To the memory of Colonel Sir H. W. Ellis 23rd Regiment, Royal Welch Fusiliers. Killed in action at Waterloo 18 June 1815

As far as I recall the French artillery at Waterloo was only composed of 12lbr and 6lbr guns, with the trusty workhorse of previous French campaigns, the 8lbr absent. This reduced hitting power coincided with the up-gunning of the British and KGL batteries to the preferred piece, the trusty 9lbr. 

Thus it was very nice to see this smaller French cannon on display at the museum that I took to be a French 6lbr which formed the mainstay of French artillery on the day of Waterloo.

The Wellington museum is a great place to start your visit to Waterloo from and I thought the building and collection of various artifacts well laid out and of interest to the knowledgeable visitor as well as those less so.

Thus ended our first Waterloo visit, with our tour to Quatre Bras, Ligny and Wavre ending in Plancenoit, arranged for tomorrow. Whilst writing this post the weather is still very hot, but even now I can hear the noise of summer rain, and a bit of thunder. How about that for a little reminder of the weather two hundred years ago.

Damme - Belgium 2015

Damme as mapped in 1558

This summer JJ's Wargames has temporarily relocated to Belgium for a few days to do a bi-centennial visit to Waterloo, later this week.

We set out from Devon on Tuesday and got caught up in the French dock workers strike in Calais which closed the port to shipping. With hopes of avoiding delays by our using the Channel tunnel train, our frustration developed as we discovered that dock workers were setting light to tyres on the French end of the railway and that migrants trying to get into the UK illegally were clambering all over lorries queueing on the French side, just adding to the chaos!!

Forced to wait for four hours whist the French authorities got control of the situation our delayed departure was slightly relieved by a glorious sound and sight for any Englishman, a Spitfire cruising over the car departure area with that deep throbbing sound that only a Rolls Royce Merlin can produce, and I got a blurry shot of it as it sped overhead.

Trust me, that is a Spitfire

We finally boarded our train late on Tuesday afternoon and drove up to our first stop over in Belgium staying in a lovely little town house in historic Bruges.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruges

Spared the worst excesses of two world wars the city of Bruges still has the charms of its original streets and buildings arranged around its network of canals linking it to the sea. If you haven't been then I would highly recommend it.

Damme 1649 with its Spanish designed defensive walls and moat in place

Today we hired bikes and decided to cycle into Holland following the canal towards the Dutch town of Sluis, a round trip of just over 35km. On the way we passed through the lovely little town of Damme, which has its Vaubanesque defences on show, a fact we only realised when we stopped to picnic besides the cycle path, only to find we were right next to one of the massive ramparts of the inner defence.

The building of this substantial work, harks back to the days of the Spanish Netherlands, a place mentioned in my history lessons in school as where the Spanish Armada hoped to stop off at to pick up troops for the eventual invasion of Elizabethan England, only to have their ships set upon by Drake and Effingham, sending in fire ships that caused their eventual dispersion and destruction.

The scale of these defences are very impressive for a small place like Damme and the whole effort was principally a defence against the town we were heading to, namely Sluis.

The information board set up on one of the gun bastions

The view from the gun platform, with the tree line marking the forward glacis

This aerial picture was on one of the sign boards, and shows the outline of the defence really well, with the canal redirected through the centre of the works

This part of Belgium and Holland has been fought over for centuries and these defence works are a reminder of that fact, together with a rather more poignant reminder of the more recent First World War that we spotted whist cycling through the most beautiful countryside.

Poppies growing in Flanders fields

Just past the field of poppies we passed an amazingly restored windmill and the house next door had a rather impressive addition to its chimney pot.

A beautiful stork, perched on a chimney pot, another highlight in Damme, Belgium

So as I write this post I am looking forward to a well earned night's sleep after a long day on the bike.
Tomorrow we are packing up and heading off to our hotel in Waterloo, so lots more stuff to come.

