In my childhood I listened to the Kay Starr recording off the parental 78 -- it was 78s, or AM radio, or B&W TV (three whole channels).
Kay Starr 'Bonaparte's Retreat' 1950 78 rpm
"Bonaparte's Retreat" ~ William H. Stepp, 1937
Posted on 06/18/2019 9:51:03 AM PDT by harpygoddess
June 18 is the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo in 1815, in which British forces under the Duke of Wellington and the Prussians under Field Marshal Blücher decisively defeated the French under Napoleon to end the "Hundred Days Campaign."
After the allies took Paris in March 1814, Napoleon was initially exiled to Elba. A year later, however, he returned to France amid great acclaim, re-entered Paris, declared himself emperor again, and retook command of the French armies to renew the struggle.
Four days after the debacle at Waterloo - which Wellington described as "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life" - Napoleon abdicated again and was sent into final exile on St. Helena, where he died in 1821. On more than one occasion, Wellington is also said to have remarked:
"Next to a battle lost, the greatest misery is a battle gained."
Post includes video, including a Lego re-enactment.
(Excerpt) Read more at vaviper.blogspot.com ...
As I understand it, when the British government started putting official “house numbers” on houses Wellington got Number 1.
Is that how the PM’s residence got a 10?
In my childhood I listened to the Kay Starr recording off the parental 78 -- it was 78s, or AM radio, or B&W TV (three whole channels).
Kay Starr 'Bonaparte's Retreat' 1950 78 rpm
"Bonaparte's Retreat" ~ William H. Stepp, 1937
Yeah, "his battlefield"... sounds like Wellington. Thanks GF.
He had chosen the ground for the battle, thus one can consider it as belonging to him. Napoleon definitely didn’t select it.
“ Blucher or nightfall.”
It sounds like him because of his lifelong arrogance.
Now you’ve done it! I will have to stop watching THE OUTER LIMITS and rewatch Waterloo tonight!
“Up Guards and at them.”
So close to the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, it is interesting to compare the size of these armies. The D-Day effort is the same order of magnitude, but the size of the 19th Century armies is amazing. The numbers of soldiers that saw actual combat in a battle like Waterloo is startling. Probably close to 200,000 soldiers, artillery and calvary of the three principal armies combined. (Not all those saw combat of course, but certainly a high percentage.)(Interesting, some infantry spent all day on the 17th and the 18th marching one way or the other and never fired a shot.)
1815 videos are always grainy.
Possibly.
He was called the “Iron Duke” not because he was tough on the battle field, but because the house he got(#1) as a reward from the government had metal shutters over the windows. Wellington did not like sightseers and tourists looking through his windows.
Thanks!
Definitely, and in that era, the battles, while spread out more than battles even 50 years earlier, were crowded into pretty small spaces, and fought over pretty short periods, iow, they could be decisive in the outcome of an entire war.
And the width of the Waterloo Battlefield is about the same as the length of Omaha Beach. I recall looking at it that it was about about the same width, if not narrower, as the sector of one of our armored cavalry platoons had in its covering force position on the inter-German border just east of Fulda.
I’m a huge fan of Bernard Cornwell, particularly enjoying his Sharpe series of books. Anyone who likes military historical fiction should not miss them.
Here they are in historical order:
Sharpe’s Tiger
Sharpe’s Triumph
Sharpe’s Fortress
Sharpe’s Trafalgar
Sharpe’s Prey
Sharpe’s Rifles
Sharpe’s Havoc
Sharpe’s Eagle
Sharpe’s Gold
Sharpe’s Escape
Sharpe’s Fury
Sharpe’s Battle
Sharpe’s Company
Sharpe’s Sword
Sharpe’s Skirmish
Sharpe’s Enemy
Sharpe’s Honour
Sharpe’s Regiment
Sharpe’s Christmas
Sharpe’s Siege
Sharpe’s Revenge
Sharpe’s Waterloo
I confess I haven’t read the whole series.
I discovered the TV series and sort of stopped reading them.
I need to pick it up again.
I have read the book that supposedly inspired Cornwell to write the Sharpe books.
“...........
Tales from the Rifle Brigade: Adventures in the Rifle Brigade Random Shots From a Rifleman Paperback – October 3, 2005
by Captain Kincaid
...............................”
I think he is the inspiration for Sharpe. A lot more “posh” then Sharpe. Maybe?
“.....
KINCAID, Sir JOHN (1787–1862), of the rifle brigade was born at Dalheath in January 1787. He was educated at Polmont school, and served for a time as lieutenant in the North York militia.
........”
Bernard Cornwell also wrote a very good non-fiction history of the battle.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
