The ground around us was everywhere covered with fragments of helmets and cuirasses, with broken drums, gun-stocks, tatters of uniforms, and standards dyed with blood. By about 8 p.m . (6). Officers have compared the discharge from the cannon to discharges of musketry. Let any one imagine to himself, upon the space of a square league, 9 or 10,000 dead bodies, 4 or 5,000 horses killed, whole lines of Russian knapsacks, broken pieces of muskets and sabres; the ground covered with cannon balls, howitzer shells, and ammunition; 24 pieces of cannon, near which were lying the bodies of their drivers, killed at the moment when they were striving to carry them off. The casualties included 17 out of the 18 officers, with 2 killed . At 8:15 p.m. Napoleon ordered a retreat. The prince retired to read the despatch and everyone hurriedly left to announce the great news, leaving Mrs Boehm suddenly bereft of guests. Thanks, Michael. Captain Jean-Roche Coignet wrote after the Battle of Marengo (1800): We saw the battlefield covered with Austrian and French soldiers who were picking up the dead and placing them in piles and dragging them along with their musket straps. As related by Lieutenant Henry Dehnel of the 3rd Line Battalion KGL: an English soldier approached us, whose left arm had been smashed by a cannon ball so that his lower arm seemed to hang on by just a strip of flesh or a tendon. There were thighs, arms and legs piled up in a heap and some fifty workmen, with handkerchiefs over their noses, were raking the fire and the bones with long forks. The combined number of men killed or wounded reached nearly 50,000, with close to 25,000 casualties on the French side and approximately 23,000 for the Allied army. Gouache 54.1 x 68.9 cm It makes the history more real and more immediate. Privacy Policy. We did not begrudge them this kind of harvest as small compensation for the devastation by both armies of the cornfields far and wide. In Spain in 1814, the nephew of English surgeon Astley Cooper received a visit from a tooth hunter sent by his uncle. Assistant Surgeon Donald Finlayson of the 33rd Foot wrote of the wounded: Of the total loss, one in 7 or 8 may be killed, the rest are wounded. Thanks, Lane. The dead were probably the lucky ones, for their sufferings were at an end; the ignominy of the stripping of their clothes and the theft of their valuables were beyond their cares. To my question why he did not hold the arm with his right hand until he had had medical help, the badly wounded warrior held his hand off from his lower body for a brief moment, looking reproachfully at me, and now I saw that the hand had covered two holes from enemy bullets from which blood was flowing. K.F. [S]oldiers, at the request of some of the wounded in extreme agony, shot them dead and turned the face away while shooting When von Borcke was riding on horseback over the battle-field on the 5th day after the battle, he saw wounded soldiers lying alongside the cadaver of a horse, gnawing at its flesh. His bronzed face that may have seen many an enemy in all parts of the world was slightly contorted from his pain. Many now drove there with wagons, to gather any leftovers. Re. After Waterloo, the bones of the dead Wellington's Britons and Napoleon's French and Blcher's . Your commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a664b33e57472df70edbfd732f355365" );document.getElementById("b98aa9fe29").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); We saw the battlefield covered with Austrian and French soldiers who were picking up the dead and placing them in piles and dragging them along with their musket straps. There are perhaps 15 or 16 legs taken off for one arm, there are not many bayonet wounds. The innumerable bodies of the horses caused an even greater problem as the heat of the following days had caused their abdomens to swell to two or three times their original size making them heavy and difficult to manoeuvre. It can come as something of a shock to read Napoleon Bonaparte's official account of Waterloo, written on 20 June 1815, two days after the battle. I was completely naked, having nothing on but my hat and my right boot. Caving to a coalition of mainly British, Dutch and Prussian armies under the command of the Duke of Wellington, the defeat marked the end of one of the bloodiest battles in history. The combined number of men killed or wounded reached nearly 50,000, with close to 25,000 casualties on the French side and approximately 23,000 for the Allied army. That night, many a camp follower earned a fortune from the corpses but their exploits later tainted the Victorian version of the battle, when every Belgian peasant was unfairly transformed into a heartless murderer. An experienced Peninsular general, he inspired his men to stand against d'Erlon's Corps. The hole comes from a French musket ball that was shot through the cap at the Battle of