“Waterloo: New Perspectives; The Great Battle Reappraised”, by David Hamilton-Williams, forward by The Marquess of Anglesey

 

416 pages, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN-13: 978-0471145714

In his book Waterloo: New Perspectives; The Great Battle Reappraised, David Hamilton-Williams draws unorthodox yet reasonable conclusions about les Cent-Jours campaign, not least of which posits that Waterloo was lost due to the incompetence of Napoleon Bonaparte’s subordinates and not the failures of Napoleon himself, a suggestion that does not lack merit. When he returned from Elba, Napoleon was faced with grave disadvantages, some self-wrought and others unavoidable. Most decisive, argues Hamilton-Williams, was the loss of Maréchal Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Napoleon’s long time Chief of Staff (who evidently chose suicide to rejoining his former chief). Without Berthier’s gift of clear translation of Napoleon’s often garbled and confusing verbal orders, the cogs of the French military machine began to fall apart and grave miscommunications occurred, which led to the ultimate downfall of the French Empire at Waterloo. The other disadvantage worthy of recap was the loss of Marshal Murat, Bonaparte’s brilliant cavalry captain, for it was his absence that forced Napoleon to rely on the Bravest of the Brave, Maréchal Michel Ney, to command his cavalry, which resulted in useless charge after useless charge and was one of the many reasons the Corsican ultimately ended up on St. Helena. But there is more to Waterloo, such as Hamilton-Williams’ answers to several questions that, to my knowledge, no other author has thus far addressed:

• Why did Picton die crying, “Rally the Highlanders”?
• How did a few companies of British Guards hold Hougamont against most of a French corps?
• Why did the French Army fall apart and flee for their lives when the Middle Guard was repulsed, yet most could not see farther than twenty feet on the smoke filled battle field? (could it have had something to do with Ziethen’s advance?)
• Did Napoleon really lie about Maréchal Emmanuel de Grouchy’s arrival, or did the attack by the Prussians on the Nassau forces on Wellington’s left make him think Grouchy truly had arrived?

Until at least one other author addresses these questions, I submit that Hamilton-Williams is the man to read (not to mention the fact that his commentary reads like an adventure story and his account of the battle is quite simply the best so far written by anyone). This book belongs in any serious military history collection and truly does offer a new perspective, as any history that takes a new look at old tired accounts (especially accounts that have a national bias) deserves an airing, perhaps because the main thrust of the author’s account is that he relied on first person correspondence from all participants in the battle.