Kristian Mercer

Kristian's Rarefied Regency Tour
Day Six: Waterloo

No, you're not imagining things - I blithely skipped over days 4 and 5. (For the desperately curious: most of day 4 was consumed by travel. Mr. Mercer and I took the Eurostar from London to Brussels, then transferred to a local train to complete our journey to Luxembourg. We spent day 5 visiting with our brother- and sister-in-law and admiring our new niece.)

On day 6 we borrowed a car and drove to Waterloo. Even now, looking back, I'm not sure what I was expecting. Quite possibly an experience closer to what I had when visiting the battlefield at Little Bighorn, where Custer made his last stand. The National Park interpreter there really brought history to life - I could totally imagine the Native Americans sweeping over the bluffs to annihilate Custer's forces. He told that vivid of a story.

Well, Waterloo didn't have that. Of course a personalized tour was available, and I certainly had considered that when planning our visit, but in the end it seemed simpler (and far less expensive) to make do with the self-guided tour.

We were so close to being at Waterloo on the actual date of the battle, 18 June 1815. According to the article in Wikipedia, however,

the current terrain of the battlefield is very different from what it would have been [then]. In 1820, the Netherlands' King William I ordered the construction of a monument on the spot where it was believe his son, the Prince of Orange, had been wounded. The...[Lion's Mound] was constructed...using 300,000 cubic meters...of earth taken from other parts of the battlefield, including Wellington's sunken road. Wellington, when visiting the site years later, allegedly complained, "They've spoiled my battlefield!"

Excerpted from my journal:

So surreal to be experiencing the battlefield as a carnival ride. First came the French commentary [on a pre-recorded tape], then the English, then something we thought might be Belgian or Dutch.

We saw the farmhouses that Wellington's troops fought to hold, the ridges that gave the British the superior ground (looked very slight, but then again, I wasn't marching over them), and the old sunken road. Surmounting it all is the Lion's Mount, which marks the spot where the Prince of Orange was wounded.

After the tour we experienced the "spectacular" diorama, a show of lights which displayed the troop movements over a topographical map. [Wellington's forces are shown here in red, with Napoleon's in blue and Blucher's in green.]

Very interesting to see how Wellington spread out his forces between the three farms (if I remember correctly, Napoleon captured only one) and to realize how the Prussian advance arrived just in time. Wellington is supposed to have said, "Blucher or darkness," and fortunately he got both.

The diorama was followed by a short film, where children playing in the fields got swept back in time to the battle. It was a bit disconcerting, the juxtaposition, but the parts with the battle were very interesting. It showed the British formation of squares, which I had forgotten. I suppose that's the infantry? And then the cavalry charges past and around the squares.

Then we went to another building to see the panoramic mural painted sometime in the Victorian era. You walk around in a big circle and look at the scenes of battle, while a soundtrack of artillery explodes all around. Must have been astonishing at the time, but now we're jaded.

We also climbed the over 200 steps to the Lion's Mount. I had to stop for a rest 3 times and when I reached the top I was still out of breath! Magnificent views of all the battlefield; you can see very clearly the ridges and the position of all the farms. Wellington must have been able to carry a similar map in his head, to decide how to deploy his men.

Last we saw the waxwork display. There were tableaux of Napoleon and his generals, Napoleon visiting his men as they waited for battle, Napoleon in his headquartesr, and all three Allied commanders - Prince William of Orange, Wellington, and Blucher. A voiceover commentary gave us a bit more insight into these men. William of Orange was only 23; Wellington was 46, the same age as Napoleon; and Blucher was 73.

Found some wonderful books in the shop, as well as a facsimile of The Times that carried Wellington's dispatch from Waterloo. Shocked to find it buried on page 3 - I totally expected that to be front page news!


Recommended reading (nonfiction): Dancing into Battle, by Nick Foulkes
The Duchess of Richmond's Ball, by David Miller
Lady de Lancey's Narrative: The Story of Duty and Devotion, by David Miller

Fiction: Slightly Tempted and Slightly Sinful, by Mary Balogh
The Mathematics of Love, by Emma Darwin
An Infamous Army, by Georgette Heyer