History Archives Project Matteo Loria and Sheel Patel Bodeites

The and the role of Frederick Adam

in the battle

1

Contents 1. Context…………………………………………………………………p3 2. Battle of Waterloo………………………………………………..p4 3. Your OC………………………………………………………………..p16 1) Overview, personal/family life and school……….p17 2) Battle/combat Career………………………………………p19 3) Later roles and Death………………………………………p20 4) Bibliography……………………………………………………p21

2

Context Before the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon had been attempting to build a European Empire under his lead since 1804. At the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, he was defeated by the British but after he started to invade other European countries. He was then made to abdicate the throne which means to give up the throne. Napoleon returned to Paris in 1815. This caused Britain, Prussia, Russia and Austria to declare war on Napoleon. In June that year, Napoleon invaded Belgium in the hope of capturing the capital, Brussels. He sent soldiers to battle against Wellington and the Prussians led by General Blucher. Wellington’s army won but the Prussians were forced to retreat. The final battle would happen the next day.

3

The Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo

00:00, June 18

Taking Positions Before the battle occurred, Wellington remained at a Waterloo inn, while Napoleon was situated three miles south. Their men slept outside as rain fell through out every night. However Wellington knew success the next day would rest largely on the arrival of General Blucher and also his Prussian reinforcements, courtesy of his ally General Blucher. They were all improving in Wavre, which is situated 18 miles east of Waterloo. With the Prussians and also the Allied armies separated, Napoleon was very poised that he could defeat Wellington and as a result make his way to Brussels. This map shows the positions of Wellington, Napoleon and also the Prussians the night before the battle

4

9:00, 18 June The First tactical move Wellington recognised a powerful defensive position, which was blocking the road to Brussels in order to halt Napoleon’s advance towards the capital. However Wellington knew he was outnumbered, having only 68,000 allied troops against 72,000 troops from Napoleon’s side. Therefore he positioned his men behind a ridge and also three garrisoned farms. As shown on the map, is that the farm of Papelotte is on his left, Le Haye Sainte is in front and Hougoumont is situated to the right. Wellington had a very tactical advantage point, due to the fact that the grouping of the rise, fields of tall corn and also well situated garrisons meant the Wellington had an important area to cover shield for his troops. From this part of the area, he could try and hold the ground until the Prussians arrived. This shows the positions of Wellington and also Napoleon’s troops on the morning of June 18 9:00, 18 June Napoleon formulates a plan Napoleon was a very intellectual leader and always had in mind the kind of obstacles that he would face and as a result try and avoid them. Therefore he was focuses on the terrain. During this time, there was heavy rain, and as a result he knew that it would be very difficult for his men and guns to move into position. Consequently he decided to delay his initially major attack until the earth had dried out. From my point of view, this was a risky strategy, as it could only permit time for Blucher’s Prussian army to arrive and therefore join Wellington on the ridge. On the flip side the French infantry and also cavalry had to move in the mud, which from my perspective risked tiring them out in the early periods of the battle. Napoleon decided to draw out the British and as a result force a depression in their defensive position. Thus he launched a diversionary attack on Hougoumont farm.

5

This is a picture which shows Napoleon with his army at Waterloo

11:30, 18 June The attack on Hougoumont The first action that Napoleon performed was a large-scale assault using cannon fire. Directly after doing this, he launched the attack on Wellington’s garrison, which was very well defended. 5000 troops advanced on Hougoumont, and was led by the brother of Napoleon. It was very evident that the French had outnumbered the 1500 British, and Wellington’s guards were able to fire at the French through little holes that were situated in the walls. Napoleon launched many attacks on Hougoumont for the whole day and at 12:30 they broke open the gates. However the British closed them again and as a result trapping 40 French soldiers inside. They unfortunately killed all of them, except an 11 year old, who was a drummerThis boy. picture shows the battle at Hougoumont Farm

