18th - Sharpe's Waterloo
Diving right back into the book, but if anyone is interested in a battlefield tour, step this way ->
THE FOURTH DAY
Sunday, 18 June 1815
"It stopped raining during the night.
The staff and general officers in Waterloo rose long before the dawn. Their grooms saddled horses, then, like men riding to their business, the officers took the southern road through the dark and dripping forest.
Sharpe and Harper were among the first to leave."
... and this is where they are going:
Coming from Waterloo, from the north, they pass through Mont St. Jean and rein in at the highest point of the ridge next to the infamous elm tree to survey the battlefield.
"There were Riflemen positioned some two hundred paces down the road in the valley, just opposite the farm of La Haye Sainte. Sharpe and Harper trotted towards those Greenjackets, who were occupying a sandpit on the road’s left, while the farm on the right was garrisoned by men of the King’s German Legion."
Sadly, these are not the riflemen they meet in the book.
Here they meet the 'real' 95th, but Sharpe is recognised by them (and fed tea; as was everyone else in Reality, from the Duke downwards) and one of them is the officer who commanded 1st Lieutenant Quartermaster Sharpe on the retreat to Corunna, but no hard feelings. (It's a nice scene)
Sharpe and Harper go back up to the crest of the ridge and turn west towards the British right flank (which the Prince of Orange had judged to be vulnerable the night before. To give him some credit, in RL Wellington thought so as well). They see the Prince of Wales’s Own Volunteers being paraded on the right behind the ridge, and go farther west, Harper commenting on the amount of artillery they pass behind:
"‘I’ve never seen so many guns,’ Harper commented. Every few yards there was another battery of nine-pounders while, behind the ridge, the lethal short-barrelled howitzers waited in reserve.
‘You can bet your last ha’pence that Napoleon’s got more guns than us,’ Sharpe said grimly."
yup - French 252 guns vs 156 British ones, according to wiki
On the ridge above the chateau of Hougoumont, which is being occupied and made ready by the Coldstream Guards, they meet their Prince and his entourage. Slender Billy starts talking to Sharpe about the importance of the right flank again, and how the artillery is in entirely the wrong position, but Sharpe cuts in and asks:
"‘Are the Prussians coming, sir?’ Sharpe asked.
The Prince frowned as though he found the question aggravating. ‘They’re coming.’ The answer was grudging. ‘Blücher says two of his corps will be here by midday and a third will be hard on their heels. The message came a few minutes ago.’
‘Thank God,’ Sharpe said fervently."
Apparently Sharpe thinks holding the left flank and gaining another army is kind of important as well
"‘We can beat them so long as we hold this flank.’ The Prince turned his horse towards the château. ‘So keep watch here, Sharpe! The future of Europe may depend on your vigilance!’"
And the Prince of Orange rushes off again, to direct the future of Europe.
Whereas Sharpe and Harper get to watch the deployment of Napoleon's army from the ridge above Hougoumont.
"After half an hour the enemy was still filing onto the ridge, the new battalions concealing the first, and those new battalions in turn being hidden by yet more troops who poured from the high road to wheel left or right. The bands were playing while officers with gold and lace-trimmed saddle-cloths galloped bravely in front of the display. It was a sight not seen on a battlefield for a hundred years; a formal display of a glorious threat, overwhelming and dazzling and filling the southern landscape with guns and sabres and lances and swords and muskets."
When Bonaparte's artillery, his <>jeunes filles open fire, Wellington orders his infantry battalions to lie down behind the ridge, and Sharpe and Harper move farther to the right, to see French skirmishers advance on Hougoumont, the most western British outpost. Sharpe and Harper observe the ensuing skirmish, but remain on the ridge until reinforcements of the Prince of Orange's corps arrive - accompanied by the young Frog in high spirits.
"He spoke cheerfully with the commander of the Guards, then saw Sharpe waiting higher on the ridge. ‘What are you doing there?’ he shouted.
‘Obeying your orders, sir. Watching the right flank.’
‘I think we can abandon that idea, Sharpe!’ The Prince’s tone implied utter scorn for anyone who seriously believed the French might attempt a flanking march."
Sharpe is officially orderd into Hougoumont, for now the very centre of the fighting action.
"A French roundshot crashed into the farmhouse roof, showering slates and splinters into the yard. Sharpe looked up at the damaged rafters and grimaced. ‘God knows what we’re doing here.’
‘You’re keeping the wee boy happy, sir.’ Harper looked at the nearest defenders. ‘My God, but we’re in high and mighty company, so we are. I’ve never fought with the Coldstreamers before. I’d better polish my boots.’"
They both acquit themselves very well in the defense of the farm, and the Coldstreamer Colonel is glad to have a spare officer to hand:
"The second French assault had failed. Colonel MacDonnell, his face still smeared with blood, found Sharpe in the courtyard when the last musket shot had faded to silence. ‘You could be useful to me,’ he spoke diffidently, not wanting to encroach on another man’s authority.
‘I’ll do whatever I can.’
‘More ammunition? Can you find a wagon of the stuff and have it sent down?’
‘With pleasure.’"
So Sharpe and Harper retrieve their horses and go to find cartridges.
This means they are behind the British ridge and manage - for once - not to get embroiled in the thick of the action, they are not on the left flank to watch the Prince of Orange order out another battalion in column vs cavalry, nor do they ride along with the British cavalry charge that gallops at everything... which all does happen in the book, Mr. Cornwell did his homework. Go and read the book already, what are you waiting for anyway?
Give me night or give me Blücher... *cough* or give Sharpe command...
all "quotes" from Sharpe's Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell, pics from Sharpe's Waterloo of the tv series, map from Historical Atlas by William Shepherd (1911).
And greatest thanks to Bernard Cornwell, he did the hard research and fictionalising, I'm just summing up what Sharpe's doing (according to the book).
