Waterloo Messenger: The Life of Henry Percy: Peninsular Soldier & French Prisoner of War

William Mahon

Apr 2017 · Casemate Publishers

Tentang eBook ini

At the Battle of Waterloo Sir William Ponsonby, a man who the Duke of Wellington stated had rendered very brilliant and important services and was an ornament to his profession, was killed by French lancers after leading the Union Brigade (the three Dragoon Regiments of the Royals, Iniskillings and Scots Greys) in a charge that wrecked a French advance that threatened Wellington with defeat. Sir William was a career soldier who had led his regiment in the decisive charge at the Battle of Salamanca and served with great distinction during the Peninsular War. Yet historians have blamed him because the charge at Waterloo got out of hand. In this book John Morewood uses family sources, including Sir Williams letters, as well as French and German accounts, to restore his reputation and, by shedding new light on the battle, establishes what really happen to him on that fatal afternoon. It is also a biography of a man whose bravery and professionalism distinguished him as one of the outstanding cavalry commanders of the age.

Tentang pengarang

Col. Sir William Mahon served in the Irish Guards and in Germany, Malaysia, Aden, Hong Kong, Pakistan, and Spain. He is also a former officer of Her Majesty's Bodyguard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms. Having visited Waterloo many times, his boyhood interest in the Peninsular and Waterloo campaigns was rejuvenated by his attach service in Spain. The link between Corunna, Talavera and Waterloo focused in the curious story, full of coincidences, of one largely forgotten young officer, Henry Percy.