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Damme

http://www.damme-online.com/gb/monuments/military/townwalls.htm

3/24e Regiment de Ligne

With the posts on the 1st and 2nd battalions I looked at the history, uniform distinctions and service in the Peninsular War up to Talavera. So with the third battalion I thought it would be interesting to look at the regiment's involvement in the Battle of Talavera itself.

1/24e Regiment de Ligne
2/24e Regiment de Lgne

The 24e Ligne were brigaded with the 9e Legere, with the 96e Ligne forming the second brigade in General Ruffin's division;

French at Talavera, 28 July 1809 - Source, Oman
1st Corps: Maréchal Victor
1st Division: Général de division Ruffin (5,286)
Brigade: Général de brigade (Colonel Meunier)
9th Légère Regiment (3)
24th Ligne Regiment (3)
Brigade: Général de brigade Barrois
96th Ligne Regiment (3)

The first action involving the 24e Ligne occurred on the night of the 27th of July when along with the other six battalions of the 9e Legere and 96e Ligne, General Loison's division launched a surprise night attack on the Cerro de Medellin.

The set up for our "Night Attack" scenario showing the French arranged in columns with two battalions up and one back.
The 24e Ligne are positioned on the right

Marshal Victor having realised the importance of the feature and understanding that it was key to the British position resolved to seize it by night attack which was criticised by Oman who wrote
"To attack in the dark across rugged and difficult ground was to court disaster"

The 24e Ligne were supposed to assault the Medellin from the valley that ran to the north of the hill, and it is clear that no attack developed from this direction, but the reasons why are less so. The common explanation was that the regiment became disorientated and gave up the attempt.

The next morning the whole division was detailed to make the same attack that had so disappointingly failed the night before, except now they would attempt it in daylight on a British defence very much more alert to the attack following a thirty minute bombardment from the French guns positioned on the Cerro de Cascajal opposite.

This would be the regiment's first encounter with British troops in what would become the familiar line versus column encounter. This after braving the preliminary attentions of the Royal Artillery and King's German Legion 6lbr guns together with a bristling line of British skirmishers including riflemen from the 5/60th.

The plan was relatively simple if a little contemptuous by Marshal Victor. He would use the tactics that had overturned every other European foe so far encountered and that had guaranteed success from Austerlitz to Friedland. General Ruffin's division would advance in column behind a screen of skirmishers up the British forward-left slopes. General Lapisse's division together with Latour-Maubourg's cavalry would be used to pin the defenders further along the line of the Portina. Once the summit had been taken General Villatte's division, held in reserve, would be available to advance in support completely unhinging the allied line of defence. General Beaumont's light cavalry was in local reserve to take advantage of any disruption caused by the attack.

Ruffin deployed his men with the 24e Ligne on his left, facing Tilson's brigade and the battered 9e Legere, following the attack the previous night, on the right facing Stewart's brigade with the 96e Ligne in reserve, thus pitting 4,900 French troops against 3,700 British.

The French deployments are not entirely clear with Oman stating that Ruffin's attack was made in three large regimental columns, whilst Fortescue, the Earl of Munster and the Buff's regimental history has them in battalions of double company columns, which would seem more likely.

My interpretation of Victor's deployment based on Field (Lapisse's deployment order is speculative)

The British position on the Cerro de Medellin was not ideal to facilitate Wellesley's normal tactic of using the reverse slope to protect his troops as the main ridge line ran north-east to south-west thus reducing the amount of cover available, slightly lessened by having the troops lie down under the French pre-bombardment. No doubt the experience of Talavera helped confirm him in this aspect of his tactics for which he became so famous.

Following the French barrage of 30-45 minutes depending on which source you follow, the French columns of Ruffin's regiments descended into the valley, taking advantage of the low hanging smoke from the gun fire to help cover their advance; with only the sound of the pas de charge beating out to announce their approach.

As the British skirmish line fell back through the smoke it is clear that they had done their job in keeping the French skirmishers away from the British line. General Hill became impatient for them to fall back behind his brigades and angrily ordered the bugles to sound the recall on the light bobs.

