9

The French Artillery Bombardment

As the struggle for Hougoumont raged, Napoleon turned his attention to the main Anglo-Netherlands position. A grand battery of eighty-four guns was formed, which unlimbered along a spur about 250 yards from La Haye Sainte. It included the twenty 12-pounders of II and VI Corps, forty 8-pounders of I Corps and twenty-four 12-pounders from the Imperial Guard.¹ These arrangements were noticed by Captain John Kincaid of the 95th Rifles:

Innumerable black specks were now seen taking post at regular distances in its front, and recognising them as so many pieces of artillery, I knew from experience, although nothing else was yet visible, that they were unerring symptoms of our not being destined to be idle spectators.

Another officer of the 95th Rifles, Captain George Simmons, also recorded his recollections of the events of that morning:

At daylight the weather cleared. The men commenced cleaning their arms and preparing for the tremendous contest. We were soon convinced the French were forming to give us battle, and had no doubt but Napoleon himself was there. Many old warriors who had fought for years in the Peninsula were proud of being pitted with our gallant chief against Buonaparte and the flower of France.

About 11 o’clock in the morning the enemy commenced a heavy cannonade upon our line, which was spiritedly returned from us. The 2nd Brigade of our Division occupied the extreme left of the line, the 1st 95th were upon the chaussee to Charleroi from Bruxeiles; 32nd, 79th, and 28th on the left, under the command of Sir J. Kempt; Sir D. Pack commanded the 2nd Brigade; Sir Thos. Picton commanded this Division. Our Brigade formed column and, from being much exposed to the enemy’s guns, suffered severely. About 1 o’clock the enemy’s guns were moved nearer. We knew the attack must soon commence.²

The 1st Hanoverian Infantry Brigade was part of Major General Carl August von Alten’s 3rd Division. This was the strongest British division, with thirteen and a half battalions and a total of 7,676 effectives at the start of the battle:

From the beginning of the battle, the enemy undertook a massive artillery bombardment against that part of the line that the brigade was covering. The fire ricocheted into the second line, inflicting greater damage on the Nassau Infantry regiment than on the brigade. The two batteries attached to the 3rd Division along with a third which had deployed on the crest of the hill in front of the brigade suffered heavily. Other batteries relieved them several times, but they either quickly ran out of ammunition, or were damaged and left standing. In front of the brigade, several powder wagons blew up.

Lieutenant Colonel James Stanhope was with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Foot Guards, situated to the west of the Charleroi–Brussels road. He wrote in a letter after the battle that because his battalion was placed behind the crest of the hill he was unable to see the whole battlefield. His recollections of that day, in as far as they affected him, nevertheless, were quite clear:

The hills on which we had seen but small bodies the night before was now black with clustered troops and large masses of infantry … The action began with a cannonade such as I believe never was seen before … Under a most destructive cannonade & having several shells burst in the middle of us, not a man moved from his place …

A number of Staff officers were soon killed & wounded who were at first alone exposed to the cannonade. General Cooke lost his arm, shells began to fall in our squares & though many men were blown up & horribly mangled I never saw such steadiness. As the poor wounded wretches remained in the square it was a horrid sight in cold blood.³

Private Clay was with the 3rd Foot Guards. During the night before the battle Clay had fallen up to his neck in a water-filled ditch when taking position behind Hougoumont:

We remained in a kneeling position under this cover, but annoyed by a most galling fire from our opponent’s guns to the left of our position so near to us, indeed that the spreading of their small shots [from canister] rarely escaped contact with our knapsacks and accoutrements, even the heels of our shoes (whilst kneeling) were struck by them.⁴

The British artillery was not silent though its officers had been instructed not to engage in counter-battery fire but to concentrate their efforts upon the enemy’s infantry and cavalry. Several batteries were therefore brought into play against Prince Jéróme’s men:

Jerome’s supporting columns had not advanced far when the Duke of Wellington, with his staff, galloped up to the spot on which the Coldstream Guards were formed; and having directed his glass upon the French columns, the guns of Sandham’s Foot Battery, attached to Cooke’s Division, were ordered to the front. They instantly unlimbered and opened the cannonade from the Anglo-Allied position.