6

13:00, 18 June Napoleon advances Due to the fact that Wellington’s right flank was defending Hougoumont, Napoleon came up with an idea to prepare damage to the centre of the British Line. As a result, he sent 18,000 infantry along the road to Brussels to attack an important shock. They consequently defeated and captured the farm of Papelpotte and also the area surrounding La Haye Sainte. From my perspective it looked like his victory was within grasp. This is because if he captured La Haye Sainte, then he could attack the remaining British troops at very close range. At around 13:00 this all started to change. This is because when he was looking through his telescope, Napoleon caught sight of movement in the fields to the east of him. Hence he ordered a troop of cavalry to go and

investigate this issue.

This map shows Napoleon’s troops advanced on Hougoumont and made some territorial gains around La Haye Sainte.

7

14:20, 18 June Napoleon had caught sight of the Prussians, however they were still far away. Also Wellington sent some reinforcement to La Haye Sainte, which drove the French back. Wellington had two groups of cavalry over the ridge, which were led by Lord Uxbridge. As a result when Napoleon’s men were advancing towards the British line, the cavalry charged and smashed into the French infantry. Thus Napoleon’s line had been damaged and as a result weakened, but on the flip side Wellington’s left flank was also damaged.

This picture shows the British cavalry are charging at the French infantry 15:30, 18 June The Prussians at Plancenoit Napoleon’s cavalry had reached Blucher’s troops near Plancenoit, which is a village, located 5 miles east of the battlefield. The Prussian had a tactical advantage, because they captured the high ground north east of the village. They did not show any mercy, and as a result attacked the French with huge force. As a result Napoleon was forced to commit more troops over the course of the whole afternoon. Even though Blucher was not able to reach Wellington at the main battle, his determinations intended that the French were under pressure and as a result had to split their resources. Both Wellington and Blucher were working very closely, due to the fact that Wellington could hear the cannon

8 fires in the distance, and knew that it was Blucher who had formed his own front line.

This map shows Napoleon’s troops who have attacked La Haye Sainte. You can see to the East of this map that he also sent another group of soldiers to meet the Prussians in the East.

16:00, 18 June The Battle for La Haye Sainte As you can see from the opposite map that Napoleon’s army were extremely spread out, and were fighting on two fronts, one from the east and the other from the west. As a result he ordered Marshal Ney to seize La Haye Sainte, which was the most important stronghold for Wellington. For the next few hours, Napoleon sent groups and groups of armoured French soldiers on horseback to charge at the allied line. In response to what the French were doing, the Allied line changed formation into squares. They protected themselves from the 4000 strong and well trained cavalry, however the disadvantage of their formation was that forming squares made them vulnerable to Napoleon’s artillery fire. Due to the British plans, on one occasion the 27th Regiment of one of the British battalion lost approximately 500 of its 747 men. This picture shows the Battle for the farm of La Haye Sainte, which was a very important strategic point for the allies.

9

At 18:15, which was after a few hours of attack, La Haye Sainte fell. Wellington had lost his prize garrison. This was a very important place also for the French, due to the fact that now Napoleon was able to bring the French artillery forward and as a result attack the Allied centre with horrific results. The only thing that Wellington could do now was to defend the area behind the ridge and have faith that the Prussian’s quick arrival with reinforcements would arrive. This picture shows Wellington looking over the ridge at the battlefield.

10

19:00, 18 June The final push Napoleon could tell that Wellington needed reinforcements from the Prussians and as a result the Allied centre was weakened. Therefore he sent 6000 French soldiers across the field, towards Wellington who was situated on the ridge. They marched between Hougoumont and also La HayeThis Sainte. picture On shown the Napoleonleft side, who they all suffered fire from the British-held garrison of Hougoumontis making a final ,attempt but those to break people who were situated on the right, who were facingWellington’s the French line- held garrison of Haye Sainte, were able to make it over the ridge unobstructed.

