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A voice from Waterloo: A history of the battle fought on the 18th June, 1815 cover

A voice from Waterloo: A history of the battle fought on the 18th June, 1815

Chapter 34: No. IV.
By Edward Cotton
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About This Book

An eyewitness memoir reconstructs the campaign and the climactic 1815 battle near Brussels, combining first‑hand recollections from long residence on the field with collected testimony, official dispatches, plans, and contemporary illustrations. The narrative follows the political and military lead‑up, the disposition and movements of forces, and the principal engagements and turning points, while addressing disputed timings, actions, and claims of honor. Maps, selected orders and letters, portraits, and engraved plans are used to clarify conflicting accounts and present a concise, corrective history intended for general readers and visitors to the battlefield.

No. IV.

The reader should be aware, that in military returns, the figures which represent the strength of regiments often greatly exceed the actual number of effective men present. There are always numerous casualties, not accounted for in returns, particularly before a battle. The missing are not all eventually loss; for, if not taken prisoners most of them join after the strife. The strength of the British was of course greater on the 16th, before the action at Quatre-Bras, where the loss was particularly severe, as may be seen in the subjoined tables, in the 1st foot-guards, 1st Royal Scots, 32d, 33d, 42d, 44th, 69th, 79th, and 92d regiments.

The officers who afterwards died of their wounds, are here returned killed.

RETURNS

of the strength (officers, non-commissionned officers, drummers, trumpeters, rank and file) of the British army, on the morning of the 18th of June 1815; and of the total loss, in killed, wounded and missing, on the three days: 16th, 17th, and 18th.

STAFF.

Killed.—The duke of Brunswick, sir Thomas Picton, sir William Ponsonby. Colonel sir William De Lancey. Lieutenant-colonel Currie. Captains: W. Crofton (54th Reg.), T. Smith (93d Reg.).

Wounded.—H.R.H. the prince of Orange. Lieutenant-general sir G. Cooke. Major-generals: Sir E. Barnes, sir James Kempt, sir Colin Halkett, sir Denis Pack, sir Colquhoun Grant, sir W. Dornberg, sir F. Adam. Lieutenant-colonels: Waters, sir G. Berkeley (35th Reg.). Majors: A. Hamilton, Hunter Blair, Hon. G. Dawson. Captains: Hon. E. S. Erskine, E. Fitzgerald (25th Reg.), W. Murray, H. Seymour, T. Wright, H. McLeod, J. Mitchell (25th Reg.), J. Tyler, A. Langton, H. Dumaresque. Lieutenants: W. Havelock (43d Reg.), J. Hamilton (46th Reg.), J. Rooke, D. Hall.

Officers who were killed or wounded, serving on the staff but belonging to regiments which were on the field, are here included in the returns of their respective regiments.

By adding together the figures in the first two columns opposite to any regiment, the reader may obtain its total effective strength, at the opening of the campaign.