When the heads of the French columns closed to within 100 yards of the ridge line, Hill ordered the troops to stand up and advance to it thus having his men looking down on the French columns. The six British battalions issued a devastating volley that dropped the front ranks in heaps of dead and wounded bringing the attack to a halt.

Surprisingly General Lapisse had not advanced his division as ordered and General Sherbrooke, noticing his troops were not in any threat ordered Low's 5th & 7th KGL to pivot back towards the 3rd Buffs and pour in a withering flank fire upon the 96e Ligne coming up as the reserve regiment.

At this moment of distress and confusion in the French ranks, Wellesley ordered Stuart's brigade to charge in on the 24e Ligne, followed by Tilson's brigade on the 9e Legere, putting all the French battalions into a precipitous rout to their own lines.

Colonel Jamin of the 24e Ligne recounts shouting
"Au revoir Messieurs les Anglais", receiving a mocking reply from a British officer of "Au revoir Monsieur le Colonel; au revoir messieurs!"

Oman calculates the French losses in this attack as 1,300 men lost in 40 minutes of action, with Hill's six battalions losing about 750 men in reply.

Lord Munster is quoted
"The dead of the enemy lay in vast numbers on the face of the hill, and had been tall, healthy, fine young men, well limbed, with good countenances; and as proof of their courage, the bodies lay close to our lines."

Following an interlude of several hours during which the French commanders assessed their options, in light of news regarding Venegas and his Spanish troops threatening Madrid and Soult's late arrival on the allied lines of communication, it was agreed to commit to a final major attack against the centre of the allied line with a turning attack made against the British left in the northern valley and pinning attack on the British right around the Pajar de Vergara. During this time various French and Allied troops were moved in preparation to assault and defend respectively.

Map illustrating the positions of the opposing formations on the afternoon of the 28th July 1809

General Ruffin's division and the 24e Ligne were part of the former French group and advanced down the valley in company with the 96e Ligne and the six other battalions of the 27e Legere and 63e Ligne in General de Brigade Cassagne's brigade part of General Villatte's division. The 9e Legere deployed in a screen opposite Bassecourt's 5,000 Spanish infantry in the foothills of the Sierra de Segurilla level with the attacking columns on the Medellin and Portina. The other six battalions of the 24e and 96e Ligne continued their advance down the valley in echelon behind. Supporting the whole force was a combined grenadier battalion using men from all the battalions involved.

The sixteen battalions of French infantry, about 8,000 men, were supported by the fourteen squadrons of General Merlin's cavalry, including the Vistula Legion Lancers, together with artillery support from the slopes of Cerro de Cascajal.

The French advance into the north valley with 8,000 infantry

By the time the lead battalions of the French force drew level with the Valdefuentes Farm buildings, the main attack in the centre was over and Wellesley was able to turn his attention to the northern flank. In preparation for the observed movements to his northern flank, Wellesley had moved half of Retteberg's battery, three heavy 6lbr guns to cover the valley supported by two 12lbr Spanish guns sent by Cuesta. These guns would be a potent threat to any French attack. In addition he had the support of Bassecourt's seven, mostly regular, Spanish infantry battalions positioned in the cover of the Sierra de Segurilla, plus the Duke of Albuquerque's Spanish cavalry division backing up Fane and Anson's British cavalry brigades. These troops dispositions would at least present problems for any French troops attempting to turn the Medellin position.

The 24e Regiment de Ligne, en mass - Vive l'Empereur

There is some doubt as to exactly what Wellesley ordered. Most British accounts state that he ordered Anson's light cavalry brigade to charge the French infantry, directing Fane's heavy cavalry to support. This seems strange given that the latter brigade would have been better suited for such an attack rather than their lighter colleagues, especially against a formidable number of enemy infantry, having a clear view of the cavalry approach. The one contrary account of the order is from Lord Munster who claimed that it was discretionary for Anson to charge "if the opportunity offered".