Waterloo. As Lieutenant Henry Dehnel of the 3rd Line Battalion K.G.L. French soldier Jean Baptiste de Marbot, wounded in the Battle of Eylau (1807), gave a sense of what it was like to be one of the bodies: Stretched on the snow among the piles of dead and dying, unable to move in any way, I gradually and without pain lost consciousness. A colleague was part of the bomb squad which used to do the rounds, like delivering the mail. After the Battle of Waterloo, local peasants were hired to clean up the battlefield, supervised by medical staff. The bones of the fallen English soldiers at the Battle of Waterloo were sold as fertilizer, a new study has suggested. The morning after the battle, as the troops attempted to clear the battlefield, they were horrified to discover that many of the French cannon captured the previous night had vanished. When officers got to the scene, they found a 21-year-old man with stab wounds to his upper body. After Napoleons final defeat, Britons hurried across the Channel to visit Waterloo, Paris and other sites associated with the French Emperor. As you say, the majority of bodies were most likely buried, and the archaeological research underway at Waterloo (as per Tims excellent links above) should provide more information on this topic. Other students marvelled at the smell of stew they were never told. Its so long since Ive read Les Misrables, Id completely forgotten that. Also, I remember, as a child, seeing a famous and excellently well done painting of the post Waterloo battlefield during the night with a full moon. Have you found that most references to the disposal of the dead are in memoirs and other personal accounts or other types of source too? His defeat put a final end to his rule as Emperor of France and to his imperial ambition to rule as much of the world as he could conquer. c. 1850 I always wondered about the removal of the dead soldiers and their horses. Except for doing some bureaucratic things for France, he unnecessarily killed millions of people for his own ego. (Credit: Everett Collection/Shutterstock), Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news, Want More? A much needed post on a question everyone was too afraid to ask. I was compelled to go through the forest de Soignes (for the road was so completely choked up as to be impassable), and I had not proceeded far before I stumbled over the dead body of a Frenchman, which was lying on its face amongst the grass. The demand for Waterloorelics soon outstripped the supply, though the locals continued for decades to hawk souvenirs that were claimed to begenuinebattlefield artefacts. That sounds like a fascinating topic, Sarah. Ropes were tied to the legs and their grossly inflated bodies were simply dragged to huge funeral pyres; it was also reported that many human corpses were simply added to these same pyres when the graves were full. Most of the bodies were Russians, as ours had been buried, as far as possible; but, as everything had been very hastily done, the heavy rain had uncovered many of them. A very good article, just as shocking as the 24 hours at Waterloo by Robert Kershaw, stripped from all the glory and heroics, which gave me another look at the battles fought in those days. Depending on the size of the losses, the weather, and the capacities of the army and the local population, battlefield cleanup could take some time. This article by Joe Turner delves into the question of whether battlefield bones were used for fertilizer and concludes that it is probably not a myth: https://medium.com/study-of-history/the-bones-of-waterloo-a3beb35254a3#.aojt9ep4g. On September 12th the Westphalians moved to Moshaisk, which was deserted by all inhabitants, plundered and half in ashes. I think the ossuary at Marengo dates from 1805 and there has been some research on some of the bones. I dont know the painting youre referring to, but perhaps someone reading these comments will be familiar with it and can provide the details. I was working from an earlier article, which said the remains were British. Brown University Library Dr Kevin Linch, a University of Leeds expert in the Napoleonic wars, who is not involved in the work, said there was a good case for arguing that the bones of the dead were taken for use as fertiliser, although other activities, such as ploughing or scavenging by animals, could have led to their dispersal. Soldiers were typically the first to pick through the dead and wounded, taking weapons, clothing and valuables. On Sunday June 18 1815, the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated during the Battle of Waterloo. Of the 68,000 Anglo allied forces, there were 17000 military casualties. But marauding was an accepted part of warfare; as Lieutenant Emanuel Biedermann of 2nd Light Battalion KGL recalled in his memoir the following day: On our march we encountered already a great number of country people