Waterloo - Part Deux

Hi there- before we get down to the main posting of the day back on the Somme with my great uncle here is an aperitif by way of a quick trip back to Waterloo.

I took the opportunity to further abuse a rental car by driving around the battlefield and getting up close to a few of the landmarks I mentioned in the fist post.

So straight away here is La Haye Sainte up close and personal - and looking remarkably like the old Airfix kit I had growing up...

If you were paying attention during the first post you will of course realise this was a key part of Wellington's centre and only fell after a long and heroic resistance by the German forces holding it when they ran out of ammunition.

This unassuming farm track heads away from the British centre on top of the ridge towards the French lines. If you had been here in 1815 you would have had a first class seat for the action to your left at La Haye Sainte and to your right at Hougoumont. You would have been bombarded by French artillery for hours and then had to defend yourself against two hours of repeated cavalry charges. Once you had seen those off there was more to come - hordes of huge mustachioed Frenchman in bearskins marching up in dense columns shouting 'Vive l'Empreur' and 'death to the roast beefs' (probably in French though). Yes - this was the last throw of the dice, the Old Guard itself.

Waiting until you could see the whites of theirs eyes (and the smell of the garlic...) you would have given them three volleys of musket shots in a minute and not soon after that they would have turned tail and fled. You pause and then when Wellington waves his hat, off you go, general advance and the end of the battle!

Off in the distance is la Belle Alliance where old Boney himself is directing things.

Zoomed in and looked for him but he had gone.

And finally here is Hougoumont - the key to the Allied right flank.

This is all that is left - the old Farmhouse part of the complex. The 'chateau' burned down in the fighting. This struggle here was the longest on the battlefield - pretty much all day once things got going around 11:30 so over nine hours of fighting. Held by the Guards it did not fall but it was a close run thing. At one point a side gate was breached by the French and the whole position was under threat. The Guards counter-attacked and closed the gate, saving the day and according to Wellington the battle itself!

This may (and I say may) be a monument to the French regiment that got inside. You cannot get into Hougoumont as it is private property so this needed a zoom and a bit of sneaking about in the woods to get a look. It may not be in the right place to be on the spot of the rear doorway - it is in the old walled gardens bit of the complex.

So there you have it - a bit more on Waterloo and despite the rain (again) it was great to walk the battlefield and see things from the ground.

More to come on the Somme now including some belligerent cows....