Either way, Anson's brigade began their advance gradually building to the charge with the French infantry able to form their squares in good time, although some accounts say the 27e Legere were surprised and threw their backs against the walls of the farm buildings to avoid destruction. The 1st KGL Hussars aimed for the smaller squares of the 24e and 96e Ligne, whilst the 23rd Light Dragoons headed for the 27e Legere. Braving the fire from French skirmishers to their left on the Sierra de Segurilla and artillery fire from the Cerro de Cascajal, the 23rd Light Dragoons came to grief in an unspotted ravine reported to have been fifteen feet wide and ten feet deep. Those troopers that survived the ravine careered in between the squares of the Legere only to be met by Merlin's cavalry, eventually being repulsed with the loss of 180 men and 222 horses. The 1st KGL Hussars also went into the ravine although it was reported shallower in their area. They attacked the 24e Ligne but, realising the poor situation, did not press it and retired in relatively good order with casualties of 37 troopers for the day's battle.

The above account is not without dispute, with regard to the presence and the size of this ravine, with several eyewitnesses to the charge not seeing it at all and it is a subject probably worthy of its own post.

In the meantime the allied artillery continued to poor on a withering fire into the French squares and with news of the repulse of the main attack in the centre, the French withdrew back to their start lines.

The 24e Ligne had been involved in some of the heaviest fighting from the night of the 27th July and throughout the day on the 28th and the surviving soldiers must have been exhausted as they headed back down the road to Madrid. Over those two days of battle the regiment suffered 567 casualties of whom 93 were killed and accounting for 11% of the casualties for the division. The average strength for the battalions in Ruffin's division was 587 men so these are horrendous casualties for this period of time with the division losing 1632 men or 31% across all its three regiments.

My third battalion is composed of figures from the AB range with the 3rd battalion fanion supplied by GMB flags. To add variety among the battalions in the regiment each has a sprikling of personality figures. So the first has a cheering fusilier, the second a cheering grenadier and an AB sergeant on the command base, the third a pioneer on the command stand.

Sources used in the writing of this post:
Talavera 1809, Wellington's Lightning Strike into Spain - Osprey (Chartrand & Turner)
Talavera, Wellington's First Victory in Spain - Andrew W. Field
History of the Peninsular War - Sir Charles Oman

Next up Waterloo 2015 battlefield tour and the 1/96e Ligne, then Marshal Victor's "Dawn Attack" -Talavera.

Wargames Soldiers & Strategy Magazine - Free Bundle

http://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/shop/waterloo-bundle.html

Jonathan Freitag, flagged this great offer from Wargames Soldiers & Strategy Magazine on his blog at Palouse Wargaming Journal.

So just passing this on. For all you Waterloo Campaign fans, WSS have a free bundle of three magazines that cover the campaign.

Waterloo 200 - The Bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo,18th June 1815, "Hard pounding this, gentlemen; let's see who will pound the longest"

The charge of the Scots Greys and Gordon Highlanders at Waterloo - the picture that encouraged a little boy to get better and started a lifelong hobby.

If you are a regular follower of this blog, you will know that despite a keen interest in the career of the Duke of Wellington and the army he commanded, I have spent little time focused on perhaps his most famous, and certainly his most important battle, the Battle of Waterloo or from a French perspective the Battle of Mont St Jean.

As a keen Napoleonic wargamer, drawn into the hobby by this famous battle, I have found the Battle of Waterloo and the Hundred Days Campaign less interesting as my knowledge of the period has grown over the years, but it would be impossible to ignore the bicentenary of such a world changing event that formed the pinnacle of the career of the greatest British general since the Duke of Marlborough.

Rather than do, what practically every other Napoleonic wargamer seems to be doing this year, namely re-staging the whole campaign, the whole battle or selected parts of it, I thought I would try and do something a little different, to mark the passing of this significant anniversary.

So I thought I would begin by telling a little story which begins in early 1968 with a seven year old boy, brought home early from his village school, in tears complaining of headaches and feeling unwell. By the evening, the worried parents had had the family GP in to see the boy and under instructions from the doctor, they made the short drive to The Bristol Childrens Hospital. The little boy was rushed into theatre to have a lumber puncture performed to confirm a suspected diagnosis of meningitis, a disease that still puts fear into the minds of parents today.

