HAMPSHIRE historians are marshalling their forces to mark the bicentenary of one Europe’s most famous and decisive battles.
Along with Hastings in 1066, 1815 the year of the Battle of Waterloo is popularly considered as one of the two most significant dates in British history.
Fought on Sunday, June 18, between the Anglo-Allied forces commanded by the Duke of Wellington, and the French led by Napoleon Bonaparte, it was the first occasion on which the two generals had faced each other on the battlefield. The outcome cemented Wellington’s reputation as the “saviour of Europe” and a national hero.
For Europe, the encounter marked the end to what had been a world war in all but name and settled the shape of the continent for much of the next century.
The University of Southampton is the home of the Wellington Archive, a collection of 100,000 papers of Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, including important material relating to the Waterloo campaign.
Items from the archive feature in the exhibition, “Waterloo: the tale is in every Englishman’s mouth”, currently running in the Special Collections Gallery in the university’s Hartley Library.
Karen Robson, head of archives, said: “It includes the Duke’s letters of appointment to assume command of an allied army; material on the arrangements for putting together the coalition forces; accounts of Waterloo sent to Wellington by his commanders; and items reflecting on the status of Wellington as a national hero. An item that provides a glimpse of the human cost of warfare and the human side to Wellington—counterbalancing the perceived image of the cold, aloof general—is a letter he wrote to the fourth Earl of Aberdeen informing him of the death of his brother. In this Wellington writes, “I cannot express to you the regret and sorrow with which I look round me, and contemplate the loss which I have sustained, particularly in your brother. The glory resulting from such actions, so dearly bought, is no consolation to me....”
On the afternoon of June 18, Waterloo Day, the public will be able to meet the curators of the exhibition and hear a lecture on Wellington and the writing of the Waterloo Despatch by Professor Chris Woolgar. To sign up for this free event visit eventbrite.co.uk/e/wellington-and-the-battle-of-waterloo-tickets.
A free Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) entitled “Duke of Wellington and the Battle of Waterloo” begins on June 8.
Running for three weeks, the course will cover events from the French Revolution to the decisive battle that finally defeated Napoleon, the significance of the conflict, the ways in which it changed Europe and how the battle and its heroes have been commemorated. To enrol go to:
The exhibition runs until June 26 and again from July 13-24. For more information, visit southampton.ac.uk/archives/exhibitions.
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