The 3Rd Battalion 1St Foot Guards Played a Key Role in the Defence of Hougoumont, the Large Farmhouse Building and Walled Orchard on the British Right

The 3Rd Battalion 1St Foot Guards Played a Key Role in the Defence of Hougoumont, the Large Farmhouse Building and Walled Orchard on the British Right

What did John Davison do at The Battle of Waterloo? The 3rd Battalion 1st Foot Guards played a key role in the defence of Hougoumont, the large farmhouse building and walled orchard on the British right. Identified by both Wellington and Napoleon as holding the key to potential victory, Wellington placed his elite 1st (Foot Guards) Division both in and around the chateau and its orchard – the 1st Brigade (2nd & 3rd Battalions 1st Foot Guards) under Major General Maitland inside the Chateau itself, and the 2nd Brigade (2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards and 2nd Battalion 3rd (Scots) Foot Guards) under Major General Byng in the gardens and on the ridge immediately behind. During the course of the day, the 1st Division held on despite the desperate fighting at Hougoumont, as Napoleon launched repeated heavy attacks in his attempt to seize the farmhouse and shatter the British right. Despite suffering very heavy casualties, the Guards managed to repulse the French, and even as a handful of troops managed to force their way in, the Guards swiftly reclosed the door, and killed the trapped soldiers, sparing only a young French drummer boy. As Wellington later wrote, “the success of the battle turned upon closing the gates at Hougoumont”, and for the bravery of the 1st Foot Guards in the final defeat of the Grenadiers of the French Imperial Guard, they were granted their famous title – The Grenadier Guards. Over the course of Quatre Bras and Waterloo, the 3rd Battalion 1st Foot Guards suffered 4 officers and 101 men killed, with 12 officers and 490 men wounded, out of an original complement of 1066 men (or nearly 57% killed or wounded). .

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