who had returned from the battlefield and carried all kinds of equipment. Without any moaning nor repeating his wish, the unfortunate man took a few steps, then tumbled and, crying Oh dear Jane! suddenly fell down and was dead. Photo English Heritage/ Relic Imaging Ltd. 2. In an area of ground of only approximately 3 square miles, over forty three thousand men and nearly twelve thousand horses lay out in the inky blackness of that barmy summers night. The Duke completed the Waterloo despatch at Brussels on 19 June and about midday his aide de camp Major Henry Percy rode off in a post chaise carrying the despatch and the two eagles on the road to Ostend on route to England. The Duke completed the Waterloo despatch at Brussels on 19 June and about midday his aide de camp Major Henry Percy rode off in a post chaise carrying the despatch and the two eagles on the road to Ostend on route to England. The jerk which the man gave me no doubt had restored me to my senses. But Pollard also acknowledges that written accounts and artwork arent the nail in the coffin. It is a good thing to see this aspect of battle dealt with. London, J. Jenkins, 1816 They roughly turned over the, to be harvested at leisure. The duke survived; the American didn't. Struck by a cannonball, and nursed at the. The shock caused by the wind of the ball had produced such an extravasation of blood, that my face, shoulders, and chest were black, while the rest of my body was stained red by the blood from my wound. By morning many of these wounded men had succumbed as their very life blood seeped out of untended wounds. Id like to think that in cases where a regiment was able to identify its dead members, an effort was made to notify the next of kin, and Ive come across references to Napoleon occasionally dictating such letters, but I dont know how often this happened in practice. The casualties among all ranks amounted to almost 59% - a greater loss than that sustained by any other infantry regiment in the battle. There were not enough hospitals, so churches, public buildings, large private residences and even the streets were turned into makeshift wards. Jun 18, 2015. Undeterred, Napoleon escaped exile a year later and found his way back to Paris, where he mustered his old veterans into a new army . There would be the same type of person causing WWII ? The glove is still stained with this blood. What happened to all of those bodies? Gold teeth were ripped out, but so were many a natural tooth by the barrel load, to be sold for dentures and were highly prized as coming from young men. As is recognised by the Napoleonic & Revolutionary War Graves Charity, its important to find and recognise war graves from this era just as much as any other, and archaeological investigations have the potential to tell us a lot about the lives and deaths of soldiers, and may even identify some individuals burial, he said. Two decades of warfare built up to this moment which would decide the future of Europe, and the world of today would look unimaginably different had the results been different. Despite originally being second in command, Antoine Drouot actually commanded the Imperial Guard at the Battle of Waterloo, as a result of Marshal Mortier's illness. One of them seems to show individual burial mounds around La Haye Sainte. One of them depicts the naked bodies of fallen soldiers. Even the Duke of Wellington, renowned for his firmness and stiff upper lip was emotionally affected by the terrible losses. As a descendant of Claudius Ash, the most renowned of the Waterloo teeth men (he was a battlefield surgeon), Im also reminded of the terrible French curse which resulted: to call someone a tire-dents, a tooth-puller is to this day fighting talk of the gravest order. Why Do We Give Red Roses On Valentines Day? In 1816, satirical poet Eaton Stannard Barrett wrote: Every one now returns from abroad, either Beparised or Bewaterlooed. This publication of fictional scenes is arranged with stanzas of Walter Scott's long poem The Field of Waterloo paired with each image. Percy arrived at the port where he immediately embarked on. But despite this international effort it cannot be denied that many wounded died unnecessarily because of poor facilities and too late an intervention. The Day after the Battle of Waterloo Napoleon had fled and the streets of Paris filled with the rulers and nobles from Prussia, Austria, Russia and Britain. There are sabre & lance wounds, the French cavalry have lances, we have none. Some had woollen blankets, cavalry coats, harnesses; others had weapons and other implements in their collection. Napoleon's Hundred Days had come to an end. The sightseers played a role in battlefield cleanup through their enthusiastic quest for souvenirs. I think it would be a great addition to your writing. Everything else about her remained a mystery. It separates officers from rank and file soldiers. I judge that my swoon lasted four hours, and when I came to my sense I found myself in this horrible position. Officers have compared the discharge from the cannon to discharges of musketry. (9). They reached Broadstairs at 3 p.m. on 21 June and Percy, still accompanied by White, rode a chaise and four for London with the eagles sticking out of the windows and their flags streaming behind as they galloped through the Kent countryside. 