Napoleon and his Waterloo

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Bonjour,

During my Study Tour, I had seen many signs in the metro advertising a recreation of the Battle of Waterloo. Every time I went past, I said that I wanted to go to it and finally I was able to scrounge up some friends and we all bought tickets. We were all coming from different places, Gare Central and Gare du Midi, but everyone got on the train successfully. That was about the only time of the day when we were really all in the same place.

Sara, Nicola and I saw the sign from Waterloo and jumped off the train at the station didn’t. I knocked on the window, as Xavier was asleep, and told them to get off. They all told us to get back on because it was the next stop. I asked the conductor “La bataille c’est ici, oui?” The response was “oui”, so I stayed off the train. Big mistake. We were in the town of Waterloo, but the battle was 5km south of there. Well, we started walking. And walking. And walking. Then, just to change it up, we walked some more. It took us an hour, but we made it to the Battlefield where Laura, Viktoria, Christine, Edith and Xavier, the smart ones who had stayed on the train, were waiting at a cafe.

We all walked to the battlefield, which is literally in the middle of a field (they kept reminding us on the loudspeakers not to damage the crops or litter as the farmers would be pissed). There were bleachers set up, but they had sold out so we were expecting to set up a blanket on the ground. Apparently, people would rather stand for two hours so that is what we ended up doing. It was about this time that we all got separated again into the groups that were on the train. I really don’t know how it kept happening but it did. Viktoria, Xavier, Edith, Laura and Christine stayed near the entrance while Sara, Nicola and I waded through the people until we found a nice spot with little people in front of us so we could see the battle without any view obstructions. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. Sara is also one of the “little people” I spoke of but we let her in front of us and then she had a decent view. It isn’t a recreation of the entire battle, as no one can commit 12 hours of a day to watching a recreated event, so they recreated the most important parts of it. This was the battle of Hougoumont, which was one of the most decisive events of the Battle of Waterloo.

With a roar of cannon fire, which erupted in really cool smoke signals billowing in the air, the battle began. Wait a second that was thunder. Oh no, Belgian weather is upon us. It began to rain fairly steadily but it only lasted for about 20 minutes so it wasn’t that bad. The soldiers, some on horseback but most on foot marched towards each other, mimicking the actions of soldiers 194 years earlier. On my side of the battlefield were the 95th Green Jackets. Now, this fact isn’t so significant in itself without some background information. My great, great, great grandfather, also named Peter Wright, fought at the Battle of Waterloo with the 95th Green Jackets. By pure coincidence, I was standing less than 50 metres away from where my ancestor had fought in the decisive battle. I couldn’t believe my luck!

The soldiers faced each other, drawing arms, aiming and firing, complete with explosions (and the accompanying volume associated with explosions), so it was fairly realistic from that perspective. However, people on neither had a tendency not to die. They wouldn’t even fall over, they’d just stand there and shoot some more. At least, that was how it started. By 11am, people were starting to litter the battlefield, until their side retreated or advanced and then they jumped back into the fray. This was the case save for one soldier. I don’t know why, but he just didn’t seem to want to get up. Some other soldiers checked on him, but he was content so they put a large stake in the ground behind him so horses and people wouldn’t trample him. The people who portrayed the soldiers were all trained reconstructionists, but they did not hesitate to smile, make jokes, mug for the crowd and take photos of the event. There’s nothing like seeing a soldier run at the enemy, get shot, fall down and then roll over and take out his digital SLR and start snapping photos! Also, the Scots had to get into the act somewhere along the line. They did this by breaking ranks and mooning the enemy, which was quite entertaining when the French decide to fire at you as you’re doing this. Fortunately, no asses were harmed during the battle.
I was able to spy both the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon from the distance, but they tended to stay on the sidelines during the struggle. I can imagine why after seeing the ferocity of some of the cavalry charges from both sides that took place. Apparently, the technique to do when infantry are charged by cavalry is to stand in a tightly packed circle. This causes the cavalry attack to lose its effectiveness. It also causes the cavalry to circle the soldiers and lash out with their swords, rifles and many jokes at the other troops.

The battle was a lot of back and forth, but the allied forces eventually were able to push the French soldiers back from the field and the day was won.

After the battle, some of us went for food while others headed back to Brussels. Sara, Nicolas and I went up Le Hameau du Lion, which is a statue of a lion on top of a steep hill that was built on the place where the Prince of Orange was wounded in the arm. Personally, I don’t think it’s the most significant place to put such a grandiose monument to the battle, but the Belgian’s do so it stands, providing an excellent view over the surrounding area. We then visited the Panorama, which is a 360° painting of the battle, before getting on the train back to Brussels.

Bye for now,
Peter

Things I learned at Waterloo:

-When using blanks and gunpowder but not cannonballs or musketballs, it is still possible to set the wheat field on fire. Keep the fire brigade close by during future battle recreations.
-Napoleon’s hat is exceptionally cool. I was disappointed when I couldn’t find one to bring home. I’d get all the ladies in the bar wearing one of those!
-Ultra-lights flying over a 194 year old recreation of a battle do not add to the historical mystique.

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