Trench excavation, Mont-Saint-Jean, BelgiumWaterloo Uncovered
Posted on 09/12/2024 3:04:29 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
The Independent reports that a trench containing human and animal remains has been excavated at the site of a British field hospital at Mont-Saint-Jean farm in Belgium by members of Waterloo Uncovered, an organization that offers veterans an opportunity to participate in archaeology and receive wellbeing support. The Battle of Waterloo was fought on June 18, 1815, and resulted in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte and the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The human and animal remains in the recently discovered trench were separated by a barrier made of soldiers’ ammunition boxes. "The layout of the trench, with all animal remains on one side of the ammunition-box-barrier and all the human remains on the other, strongly suggests that the men who buried this individual attempted to offer him a level of dignity and respect despite the horrific scene they would have found themselves facing while clearing the field hospital of the dead," said archaeologist Tony Pollard of the University of Glasgow. The other side of the trench held the bones of an ox and at least seven horses. At least three of the horses had been euthanized with a musket ball to the head, Pollard said, and several of them may have been butchered, he concluded.
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
Trench excavation, Mont-Saint-Jean, BelgiumWaterloo Uncovered
After battles in that era, euthanizing wounded horses was a common task.
Do the British just call it the loo?
…Since 2015, Harding has been an archaeological supervisor for the veteran support charity Waterloo Uncovered, which conducts archaeology on the battlefield of Waterloo alongside veterans and serving personnel.[5][6][7]
In my grandmother’s adoptive line, she had a 2x great-grandfather who survived Waterloo. He was in the Royal Horse Guards, who were apparently at the center of the cannon fire. I think they lost something like 80-90 percent of their regiment.
After battles in that era, euthanizing wounded horses was a common task.
The same should be done to useless politicians.
Alas, the supply of those is endless.
Even as late as World War II
To an surprising degree, the Germans depended on horse transport in WW II. Despite pioneering the blitzkrieg as a tactic in war, the Germans lacked the industrial capacity and petroleum supply to fully mechanize their military. As a result, they often relied on horses to move and support their military in the field.
The film shows the human carnage, of course. But they somehow trained the horses to lay down, writhe, and scream. Yes, horses can scream. That sound was even more horrible than the gore.
The Wehrmacht were infinitely more horse dependent than us
A primary cog in their war machine as late as WWII
We should copy the Nazis abd use horses again today, go green. We have copied so much else...killing millions with abortion, grabbing guns, ...
Cavalry has a storied role in Polish military history, the most prominent example being the winged hussars. Horses were fitted with saddles that had large upright wings made of turkey feathers. These not only made for a striking appearance, but when the Polish winged hussars charged into battle, the rattling and whistling sound of the wings was said to disturb opposing cavalry and often put them into disorder or flight. Only careful training made Polish horses tolerate carrying the wings.
The ultimate forlorn hope
He claims that hussars attacked squares of infantry in a column that snaked its way towards the infantry. A column reduced the number of cavalrymen exposed to the first shot and the snaking confused the infantry, since they would have been under strict orders not to deviate their aim lest they wind up shooting each each other. Then at the last instant, the column would disperse and the infantry would be facing the tips of the those 20 foot lances. Once they got into the infantry with sabers and braces of pistols it would have been all over.
Polish hussars were renowned for being able to break musket infantry head on, unlike other cavalry units.
Makes me think of a good ad campaign. “The SS drove Ford Trucks. The Red Army drove GM Trucks. Look who won World War II.”
At Stalingrad the Germans ended up eating their horses.
During the siege of Leningrad, it was said that a horse briefly left unattended on a street was slaughtered on the spot by a starving crowd, leaving only the hooves where it had stood moments before.
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