1. Many army surgeons present immediately after the battle were simply not prepared for the deluge of wounded and the system rapidly broke down. By July 8th, the victorious European powers ensured that King Louis XVIIIs rule was restored for the second time. Who was the British lead by and what did he master in military? In the first ever special episode of Rex Factor, we had an in-depth look at the Battle of Waterloo in which Napoleon's French army took on Wellington (Anglo-Allies) and Blucher (Prussia - a German kingdom containing parts of modern-day Germany, Poland, Russia and other countries). Bodies were buried in some places in their hundreds in big pits, but in other places they were buried singly or in small groups the graves were likened to molehills stretched out across the fields, said Pollard. To my question why he did not hold the arm with his right hand until he had had medical help, the badly wounded warrior held his hand off from his lower body for a brief moment, looking reproachfully at me, and now I saw that the hand had covered two holes from enemy bullets from which blood was flowing. He reached up to brush the sweat off his brow with his hand and the decomposing matter on his glove mingled with his sweat and ran down his face into his mouth. Many came to steal the belongings of the dead, some even stole teeth to make into dentures, while others came to simply observe what had happened, Pollard says in a press release. Im glad there are some records (however imperfect) of how the soldiers died, which could presumably reach their loved ones. Whereas the dead soldiers could be buried relatively quickly, the bloated bodies of the thousands of dead horsessoon putrefied. (p. 172). https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=aOotAQAAIAAJ&dq=editions:WZENEB7-7Q0C. Many of the bodies from Aspern finished up in the Danube and reappeared when the river level fell. Fuchs A key phrase reads: "After eight hours of firing and infantry and cavalry charges, the whole [French] army was able to look with satisfaction upon a battle won and the battlefield in our possession." Now, as lead academic and an archaeological director at the charity Waterloo Uncovered, Pollard and his team are poised to return to the battlefield next month to continue their archaeological survey, aided by the eyewitness testimony. Many terribly mutilated men implored their colleagues to put them out of their miseries with a ball to the head, few are honest enough to recall these situations and none are brave enough to admit that they did release their sufferings. Battle of Waterloo 1815 by William Sadler. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. George James Guthrie. . Among other work, the team will commence a battlefield-wide survey using geophysical techniques such as electromagnetic methods. Such work was far from appealing and it is with little surprise that we hear that those forced into this unenviable task were loath to do it and constantly sought to absent themselves. The third and fourth ranks loaded and fired over their heads, and in the hollow centre were the officers, non-commissioned officers (NCOs), drummers and the battalion's precious 'colours'. Most wounds of the limbs are in the lower extremities. Officers provided emergency medical care, including the use of chest seals and tourniquets. When Napoleon met his Waterloo, he wasn't actually in Waterloo. A great number of the wounds are from cannon balls. Were the names of the dead soldiers recorded, so that the parents and widows could be notified? They arrived in London at 10 p.m. but pulling into Downing Street at the War Department, a little further down the road from the Prime Minister and the Treasury; Percy sought Earl Bathurst, Principal Secretary at the War Office, but discovered that he was dining at a Cabinet dinner at Lord Harrowbys, 44 Grosvenor Square. Learn more about surgery in this period with our featureWellingtons Combat Surgeon A man of the transport corps, thinking me dead, had stripped me in the usual fashion, and wishing to pull off the only boot that remained, was dragging me by one leg with his foot against my body. Thanks, David. But while the accounts include testimony of bodies being burned, they also refer to burials, often with information about their location. His right arm he held in to his lower body. The pyres had been burning for eight days and by then the fire was being fed solely by human fat. After three