The first discharge was from a howitzer shell which burst over the head of a column moving towards Hougoumont inclosures. The shots from the remaining guns in succession also took effect; and the Battery was soon in full play. It was immediately followed up by an equally well directed fire from Captain Cleeve’s Foot Battery of the German legion in front of Alten’s Division.⁵

The Allied guns could easily reach the French positions far beyond Hougoumont, as General Foy’s aide-de-camp, Major Lemonnier- Delafosse, recalled with not a little mischief:

Behind us in reserve was the brigade of carabineers on which the cannon-balls which passed over us went to fall. To get out of their range, this brigade moved to their left, which provoked General Foy to laugh, ‘Ha! Ha! The big boots don’t like the rough stuff.’ We received the cannon-balls standing firm. They covered us with mud and soaked the ground … for many of the projectiles buried or muffled themselves whilst rolling along this muddy soil.⁶

Despite Wellington’s instructions not to engage in counter-battery fire, one battery commander, Captain Cavalie Mercer of ‘G’ Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, could not resist the temptation:

About this time, being impatient of standing idle, and annoyed by the batteries on the Nivelles road, I ventured to commit a folly, for which I should have paid dearly had our Duke chanced to be in our part of the field. I ventured to disobey orders, and opened a slow deliberate fire at the battery thinking with my 9-pounders soon to silence his 4-pounders.

My astonishment was great, however, when our first gun was responded to by at least half a dozen gentlemen of very superior calibre, whose presence I had not even suspected, and whose superiority we immediately recognised by their rushing noise and long reach, for they flew far beyond us. I instantly saw my folly, and ceased firing, and they did the same – the 4 pounders alone continuing the cannonade as before. But this was not all. The first man of my troop touched was by one of these confounded long shots [Gunner Hunt]. I shall never forget the scream the poor lad gave when struck. It was one of the last they fired, and shattered his left arm to pieces as he stood between the wagons. That scream went to my very soul.⁷

The French guns were therefore able to maintain their bombardment of the Allied positions virtually unchallenged – as experienced by Ensign Wheatley, a Londoner who had joined the 5th Line Battalion of the King’s German Legion:

About ten o’clock, the order came to clean out the muskets and fresh load them. Half an allowance of rum was then issued, and we descended into the plain, and took our position in solid Squares. When this was arranged as per order, we were ordered to remain in our position but, if we like, to lay down, which the battalion did [as well as] the officers in the rere [sic].

I took this opportunity of surveying our situation. It was singular to perceive the shoals of Cavalry and artillery suddenly in our rere all arranged in excellent order as if by a magic wand. The whole of the horse Guards stood behind us. For my part I thought they were at Knightsbridge barracks or prancing on St James’s Street.

A Ball whizzed in the air. Up we started simultaneously. I looked at my watch. It was just eleven o’clock … In five minutes a stunning noise took place and a shocking havoc commenced.

One could almost feel the undulation of the air from the multitude of cannon shot. The first man who fell was five files on my left. With the utmost distortion of feature he lay on his side shrivelling up every muscle of the body, then dropped lifeless, dying as it’s called a death of glory, heaving his last breath on the field of fame. Dieu m’engarde!⁸

James Hope of the 92nd Highlanders wrote the following comments on the effects of the French bombardment:

At first we did not mind it much, but in a few minutes it became so terrible, as to strike with awe the oldest veteran in the field. The spirits of the men were very low indeed during the whole of the morning, and although they had been considerably raised before the commencement of the battle, yet there was something wanting to restore their wonton daring, when opposed to the enemies of this country.⁹

Generalmajor Vincke was with the 5th Hanoverian Infantry Brigade in Picton’s 5th Division which formed part of the reserve behind the Allied centre:

About noon, two enemy batteries moved up to less than 2,000 paces from the 5th Brigade. They had very heavy guns and the balls fell so far to the rear of us that the dressing station had to be moved further back. The situation soon changed and the enemy artillery severely wounded the commander of a Nassau battalion that was close to the 5th Brigade.¹⁰

The 40th Regiment, of which Lieutenant Hugh Wray was a member, also formed part of Major General Sir John Lambert’s reserve brigade:

We had three companies almost shot to pieces, one shot killed and wounded twenty-five of the 4th Company, another of the same kind killed poor Fisher, my captain and eighteen of our company … another took the 8th [Company] and killed or wounded twenty-three … At the same time poor Fisher was hit I was speaking to him and I got all his brains [over me as] his head was blown to atoms.¹¹

Also in the reserve was the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment which was in the 10th Brigade of the 6th Division which was initially situated behind Mont St Jean farm. The ferocity of the French bombardment was graphically demonstrated by this letter to the Army and Navy Gazette:

I have seen many proofs of the intrepidity of the British soldier, but the conduct of the Battalion of the 27th Regiment at Waterloo was the most extraordinary I ever beheld. They were placed in column, under the fire of several batteries, and there, without forming a line or firing a shot in return, the bullets ploughed through their men until nearly two- thirds went down, and the survivors, as fearing their own nerves might give way, but resolved not to go back, pressed their heads and shoulders inwards, forming a solid ring, and thus leaning together, and striving, as it were, to push all to the centre, moved round and round like men in a mill, apparently frantic with horror and excitement, yet firm in the resolution to overcome nature and fall to the last.¹²

As previously mentioned, Generalmajor Willem Frederik van Bylandt’s 1st Belgian Brigade was at first situated on the forward slope of Mont St Jean and was an easy target for the French artillery, as Harry Ross- Lewin, of the 32nd Regiment, observed:

As soon as … the enemy’s artillery were in position, the limbers were removed to the rear; a few men remained at each gun, and they began to throw their shot into our columns with great precision. Their practice was undoubtedly very good, and the Belgians adopted a perfectly intelligible although not very soldier-like method of expressing the high opinion they entertained of its excellence; for only one or two shot had passed through them when they faced about, and went in a body to the rear, artillery and all. This little circumstance did not encourage us to place excessive reliance on the support to be expected from our new allies, les braves Belges.¹³

Ross-Lewin was actually misinformed. The Prince of Orange had ordered Bylandt to move back from his exposed forward position. There has been much said about the position of Bylandt’s Brigade and whether or not it was withdrawn before it suffered unduly from the French guns. Ross-Lewin’s account provides us with the answer to this.

Sergeant William Lawrence served with the 40th Foot in Sir Lowry Cole’s 6th Division. The battalion, having just returned from America, only reached Waterloo on the morning of the battle:

Early in the morning of the 18th we were again put on the march to join our lines, our position being in the reserve, which included the Fourth and Twenty-Seventh Regiments, together with a body of Brunswickers and Dutch, and formed a line between Merk Braine and Mont St. Jean on the Brussels road. Our regiment took the left of this road, but did not remain there long, for the French were seen in motion, and on their opening fire from their cannon we soon marched up to action in open column.

During this movement a shell from the enemy cut our deputy- sergeant-major in two, and having passed on to take the head off one of my company of grenadiers named William Hooper, exploded in the rear not more than one yard from me, hurling me at least two yards into the air, but fortunately doing me little injury beyond the shaking and carrying a small piece of skin off the side of my face. It was indeed another narrow escape, for it burnt the tail of my sash completely off, and turned the handle of my sword perfectly black. I remember remarking to a sergeant who was standing close by me when I fell, ‘This is sharp work to begin with, I hope it will end better.’¹⁴

Ensign Leeke, was with the 52nd Regiment which was in the 3rd Brigade of Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton’s 2nd Division. This was a light infantry brigade consisting of the 71st (Highland Light Infantry) Regiment as well as the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the 95th Rifles.