19:15, 18 June Wellington stands secure

11

As the French soldiers advanced, Wellington’s soldiers waited quietly in the long grass behind the ridge. Eventually, the French had broken through the Allied front line. Consequently when they reached the ridge, Wellington gave the order to stand still and fire. They all fired at nearly point blank range, which forced the French to move back slowly. From this time onwards the forces in command of Blucher were arriving on Wellington’s left side, as shown on the map. Therefore the allied army advanced, hunting down the Imperial Guard. However Wellington at one stage had a chance to kill Napoleon, but instead ordered his men to hold fire. The French fled and Napoleon was shielded by his soldiers. This shows the direction as to where the French retreated from as Wellington’s troops advanced, and you can also see to the east of this map the Prussians arriving to join Wellington’s 20:30, 18 June army. Napoleon is defeated After the assault performed by the Prussians, the whole battlefield was filled with dead and also injured bodies that were just left there to die. On a bloody battlefield, which is situated in Belgium, Wellington had stopped Napoleon’s march towards European domination and therefore secured Britain’s role in Europe. Napoleon was however exiled to St Helena, where he later died in 1821. Wellington was known as a hero and as a result he secured a peace treaty with France and later became prime minister in 1828.

This picture shows Bulcher and also Wellington 12 celebrating their victory over Napoleon and his army

Writer Victor Hugo on the battle said this: “Waterloo is not a battle; it is the changing face of the universe.” This in my view sums up the overall impression of the allied victory of this decisive battle. The Armies There were three armies that were involved in the Battle of Waterloo. These three Picture of armies comprised mainly of the Prussian army, Napoleon which were under the command of Blucher, the multinational army, which was ordered by Wellington and last but not least the arm of Napoleon, which is also formally known as Armee de Nord. The French army consisted of around 69,000 soldiers, altogether with 250 guns, 7,000 artilleries, 14,000 cavalries and also 48,000 infantries. Napoleon had used conscription in order to fill up his army, and in doing so he did not conscript men for the campaign in 1815. Almost all of the soldiers in the French army were comprised of veterans and had already been involved in one or more campaigns already. The French army also consisted of 7 versatile lancers and also 14 regiments which had heavy and armoured cavalry. On the other side, the armies which were under the Coalition only had armoured soldiers and also Wellington only possessed a few amount of lancers. There is a lot of evidence that Wellington self-confessed that he had an army The Duke of Wellington

13 that was very inexperienced, not very well equipped, weak and not very many famous staffs in his army. He had an army which consisted of 67,000 soldiers, which altogether had 150 guns, 6,000 artilleries, 11,000 cavalries and also 50,000 infantries. The army consisted of 6,000 who were from the King’s German Legion and a further 24,000 of the soldiers were British. In addition to the army of Wellington, there were 3,000 soldiers which came from Nassau, 6,000 from Brunswick, 11,000 from Hanover and 17,000 were Dutch troops. However in 1815, the armies in the Coalition were regenerated after the defeat of Napoleon. Most of the very well trained soldiers had spent their careers in the Napoleonic regimes and also the French armies, apart from some of the soldiers that came from Brunswick and Hanover, and also those people who fought with the in Spain. As a result the soldiers which came from the continental countries were inexperienced and weak. Wellington was very short of heavy cavalry, due to the fact that he only had 7 British and a further 3 Dutch regiments. As a result the Duke of York forced many of his own staff officers on Wellington, which comprised his second-in-command, the Earl of Uxbridge. He ordered the cavalry and ‘had carte blance from Wellington to commit these forces at his discretion.’ Wellington had been positioned a further 17,000 troops at Halle, which was situated 8 miles away to the west, and these armies were not ordered to take action in the battle, but were to serve as a fall-back position should the battle be lost. These soldiers were underPicture the command showing Prince of of Orange Prince of Orange’s younger brother, who was called Prince Frederik of the Netherlands. As a result it is evident that they were situated there, in order to act as a guard against any possible wide flanking movement by the whole French forces, and also the fact that they were like a rear-guard, to help Wellington if he was forced to retreat towards Antwerp and also the coast. The Prussian army were in the stages of reorganisation and consequently in 1815, the former Reserve regiments, Legions and also Freikorps volunteer formation for the wars of 1813-14, were in the deep stages of being taken and used in the line, along with many militia (Landwehr) regiments. The Landwehr were mainly composed of untrained and also unequipped soldiers when they all arrived in Belgium. The other force that were in a similar state were the Prussian cavalry. Most of its equipment were

