Featured Battle of Waterloo anniversary......

Today is the 208th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, a sad but epic event that has captivated me since childhood. So my evening viewing tonight will be the epic film with Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer as the opposing commanders on that fateful day.
Having visited the site on numerous occasions and studied the battle for decades, I have been lucky enough to acquire a couple of artifacts from the site........


The musket ball came from Hougoumont farm, and is a British Brown Bess ball. The grapeshot round came from Plancenoit, slightly behind the French line, which was the scene of extremely bitter fighting that day.


A French musket ball from Le Haye Sainte (right), and another probably French ball, that has unfortunately hit something, or someone!
I have several bayonets that might have been there, but no proof.

So, the question is, does anybody here have anything related either to the battle itself, or to the period or the protagonists please? All is of interest!

 

I was once friends with Plummer's nephew....?

Does that count ?

....

 

Phil Harding (of Time Team fame) has been involved in an extensive site investigation of Waterloo w/ the firm Wessex Archaeology.
IMHO it's worth checking out on YouTube.

 

Hmmmmmmmmmm, hadn't thought about that........

I once worked with Ian Ogilvy, who appears in the 1970 film 'Waterloo' as Colonel William De Lancey, perhaps that counts towards my collection............

 

All I have is this game from when I was a young teen.

 

I remember that game, though I never played it. I imagine that it is probably a collectors item in its own right now for one collects game and toys?

Thank you for sharing it!

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62148618

 

Yeah, a little: maybe as much as a one, on a ten-scale.
Your 15 seconds of fame, komo!

 

I;ve had my 15 minutes on more than one occasion.........

 

We took our student group there about 15 years ago. I climbed to the top. That's me in the plaid jacket leaning on the railing, catching my breath.

 

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I used to live in a town (Cedar Falls) next to Waterloo, Iowa. That's the closest connection I can find.

 

This is the medal for Prussian soldiers who took part in the 1815 campaign battles against Napoleonic forces at the Battles of Ligny and Waterloo.

Although the medal was manufactured after the Battle of Waterloo the material itself might have been at the Waterloo Battlefield. The medals were made from Bronze from captured French Cannons. The medal is marked as such on the rim: „Aus erobertem Geschütz“ (from captured Cannon)

 

More artefacts from the 1813 to 1815 battles against Napoleonic forces.

The cannon ball was found on a Leipzig 1813 battlefield.

The Iron Cross 2nd class is from the first award period 1813.

The sabre is a Prussian Model 1811 cavalry sabre (Prussian copy of the British light cavalry dabre M1796)

 

A very nice collection of items you have there! Thank you for showing them.

The sabre, Prussian 1811 pattern, commonly called 'The Blücher' sabre. I did have one many years ago, made by Schnitzler & Kirschbaum (S&K), but alas not any more. They are enormously heavy, especially when compared to the British 1796 Light Cavalry version. Are there any unit markings on this example?

 

I did actually live in Waterloo............ But to be honest, that was Waterloo, South side of the River Thames, not Waterloo, South of Brussels!

 

The shown Prussian M1811 is made by Schnitzler und Kirschbaum (S&K). It has unit markings and depot stamps.

 

A comparison photo with a British M1796 Light Cavalry Sabre. M1811 front, M1796 in the back.
England supplied Prussia with 6000 M1796 sabre in 1807 and 10000 M1796 sabres in 1813/1814. The Prussian cities with the big edged weapon manufacturers like Solingen were then under french occupation.
During the Napoleonic wars the majority of the Prussian cavalry units were equipped with British M1796 sabres.

The M1796 shown in the photo has British markings 4 and the British crown and a British company Name on the blade. This M 1796 sabre was found two years ago during demolition of an old building in a small village in Saxony hidden under floor boards in the attic. Right next to the village and partly in the village took a battle place in october 1813. The sabre was hidden there either after the battle or in May of 1945 when the Red Army occupied Saxony.
Found with the Sabre was the leather hanger and belt. The leather is totally dried out and very fragile.

 

With its matching scabbard, gorgeous! Do you know which unit T.P is by any chance?

These are French AN IX bayonets, which according to my current research, any of which could have been present at Waterloo.
The top one, though French, was actually made in Belgium. The bottom one was probably made in Germany. Napoleon had weapons made all over the place as he rampaged through Europe!


EDIT:

I have just seen the new pictures, they are awsome! Beautifully shows the sheer size of the Blücher! Amazing to find the sword still hidden. many fine items like this have been found in recent years. For interests sake, who made the 1796 pattern, Osborn made a lot, as of course did Gill to name just two of the many manufacturers. Thank you for showing these! (I have a particular love of stirrup hilt swords!).

 

T.P. is some „Train“ (Equipment/Supply) unit. The M1811 were replaced in the cavalry units with the M1852 Sabre. The M1811 sabre were handed down to secondary units like Supply/Train and or Artillery units. The M1811 sabres were kept in storage and service until WW1 when guards in depots and such received the M1811. (the real weapons were needed at the front line).

The first M1811 sabres were produced as quick as possible and rushed to the cavalry units - no time for unit stamping apparently.

You are right, the M1811 is a „beast“, it is really heavy and when held you know it is a deadly weapon. No comparison to later officer swords, which are more a uniform accessory than a weapon.