The news, when it came, was a mixture of good and bad. The diagnosis confirmed meningitis, inflammation of the meninges, the tissue lining around the brain. However the infection causing the problem was viral rather than the more serious bacterial, and the little boy was taken on to the ward to begin several days of steroid injections into his thighs, morning and night, until the inflammation was brought under control. If the infection had been caught early enough then other side effects may be avoided, but the parents went home knowing that several children had died from it, in the area, in recent months.

The little boy was me, and I carry the memories of those days, and as a parent myself have come to understand the terrible worry my parents went through at that time. Over the few days I spent in hospital, my family made regular visits, to help encourage my recovery and my Dad brought me a present telling me that the bugs causing my illness were a foreign army and that I had to imagine my body with its own army destroying the invaders, to help me get well.

My father was using a simple psychology on a child, but my imagination went to work, and turning the pages of my present from him, the Ranger Book for Boys 1968 edition, I was grabbed by the picture that heads this post and that filled the centre of the book. Here was my battle, the fight that was going on inside me and I studied intently every part of the action portrayed.

The story of the Battle of Waterloo from the book my Dad gave me

I read the surrounding text with the accompanying illustrations of soldiers from the period, of the famous British regiments that had been involved in this epic battle and discovered my first encounter with this most famous of battles. Whether my Father's psychology had its effect, I will never know, but I like to think it did, and I made a full recovery with no after effects other than a decreasing phobia for injections that I carry to this day. I always look away.

I kept the book, as it has always meant something special to me, and I gave it to my boys to read when they were growing up. It is in my book collection still, if a little tatty and with the spine missing.

I never forgot the story of Waterloo and my interest in the soldiers was reignited in my teens when a school friend brought in some Airfix Waterloo Highland Infantry painted by his Dad. The kilts were exquisite and I was fascinated by the detail he had captured with his painting. Wanting to know more I searched out a book on the battle and discovered in my local book shop "The Battle of Waterloo" by B J Hurren published 1975.

The bit that caught my eye, was the bit at the bottom of the cover "Background books for Wargamers and Modellers". I wanted it right then. It is still, today, an excellent book on the battle and campaign, together with "how to wargame" ideas, probably only lacking in a detailed order of battle. Needless to say, I carried this book around for months and re-read it cover to cover several times.

When I was sixteen, I finally got to travel to Waterloo and Quatre Bras. I still have the discoloured Polaroid photos today. This holiday also included a trip to Les Invalides in Paris, and I couldn't believe the treasures held there.

The film Waterloo, takes this story on to its conclusion, and why I am not the avid Waterloo enthusiast of my youth. In the film Napoleon, played by the great Rod Steiger, (for me, this is how I imagine Napoleon to have been), turns to his Marshals complaining that because this Wellington beat them all in Spain, they are afraid and in awe of him. This exclamation immediately peaked my interest. What happened in Spain? What is this past record that came to haunt both the Emperor and his Marshals on that final day of battle?

I had to discover more. This Napoleonic thing was bigger than I had imagined. I knew about Waterloo and Borodino and Austerlitz, and I had heard about Marengo, oh and the Battle of the Pyramids, but Spain, what was that all about?

I was, by this time, seriously into wargaming, and by that I mean Napoleonics. I had joined a local club and it was through the club that I discovered Oman and his History of the Peninsular War. I was stunned by the amount of clear information contained in these books.

In the days before the internet, books were the only source of information and it was often difficult to get hold of them. Today we are spoilt with the amount of information that is freely available with little effort required to find it. Yes I am one of those people slightly aggravated by questions on forums asking for information on the facings of the 3rd Battalion Rutlandshire Light Infantry in 1812, which with a little bit of key stroking is information that will pop out on screen with practically no effort - oh dear my sons are right, I'm turning into a grumpy old man!