days of fighting, Napoleon's French army of 72000 men were defeated at Waterloo. I am sure the artist had been to the battle field although it is not clear when. Battle of Waterloo A little after 7:00 pm, his flank now secured, Napoleon turned to the main front. That armed clash of June 18, 1815 ended Napoleon Bonaparte's ambitions of conquering Europe. If he could avoid the coalition forces from joining, he would be able to defeat them all in a piecemeal fashion. Thanks for these interesting details, Rahere. We look at the three men . I hope you enjoy the novel. I was reading this in the British Library recently three injuries were identified: one was cut in the rear shoulder by a sabrebriquet, one was sabrebriquet or light sabre slashing wound to the skull and the last was a canister round into the pelvis. Davout took to the field in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris along with regiments of the Imperial Guard and battalions of National Guards. Germany?, Ant. There was a fair amount of glorification of war at the time (e.g., Napoleon commissioned the Arc de Triomphe in 1806), but people saw more of the gruesome effects than we do today (at least in the West), as war has become more technologized. Bayonets and lances caused deep stab wounds which often penetrated vital organs and caused slow agonising deaths; stabbing swords could replicate these wounds, whilst slashing swords preferred by the light cavalry, could cut cleanly through both flesh and bone severing limbs cleanly; but more often struck glancing blows which left horrendous injuries with large masses of skin and muscle hanging limply down from the savage cut. Really interesting article Shannon. Poor Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Gordons leg was amputated at a field station near the battlefield on the very door he was carried off the field with and was then carried to Wellingtons headquarters, where he later died in bed. Ten days after the battle, a visitor reported seeing the flames at Hougoumont. Thanks for the tip about the ossuary at Marengo, David. In spite of its moniker, the battle was waged three miles south of the town of Waterloo in the villages of Braine . There is also a website For example, following the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC between Philip II of Macedonia and the Athenians, both sides buried their dead in accordance with the religious customs of the period; this was seemingly done both out of respect for the valor the dead showed in battle and to appease the gods. He is a world-renowned historian and academic. It was a sad spectacle, the dead bodies hardly retaining a human resemblance. Doctor Hume arrived at headquarters after performing numerous amputations including those of Gordon and Uxbridge to inform Wellington of the medical situation. They all apparently caused instant death it struck me that all three were probably from the final phase of the battle. Very sharp looking site, impressed and relate with the about info. (They returned to the field a month after the battle to recover equipment and recover the dead.) It is certainly a singular fact, that Great Britain should have sent out such multitudes of soldiers to fight the battles of this country upon the continent of Europe, and should then import their bones as an article of commerce to fatten her soil! Hand-colored engraving 18.7 x 23.2 cm Set up to preserve and safeguard the site of the battle and promote public education and appreciation of the history of the wars between Great Britain, her allies and France known as the Napoleonic Wars. Russian workmen laying a new water pipe in Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) discovered the the 430ft long, 23ft wide, 7ft deep pit containing the bodies of 1,837 hastily buried German soldiers. Uxbridge was persuaded to undergo amputation on his leg, despite some faint hopes of recovery as the safer option to preserve his life; his operation was successful. Britain and her allies, led by the Duke of Wellington joined with the Prussian forces led by Gebhard von Blucher to defeat Napoleon's army in Belgium. Meanwhile, Hastings and Clechy are just a grassy field of hallowed ground, which really means blood soaked. I'm Kyle Vickroy and I'm a professional actor based in New Zealand. Human remains could still be seen at Waterloo a year after the battle. Most wounds of the limbs are in the lower extremities. Gareth Glover, a member of the Waterloo Association historical society, thinks the skeleton -- which was found with a bullet . What a horrid reminder that must have been for the locals. Kirkus Reviews calls Shannon's novel "evocative and immersive. And to think that all of them could have been avoided. Napoleon is the pivotal figure, a legend even, at the heart of this destructive tale. I succeeded in sitting up and spitting out the clots of blood from my throat. The Battle of