Chairman’s Blog Category
The Prussian Service at Apsley House
March 27, 2017 - The Chairman
On 1 April Apsley House will open for the summer with an astonishing display. The Prussian Dinner Service given to the Great Duke in 1817 by the Prussian King as a mark of gratitude at the victory at Waterloo. It is to go on display as a fully laid table as for a banquet. It […]
The Prince Imperial’s sword
March 24, 2017 - The Chairman
I recently mentioned the sword worn by the Prince Imperial when he was killed by Zulus whilst serving as British Officer in 1879. I wondered where it was and as the legend was that it was Napoleon’s sword that he had worn at Austerlitz it was relevant to this site. The truth is sadly more […]
Teach Meet – What is it?
March 21, 2017 - The Chairman
Well., I had no idea until Serjeant Gibson and I poled up yesterday at the Museum of London. Serjeant Gibson was somewhat suspicious and thought I was going to leave him there as an exhibit. But no, we were there for a “Teach Meet”. In fact it was a very jolly couple of hours in […]
Wellington’s Men Remembered
March 19, 2017 - The Chairman
On Thursday the Waterloo Association had its AGM and it was enhanced by a most interesting talk on the strategy, rather than the tactics, of the Waterloo campaign. Readers of this blog should look out for the publication of John Hussey’s magnum opus on Waterloo which goes into the minutest detail of the campaign and […]
Reenactors
March 12, 2017 - The Chairman
Maybe reenactors and their activities are not your style and Serjeant Gibson is sceptical. However I have just come across a very good bit of film on reenactment of Waterloo where most of the talking is by our own resident surgeon, Mick Crumplin. I really recommend you look at the clip here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAb-RyDiPn8. It’s Mick at […]
Age of Revolution – Haiti
March 5, 2017 - The Chairman
When we decided on the phrase “Age of Revolution” for the overall theme of Waterloo 200 going forward we included the period from the American Revolution ie 1775. However on viewing the material this now brings into play I was startled to see the Haitian Revolution of 1791 to 1804 is to be included. I […]
Sleep with history at Hougoumont
March 1, 2017 - The Chairman
Recently I and my wife took the widow of Brigadier Professor Richard Holmes to stay a few nights in the Farm at Hougoumont. Serjeant Gibson came along too to protect us from the ghosts. He, Richard not Serjeant Gibson, had been a prime mover in the saving of this important site. Until he turned his energy […]
Blücher’s Elephant
February 27, 2017 - The Chairman
The remarkable Blücher was the major influence in the successful 1814 campaign in which eventually the Allies occupied Paris but he did have problems. At one stage after the 1806-7 defeat of Prussia by Napoleon he suffered a breakdown, a side effect of which was to have hallucinations about giving birth to an elephant! In […]
St Helena found to be useful
February 15, 2017 - The Chairman
Am reading Candice Millard’s book on Winston Churchill’s captivity during the Boer War “Hero of The Empire” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/25/hero-empire-making-winston-churchill-candice-millard-biography-history-book-review and it mentions that during that war about 5,000 Boer prisoners were incarcerated on the island. Brian Unwin in his excellent book “Terrible Exile” tells us that several hundred died on the island and are buried there. […]
Marengo’s trotters reunited
February 11, 2017 - The Chairman
Recently Christopher Joll, late of The Life Guards, managed to photograph together the two front hooves of Marengo. Both are featured in our 200 objects but they are not together. See http://ageofrevolution.org/200-object/marengos-hoof-snuffbox/ and http://ageofrevolution.org/200-object/horses-hoof-snuff-mill/ The photograph shows the hooves and are in size and shape identical although the colour is different, which is normal particularly as […]