With the discovery of the Peninsular War and the years of conflict that presented so much more in terms of battles and campaigns, the Hundred Days campaign became much less attractive. This was the theatre that produced the man that was able to define the strategy that was to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo. It was in Spain that the army, Wellington would have preferred to have had with him and that provided his core of veterans on the 18th of June, was evolved. It was in Spain that the seeds of Napoleon's downfall were sown and Waterloo was just the final crop from that harvest of disaster; planted in the summer of 1808, when the youngest Lieutenant General to lead a British expeditionary force landed at Mondego Bay in Portugal and fought his first battle in Europe in the valley of Rolica.

The Battle of Rolica 1808

In my travels I have visited the first and last battles in Europe of Sir Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and having been to Waterloo first, I immediately saw, on visiting Rolica, the bigger story surrounding the man and his generalship. At Rolica Wellesley was attacking and it was the French army clinging to a ridge line defensive position. At Vimeiro, just down the road, I stood on the open ridge to the east of the town and cast my memory back to standing on the undulating shallow ridge line at Waterloo. The battle lesson dished out in 1815 was practised by its designer at these two engagements in 1808, that is, how to attack a ridge line and how to defend one.

I took this picture of the gulleys leading up the ridge at Rolica in June 1994, not much changed from August 1808 give or take the odd telegraph pole.

JJ Wargames - Rolica

Though on a much smaller scale than Waterloo, the principles demonstrated by the future Duke at these first two battles would have served Napoleon well if he had chosen to study his adversary. In defence, as at Vimeiro, always guard your flanks and use your ridge line to hide your movements in defence of those flanks and your centre, making best use of any defensive terrain to your front to anchor your line. In attack, as at Rolica, do the opposite and feel out your enemy's flanks whilst trying to pin his centre and thus envelope his force or turn him out of a strong position and force his withdrawal and if he is unwise enough to manoeuvre to said flanks in full view of your position (Salamanca 1812), look to exploit any gaps in his line whilst doing so and destroy his force in situ.

Vimeiro Hill as pictured by me in 1994. The view down into the valley of the River Maciera. This was where the brigades of Fane and Anstruther perfected Wellington's ridge line defence in August 1808 that would bring down an Empire in 1815.

JJ Wargames - Vimeiro

So it is the Peninsular War that has, in my opinion, much more to offer the student of Wellington and his battles. But you can never forget your first love, and that is why Waterloo holds an important place in my passion for the period. It is why I will travel to Belgium next week with my wife and sons to tour not just Waterloo but the other three key engagements, Quatre Bras, Ligny and Warvre. It is why I signed up for my Royal Mint Waterloo commemoration  bronze medal. It is Waterloo, enough said!

However, my pilgrimage to this most famous of battle sites will be also to pay a personal homage to the men who died and suffered most terribly that June summer day in 1815 and to remember that little boy who was encouraged to get better by their example.

As a postscript to this story I have scanned my old pictures of Quatre Bras and Waterloo from 1976 and I think they will make an interesting comparison to how the battle field looks in 2015 when I post on our trip next week. So first up are some pictures I took in and around the famous crossroads. Even then I was trying to see the land from the point of view of the soldiers on the ground, so important to add to our understanding when it comes to wargaming these battles.

QUATRE BRAS

The points on the map illustrate where I took my pictures back in 1976 as seen below. Standing on the ground really enables the features and folds to be appreciated.

1. Looking down the road to Thyle and to Namur, where Pack and Kempt's troops would have lined the hedgerows to the right.
The road is slightly sunken providing the British infantry adequate cover lying down under fire from Ney's "grand battery"

2. Looking along the road to Nivelles, with what would have been the Bossu woods to the left, the scene of much too and fro fighting and Colonel Miller's wounding

Lieutenant Colonel William Miller was appointed commander of the 3rd battalion, 1st Foot Guards on the 3rd of March 1814 during the Peninsular War and was mortally wounded leading his battalion as the Guards plunged into Bossu Wood. I reckon he probably made a bit of a target of himself, probably mounted to control his battalion and many Guardsmen were killed and wounded when Ney turned his guns on the wood bringing them into contact with large chunks of trees as well as shrapnel .