THE FOURTH DAY
Sunday, 18 June 1815
"It stopped raining during the night.
The staff and general officers in Waterloo rose long before the dawn. Their grooms saddled horses, then, like men riding to their business, the officers took the southern road through the dark and dripping forest.
Sharpe and Harper were among the first to leave."
... and this is where they are going:
Coming from Waterloo, from the north, they pass through Mont St. Jean and rein in at the highest point of the ridge next to the infamous elm tree to survey the battlefield.
"There were Riflemen positioned some two hundred paces down the road in the valley, just opposite the farm of La Haye Sainte. Sharpe and Harper trotted towards those Greenjackets, who were occupying a sandpit on the road’s left, while the farm on the right was garrisoned by men of the King’s German Legion."
Sadly, these are not the riflemen they meet in the book.
Here they meet the 'real' 95th, but Sharpe is recognised by them (and fed tea; as was everyone else in Reality, from the Duke downwards) and one of them is the officer who commanded 1st Lieutenant Quartermaster Sharpe on the retreat to Corunna, but no hard feelings. (It's a nice scene)
Sharpe and Harper go back up to the crest of the ridge and turn west towards the British right flank (which the Prince of Orange had judged to be vulnerable the night before. To give him some credit, in RL Wellington thought so as well). They see the Prince of Wales’s Own Volunteers being paraded on the right behind the ridge, and go farther west, Harper commenting on the amount of artillery they pass behind:
"‘I’ve never seen so many guns,’ Harper commented. Every few yards there was another battery of nine-pounders while, behind the ridge, the lethal short-barrelled howitzers waited in reserve.
‘You can bet your last ha’pence that Napoleon’s got more guns than us,’ Sharpe said grimly."
yup - French 252 guns vs 156 British ones, according to wiki
On the ridge above the chateau of Hougoumont, which is being occupied and made ready by the Coldstream Guards, they meet their Prince and his entourage. Slender Billy starts talking to Sharpe about the importance of the right flank again, and how the artillery is in entirely the wrong position, but Sharpe cuts in and asks:
"‘Are the Prussians coming, sir?’ Sharpe asked.
The Prince frowned as though he found the question aggravating. ‘They’re coming.’ The answer was grudging. ‘Blücher says two of his corps will be here by midday and a third will be hard on their heels. The message came a few minutes ago.’
‘Thank God,’ Sharpe said fervently."
Apparently Sharpe thinks holding the left flank and gaining another army is kind of important as well
"‘We can beat them so long as we hold this flank.’ The Prince turned his horse towards the château. ‘So keep watch here, Sharpe! The future of Europe may depend on your vigilance!’"
And the Prince of Orange rushes off again, to direct the future of Europe.
Whereas Sharpe and Harper get to watch the deployment of Napoleon's army from the ridge above Hougoumont.
"After half an hour the enemy was still filing onto the ridge, the new battalions concealing the first, and those new battalions in turn being hidden by yet more troops who poured from the high road to wheel left or right. The bands were playing while officers with gold and lace-trimmed saddle-cloths galloped bravely in front of the display. It was a sight not seen on a battlefield for a hundred years; a formal display of a glorious threat, overwhelming and dazzling and filling the southern landscape with guns and sabres and lances and swords and muskets."
When Bonaparte's artillery, his <>jeunes filles open fire, Wellington orders his infantry battalions to lie down behind the ridge, and Sharpe and Harper move farther to the right, to see French skirmishers advance on Hougoumont, the most western British outpost. Sharpe and Harper observe the ensuing skirmish, but remain on the ridge until reinforcements of the Prince of Orange's corps arrive - accompanied by the young Frog in high spirits.
"He spoke cheerfully with the commander of the Guards, then saw Sharpe waiting higher on the ridge. ‘What are you doing there?’ he shouted.
‘Obeying your orders, sir. Watching the right flank.’
‘I think we can abandon that idea, Sharpe!’ The Prince’s tone implied utter scorn for anyone who seriously believed the French might attempt a flanking march."
Sharpe is officially orderd into Hougoumont, for now the very centre of the fighting action.
"A French roundshot crashed into the farmhouse roof, showering slates and splinters into the yard. Sharpe looked up at the damaged rafters and grimaced. ‘God knows what we’re doing here.’
‘You’re keeping the wee boy happy, sir.’ Harper looked at the nearest defenders. ‘My God, but we’re in high and mighty company, so we are. I’ve never fought with the Coldstreamers before. I’d better polish my boots.’"
They both acquit themselves very well in the defense of the farm, and the Coldstreamer Colonel is glad to have a spare officer to hand:
"The second French assault had failed. Colonel MacDonnell, his face still smeared with blood, found Sharpe in the courtyard when the last musket shot had faded to silence. ‘You could be useful to me,’ he spoke diffidently, not wanting to encroach on another man’s authority.
‘I’ll do whatever I can.’
‘More ammunition? Can you find a wagon of the stuff and have it sent down?’
‘With pleasure.’"
So Sharpe and Harper retrieve their horses and go to find cartridges.
This means they are behind the British ridge and manage - for once - not to get embroiled in the thick of the action, they are not on the left flank to watch the Prince of Orange order out another battalion in column vs cavalry, nor do they ride along with the British cavalry charge that gallops at everything... which all does happen in the book, Mr. Cornwell did his homework. Go and read the book already, what are you waiting for anyway?
Give me night or give me Blücher... *cough* or give Sharpe command...
all "quotes" from Sharpe's Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell, pics from Sharpe's Waterloo of the tv series, map from Historical Atlas by William Shepherd (1911).
And greatest thanks to Bernard Cornwell, he did the hard research and fictionalising, I'm just summing up what Sharpe's doing (according to the book).