14 still being reorganised, due to the fact that its artillery was undergoing reorganising and as a result did not fulfil its optimum performance. On the flip side, the Prussian army had an excellent and also a professional leadership in its General Staff organisation. All of the officers had come from 4 schools, and consequently worked to a common standard of training. This is very different to what the French leader did. This is due to the fact that the French gave conflicting and also vague orders to the soldiers compared to the ordered system of the Prussians. Thus this organised system meant that before Ligny, ¾ of the Prussian army were well aware of the battle at 24 hours’ notice. Overall two and a half Prussian army corps (48,000 men) were involved at the Battle of Waterloo.

The Result Wellington had lost around 15,000 soldiers at the Battle of Waterloo and also wounded. Altogether the Blucher lost around 7,000 men. However Napoleon had lost around 24,000 to about 26,000 killed or wounded. This included about 6,000-7,000 who were captured and also 15,000 deserted during the battle. This is a quote which was said by Major W.E. Frye: said after the Battle of Waterloo.

“22 June. This morning I went to visit the field of battle, which is a little beyond the village of Waterloo, on the plateau of Mont-Saint-Jean; but on arrival there the sight was too horrible to behold. I felt sick in the stomach and was obliged to return. The multitude of carcasses, the heaps of wounded men with mangled limbs unable to move, and perishing from not having their wounds dressed or from hunger, as the Allies were, of course, obliged to take their surgeons and waggons with them, formed a spectacle I shall never forget. The wounded, both of the Allies and the French, remain in an equally deplorable state.”

From my perspective this speech shows the actual feelings which were expressed by most of the soldiers who fought at the Battle of Waterloo. This also shows the cruelness of the battle itself and how none of the sides cared about the opposition. This speech made my heart beat faster and I felt very moved by the type of words which are used, which express the sorrow and regret of having to fight in the battle.

15

Wellington had sent his official letter describing the victory on June 1815 and it consequently arrived in London on the 21st of June 1815, and as a result was later published as a London Gazette Extraordinary on the 22nd of June.

Your OC

16

Overview, personal/family life and school

17

The name of the OC assigned to us was Frederick W. Adam. He was the 4th son of the Right-Honourable William Adam.

William Adam was the son of Blair Adam and Eleonora Elphinstone. William Adam was also the Attorney-General to the Prince of Wales who was the king at the time of his employment. His role was an advisor or privy councillor to the Prince. William Adam was also a Member of Parliament. He took a break from working with royalty and politics and worked as a lawyer for many years. He was also Lord-lieutenant of Kinross. Adam inherited a mansion from his dad in Kinross-shire which is still in the possession of the family to this day.

18

Frederick Adam has many siblings. 4 brothers and a sister to be precise. His brothers were called: John Elphinstone, who worked in India, Charles, who worked in the Navy, William George, who worked in law and Francis. His sister was called Clementina. Frederick Adam joined Charterhouse on the 5th November 1794. There is some confusion as to which year Adam was born in. Several accounts state that he was born in 1781 and some state that he was born in 1784. We do know however that he was born on the 17th June. Depending what accounts are correct, Adam joined Charterhouse at the age of 10 or 13. Frederick Adam fought in many areas as will be described in the next chapter. After returning from his campaign in Egypt, he studied German at Dresden, Germany. He married his first wife in 1811, called Amelia. She died the next year in 1812 at Messina shortly after giving birth to their daughter, Amelia again. Amelia died in 1839 at the age of 27. In 1820, he married his second wife called Diamantina Palatino. In 1851, he married Anne Lindsay. She gave birth to Charles Fox Frederick, Adam’s second child. Adam had financial issues towards the end of his life. His uncle, who owed Adam the equivalent of £25,000, went bankrupt and was never able to give back the money.