In my professional work, I was able to meet the living relative of Lieutenant Colonel William Miller who was familiar with with his relations demise but unfamiliar with the fact that his uniform jacket, worn on the day, is in the possession of the National Army Museum in London.

http://www.nam.ac.uk/online-collection/detail.php?acc=1963-09-259-3

3. This house is seen from the Namur - Nivelle road and is off to the left of the main Charleroi road as circled on the map, It was taken by the 92nd Highlanders in the allied counter-attack at the end of the day in a charge led by Colonel Cameron.

4. The view from the road where Pire's lancers met Picton's brigade on the rising ground in the distance, after they had shot up and repulsed the French infantry columns sent against them. Corn in the fields beyond would have restricted the sight lines even more.

I'm not sure about the sporrans, perhaps left on following the Duchess of Richmond's ball, but Wollen's picture captures well the drama of Pire's attack on Picton's men

5. Gemioncourt Farm - take away the modern trailers and it looks much as it must have done in 1815

WATERLOO

La Caillou Farmhouse, where Napoleon established his HQ on the 17th June 1815, spending the night here on the eve of the battle and the scene of the pre battle breakfast and meeting as portrayed in the film "Waterloo". 

A group of buildings that should need no introduction to the Napoleonic buff, La Haye Sainte seen from the Lion Mound. Imagine the masses of French cavalry led by Ney sweeping past from the  right of picture towards the allied infantry in square and gunners ready to lose off the last round of cannister before running back to the infantry.

The barn wall still displayed the musketry damage in 1976

The dramatic scene above seems so unreal when compared with the tranquillity of the picture below

I managed to step through the main gate to snatch this picture of the main farm house building in La Haye Sainte

The few words on the sign don't really do justice to the bitter fighting that went on practically all day for these buildings

In the centre of the picture, the remains of the Chateau Hougomont as seen from the Lion Mound

The farm buildings were all part of a working farm in 1976 before the building fell into dis-repair

The Guards chapel on the left, now reunited with the crucifix that was stolen in the 80s. This peaceful scene would have been one of carnage with fires burning and the dead and wounded littering the courtyard

"In memory of the officers and men of the 2nd Battalion (Scots) Guards who died defending this farm - June 18th 1815"

Mark Churms picture from 1991 really captures the ferocity of the fighting at Hougomont. 

One of the mighty barns still standing in 1976 that survived the howitzer shells in 1815

The view the French troops under Reille and Foy would have been greeted with as they emerged from the wood in front of these buildings, loopholed by the Guards with fire steps built on the walls

The view out towards the French lines from Lion Mound to where Ney led the mass cavalry charge in the afternoon

On the other side is the ground over which the Imperial Guard led by Napoleon himself marched to its date with destiny and a warm welcome from Maitland's Guards and the 52nd Light Infantry.

The sign says it all really. La Belle Aliance suitably named as the spot where the Duke of Wellington met with Marshal Blucher at the end of a very long day.

My trip to Belgium in 1976 only allowed enough time to do Quatre Bras and Waterloo which does not do justice to the important contribution made by Field Marshal Blucher and his Prussian army. This series of posts, as well as acting as part of my effort to commemorate this very important campaign, has enabled me to revisit the key aspects of the campaign with a view to mapping out the sites I aim to cover in next weeks battle field visit.

To complete the story I am very keen to capture the Prussian sector and aim to post pictures and commentary on Ligny, Wavre and the approach to and battle for Plancenoit.

I will be relying principally on Dr David Chandler, Jac Weller, a sprinkling of Peter Hofschroer, Mark Adkin, Scott Bowden, Commandant Henry Lachouque, Anfrew Uffindell and Micheal Corum to provide all the background notes, together with any local snippets of history to complete the mix.

In addition I hope to post pictures of a large 28mm Ligny game planned locally this weekend that will provide a nice link going into next week.

And finally I think the Duke of Wellington should have the last word on this very special day.

"My heart is broken by the terrible loss I have sustained in my old friends and companions and my poor soldiers. Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won."