The standing to be cannonaded, and having nothing else to do, is about the most unpleasant thing that can happen to soldiers in an engagement … I do not exactly know the rapidity with which the cannon-balls fly, but I think that two seconds elapsed from the time I saw this shot leave the gun until it struck the front face of the square.

It did not strike the four men in the rear of whom I was standing, but the poor fellows on their right. It was fired with some elevation, and struck the front man about the knees, and coming to the ground under [the] feet of the rear man of the four, whom it severely wounded, it rose and, passing within an inch or two of the Colour pole … The two men in the first and second rank fell outward, I fear they did not survive; the two others fell within the square. The rear man made a considerable outcry on being wounded.¹⁵

The 14th Regiment was with the 4th Brigade. This brigade was stationed to the right of Hougoumont with the 51st Regiment spread out along the road to Braine l’Alleud, this line being extended westwards by three companies of the 14th, with the rest of the battalion being held in close support. One of its number was Ensign Keppel:

A round shot took off his head [a bugler] and spattered the whole battalion with his brains, the colours and the ensigns in charge of them coming in for an extra share. One of them, Charles Fraser, a fine gentleman in speech and manner, raised a laugh by drawling out, ‘How extremely disgusting!’ A second shot carried off six of the men’s bayonets, a third broke the breastbone of a Lance-Sergeant, whose piteous cries were anything but encouraging to his youthful comrades.¹⁶

The following brief note was tucked away in one of the many columns of news published in the Chester Courant on Tuesday, 18 July 1815:

Captain Elton, of the Greys, son of Sir Abraham Elton, had two horses shot under him, as he was taking messages from the Earl of Uxbridge to the Duke of Wellington.

Tom Pocock, with the 71st Highland Light Infantry, was initially in reserve behind the right of the Anglo-Netherlands line north of the Nivelles road:

The artillery had been tearing away, since daybreak, in different parts of the line. About twelve o’clock we received orders to fall in for attack. We then marched up to our position, where we lay on our face of a brae, covering a brigade of guns. – We were so overcome by the fatigue of two day’s march, that, scare had we lain down until many of us fell asleep. I slept sound for some time, while the cannon-balls, plunging in amongst us, killed a great many. I was suddenly awakened. A ball struck the ground a little below me, turned me heels-over-head, broke my musket in pieces, and killed a lad at my side. I was stunned and confused, and knew not whether I was wounded or not. I felt a numbness in my arm for some time.

We lay thus, about an hour and a half, under a dreadful fire which cost us about 60 men, while we had never fired a shot. The balls were falling thick amongst us. The young man I lately spoke of lost his legs by a shot at this time. They were cut very close: he soon bled to death.¹⁷

Even though Napoleon had delayed the start of the battle, the ground was still soft and despite the described effectiveness of the French artillery it was evidently less lethal than it might have under drier conditions. Coupled with Wellington’s instructions for the men to remain below the crest of Mont St Jean, casualties were minimised. An officer of the 10th Hussars, wrote that,

it was the ground that took the effect of the shot, much from its being deep mud, from the rain and trampling of horse and foot – so that often shot did not rise – and shells buried and exploded up and sending up the mud like a fountain. I had mud thrown over me in this way often.¹⁸

Captain Tomkinson, of the 16th Light Dragoons, had a similar experience, being posted opposite Papelotte and La Haie:

The ground was so deep that numberless shells burst where they fell, and did little damage or injury from being buried in the ground, and many round shot never rose from the place they first struck the ground, instead of hopping for half a mile and doing considerable injury. Many lives were saved from this circumstance.¹⁹

The bombardment by the so-called Grand Battery lasted for around ninety minutes. The French guns fell silent to allow the divisions of d’Erlon’s Corps to pass through the line of guns, caissons and limbers and assemble ahead of the artillery for the great attack upon the British left-centre.