THE EAGLE WAS the most prized possession of each regiment of the French army. Every battalion in a regiment carried a flag, but only the first carried the Eagle on top of the flagpole. Issued personally by Napoleon to the regiments at the great meeting known as the Champ de Mai just before the Waterloo campaign commenced, this symbol was defended to the death during the battle. Two Eagles were captured at Waterloo – the 45ème and the 105ème – a difficult and rare achievement, indeed; during the entire Peninsular War only eight were taken by British forces.
Sergeant Charles Ewart serving with the Scots Greys, captured the Eagle of the 45ème Régiment de Ligne at the Battle of Waterloo. He was born near Kilmarnock in 1769 and enlisted in the regiment at the age of 20 and became a well-respected soldier, serving as fencing master. A heavily built man, reported as between 6ft and 6ft 4in tall and ‘of Herculean strength’, he was an accomplished rider.
Date of manufacture:
1815
Location:
Museum of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Edinburgh Castle, Scotland
At Waterloo, the Greys were part of the Union Brigade, which made a decisive charge to destroy the Comte d’Erlon’s corps which was close to defeating Wellington’s left wing. The Greys surprised the French infantry and broke through the column. In the confusion that followed, the 45ème was destroyed as an organised unit, and Sergeant Ewart gained the Eagle in close fighting with a number of Frenchmen. He recalled:
One made a thrust at my groin, I parried him off and cut him down through the head. A lancer came at me, I threw the lance off by my right side and cut him through the chin and upwards through the teeth. Next, a foot soldier fired at me and then charged me with his bayonet, which I also had the good luck to parry, and then I cut him down through the head.
Ewart was rewarded with an ensigncy in the 5th Veteran Battalion in 1816, and left the army when this unit was disbanded in 1821. He was hailed as a hero and travelled the country giving speeches.
He retired on full pay and lived out his final years at Davyhulme, near Manchester, and died in 1846. His grave was eventually paved over and forgotten for many years, only being uncovered in the 1930s, when he was reburied by the Royal Scots Greys on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle in 1938.
The capture of the Eagle of the 105ème Régiment de Ligne has been and still is the subject of great controversy regarding who actually took it. This argument revolves around two claimants: Captain Alexander Kennedy Clark and Corporal Francis Stiles (or Styles), both of the 1st (Royal) Regiment of Dragoons, which was another regiment in the Union Brigade.
A week after Waterloo, Captain Kennedy Clark wrote to his sister: ‘I had the honour to stab the bearer of the 45th battalion of infantry and take the eagle which is now in London. It is a very handsome blue silk flag with a large gilt eagle on top of the pole with the wings spread.’ This statement contains two very clear mistakes: the Eagle captured by the Royals was that of the 105ème, and the flag attached was a tricolour, not simply blue.
Kennedy Clark had been wounded at Waterloo and in July 1815, whilst he was still recovering, he became increasingly anxious that his deed at Waterloo had been overlooked and therefore wrote to his colonel requesting his help.
A regimental investigation was held and statements from privates Anderson and Wilson, both of whom had been closely involved in the struggle, were submitted. Anderson’s statement was to the effect that he:
was to the left of Captain Clark when he stabbed the officer. He and the officer fell and the eagle fell across the heads of his and Captain Clark’s horse and against that of Corporal Stiles. Captain Clark called out twice together ‘Secure the colour’. Corporal Stiles seized it and carried off the eagle to the rear. Anderson was wounded soon after and rode part of the way from the field with the corporal.
Wilson’s description of the events was that he:
was about to quit the field when he heard Captain Clark call out to secure the colour and turned about to assist in taking it. He was a horse’s length to the right of Captain Clark when he stabbed the officer who carried it. The colour and the eagle fell against the neck of Corporal Stiles’ horse who snatched it up and galloped off to the rear.
Corporal Stiles wrote to his former troop commander at Waterloo, Lieutenant George Gunning, in January 1816 to garner his support. Gunning later wrote:
I saw an eagle among a small body. I told corporal Styles to secure it, and led the men on to the attack. At this moment I saw no officer near me. I killed the French officer who commanded the party, whose sword passed between my arm and my body at the moment my sword passed through his left breast. He was a fine looking, elegant man; his last words were ‘Vive l’Empereur’. The prisoners said he was the commanding officer of the 105th regiment. It was the work of a moment. I saw the eagle in the hands of corporal Styles and I ordered him to leave the field, and not give up the eagle until he had a proper receipt for it at headquarters from one of the Duke of Wellington’s personal staff.
Eagle of 105ème Régiment de Ligne.
Following this investigation Stiles was promoted, first to sergeant and then to ensign in the 6th West India Regiment.
In his despatch to Lord Bathurst dated 19 June, Wellington makes mention of the capture of three Eagles. He had opportunity to correct this at Brussels but did not do so, apparently in the clear belief that three Eagles had been captured. Although this was later proved incorrect, it is possible that another was captured for at least a period of time. There were persistent claims that Lieutenant Tathwell Baker Tathwell of the Royal Horse Guards also captured an Eagle during this charge, but subsequently lost it when he was captured. Colonel Bro of the French lancers claims to have recaptured an Eagle (although it is unclear whether it was the same one), and indeed the regimental history of the 55ème Régiment de Ligne, which was engaged in attacking La Haye Sainte at this time, states that they temporarily lost their Eagle. The circumstantial evidence does tend towards this being the third Eagle reported as captured to the Duke of Wellington, but it was recovered by the French.