William Ponsonby Service
July 11, 2015 - The Chairman in News & Blog Posts, Chairman's Blog
Serjeant Gibson and I attended a most moving service commemorating the death of Major General Sir William Ponsonby at Waterloo. It was held at St Mary Abbotts in Kensington High Street which was where this most gallant of officers had been buried after the battle. The church standing there to day is a new one built in the 1860’s and so the place of Sir William’s gave is no longer known. So a plaque has now been placed at the west end of the church and is here illustrated. Also illustrated is a lithograp
h of the brave fellow.
The stories relating to this brave officers death abound. But it seems that Sir William was made a prisoner during the confused fighting but during a later charge by the British Cavalry forced his captor, allegedly Serjeant Orban of the 4th Lancers to kill him with a single thrust of his lance. The French Serjeant took the sword and many years
later it re appeared.
The third picture here is a romantic version of what occurred. For further information you should read what Gareth Glover says in his book Waterloo Myth and Reality. See
http://ageofrevolution.org/education/waterloo-200-books/