19

Battle/combat career As said earlier, there is confusion as to when Adam was born so we do not know what age he joined the army at. He appeared on the Army List in 1795. It is highly improbable that he joined the army at 11 so he PROBABLY joined at the age of 13/14. Adam trained at the artillery school at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. He started active service at the age of 15, assuming he joined at 13/14. His army jobs go as follows: 1. 26th Foot in 1795, he achieved positions of first and second lieutenants throughout his time here 2. 9th Foot in 1799, he was a captain here 3. Coldstream Guards in 1799, he was a lieutenant then was promoted to captain on the 8th December 1799. He also had the roles of major and lieutenant-colonel here 4. 21st Foot in 1805, he was a lieutenant-colonel here 5. Adam’s Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo 6. In 1815, Adam took command of all troops in the Mediterranean excluding Gibraltar Frederick Adam took part in campaigns in Egypt and the Netherlands under Sir . He fought in the Battle of Alexandria in Egypt. In 1806-11, he was stationed in Sicily. He commanded the 1st Battalion and was later promoted to colonel. On the 17th-18th September 1810, 4,000 French troops landed their boats on the Sicilian beaches and attacked Adam. He fought back and drove them to their boats. He captured 850 prisoners during the fight. He was personally thanked by the commanded-in-chief of the time for his bravery and courage. In 1812-13, he fought the in Spain. He was severely wounded in Alicante. He broke his left arm and shattered his left hand. His left arm would be ‘ever after mutilated and powerless’. He was sent back home due to his injuries. On the 12th April 1813, Adam led the offensive against Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet at Biar. His battalion killed 350 soldiers the next day at the Battle of Castalla. On the 13th September 1813, he was wounded again at Ordal.

20

Nearly two years later, Frederick Adam commanded his own brigade called the Adam’s 3rd Light Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo. He launched a successful left-wheel manoeuvre against the French. He confused the French twice with this sort of tactical move. The Duke of Wellington once gave Adam a direct command at Waterloo to destroy an artillery post that was damaging the British Army. Adam completed the job perfectly and was eventually praised by the Duke of Wellington in his report to the King. Adam’s brigade consisted of 2,937 men and 698 of them died at the Battle of Waterloo. In 1815, Adam took control of all the troops in the Mediterranean excluding Gibraltar. In the same year, he was awarded the K.C.B. or the Knight Commander of the Bath. He was awarded the G.C.M.G which is the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Later roles After his roles in the army, Adam became Commander-in-chief and Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands in 1831-32. He was very popular among the locals for commissioning the building of public buildings in . He then became the Governor of Madras in 1832-37. He did not want this job but accepted because he said that if he didn’t accept, he would not be given another job of its kind. In 1846, he was promoted to a general. Death In the 1830s, Adam started having symptoms and health issues that led to his death. On the 17th August 1853, Adam went to visit his brother who worked at Greenwich Hospital. At Greenwich Railway Station, on his return back home after the visit, he collapsed in the train carriage and died of a stroke.

21

Bibliography http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/zwtf34j#z8qhsbk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo#Battle http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-right-honourable-william- patrick-adam-of-blairadam-mp129598 http://www.historytoday.com/robert-cecil/general-sir-frederick-adam-and-napier- brothers http://realcorfu.com/the-real-brits-of-corfu/ http://landedfamilies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/26-adam-of-blair-adam.html http://www.theodora.com/encyclopedia/a/sir_frederick_adam.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Adam

22