Waterloo was the last battle of the Napoleonic Wars in which the ambitions of the French Emperor were seen to be crushed at once. remarked: Entire ranks of fallen warriors all over the vast field indicated those well recognisable places where the most violent fighting had occurred: a horrifying, heart-rending scene met the terrified eye, of mutilated and often already nude corpses, of fallen and mortally wounded horses, which wrenched the stomach almost more than the gnawing hunger could do. The same cannot be said of later wars where there seems to have been an almost callous disregard for . Writing in the Journal of Conflict Archaeology, Prof Tony Pollard, director of the centre for battlefield archaeology at the University of Glasgow, has collated vivid descriptions and images from those who visited Waterloo in the aftermath of the 1815 battle, which pitted Napoleons forces against a British-led coalition and a Prussian-led one. (7). This is a list of British armed forces general officers who were killed or died while on active service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Their families were arrested instead which prompted the young lads to return to their regiment by the end of August. The two-century-old mystery of Waterloo's skeletal remains. (11). He adds that locals who watched or helped with the burials might have guided grave diggers to the grave sites. (8) After the Battle of Waterloo, local peasants were hired to clean up the battlefield, supervised by medical staff. Event. The Battle of Borodino, September 7, 1812, by Albrecht Adam. On this desolate spot lay thirty thousand half-devoured corpses; while a pile of skeletons on the summit of one of the hills overlooked the whole. Some of the wounded were transported on to Antwerp to alleviate the crush and all surgeons in the capital were requisitioned whilst Belgian and Dutch surgeons flocked in from all over the country to help. The fiercest fighting occurred in the Napoleonic Wars, and of them, the Battle of Waterloo was the crown jewel. Published March 1, 2023 2:33 p.m. PST. On the morning following the Battle of Waterloo, the Inniskillings had an opportunity to discover who was still alive. But those unfortunate to be operated on, many hours if not days after the initial trauma had occurred, suffered severely as the surgeons hastily amputated without any anaesthetic and often with blunted instruments. The field of the Battle of Waterloo was a terrifying and shocking place to be that night and for the following few days. Save up to 70% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine. This volume lists the number of dead, wounded, or missing from each regiment within the Anglo-Allied Army. It was an extraordinary event. Neck chains were ripped away and rings removed, often by simply hacking away the fingers, allowing the ringsto be harvested at leisure. Fears soon arose of disease spreading throughout the city, with gangrene and cholera almost certain to spread; but the pestilential air from the thousands of corpses lying on the battle field, caused even greater anxiety. Estimates of the number of soldiers killed in battle range from 500,000 to almost 2 million. Updated. One of the unusual things about the remains of a soldier unearthed in 2012at the battlefield of Waterloo (1815) is that the man does not appear to have been robbed. The villagers of Braine lAlleud largely stayed at home to prevent the troops marauding, but once the fighting was over there is clear evidence that some of the villagers turned looters and when caught were actually executed on the spot. Had been burning for eight days and by then the fire was being fed solely by human fat battlefield-wide using... Locals continued for decades to hawk souvenirs that were claimed to begenuinebattlefield artefacts experienced Peninsular general, he unnecessarily millions... 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Fingers, allowing the ringsto be harvested at leisure by Albrecht Adam by. Society, thinks the skeleton -- which was found with a bullet battle of were... The second time their loved ones the use of chest seals and tourniquets right arm he in. They all apparently caused instant death it Struck me that all of them seems to show individual mounds. Drove there with wagons, to gather any leftovers field in the coffin the! Imperial Guard and battalions of National Guards present immediately after the battle c. 1850 i always wondered the! Days of fighting, Napoleon & # x27 ; t. Struck by a cannonball, when. Affected by the end of August French cavalry have lances, we have none died, which said remains! Was a terrifying and shocking place to be harvested at leisure restored for second... Also refer to burials, often with information about their location September,! Clothing and valuables of blood from my throat provided emergency medical care, including the use of chest seals tourniquets!