“It was the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life,” the Duke of Wellington is reported to have said of his victory over Napoleon on the bloody battlefield at Waterloo.
The brutal nine-hour battle, which was fought on 18 June 1815, saw some 50,000 soldiers and 12,000 horses slaughtered. It not only brought peace to the continent after 20 turbulent years but also sowed the seeds of the Europe we know today.
Yet 73% of the British population has little or no knowledge of the battle, according to new research from the National Army Museum (NAM), and 67% do not realise that 18 June will mark the battle’s bicentenary.
Speaking as the research was released in April, Janice Murray, the director general of the NAM, said: “Despite the battle of Waterloo being an iconic moment in British history, UK public awareness is dramatically low.”
The NAM and Waterloo200, a charity supporting the commemorations, have led the charge in terms of working to fill this knowledge gap and garnering public interest in the bicentenary. Primarily, this has been through the Waterloo200.org website, which combines historical information, an online gallery of artefacts and a comprehensive guide to the raft of exhibitions, reenactments and events.
“For people that don’t know about Waterloo, this is an opportunity to reach out and touch something that was not that long ago,” explains James Morrow, the secretary of Waterloo200. “One of the reasons why we are a charity is because we want to educate and, primarily, we want to educate young people.”
Educational programme
Waterloo200 has focused on two key areas: the large number of artefacts that exist in museum collections and among families, which help to bring the battle to life; and the making of personal connections by encouraging people to research their own family tree to see if they had an ancestor in the battle.
It is also working with 200 schools on projects which will see each one researching a local solider who was killed in the fighting and finding the stories behind various artefacts. The results will be in 200 Schools, an online book published this month.
The existence of so many artefacts and artworks associated with the battle, the characters involved, the previous 20 years of fighting and unrest in Europe and the aftermath means that the need to limit exhibitions in order to keep them focused on specific angles and stories has been a recurring theme.
Sheila O’Connell, the curator of the British Museum’s exhibition Bonaparte and the British: Prints and Propaganda in the Age of Napoleon, spent two years researching and developing the exhibition, and the biggest challenge was knowing when to stop.
“There are 163 objects in the exhibition and that is enough for visitors to take in,”
O’Connell says. “Our collection is so huge that it was difficult to know what to leave out, so we have selected key items as we try to tell a story.” The exhibition, which runs until 16 August, uses the bicentenary as context to show part of the museum’s collection of political satire and to examine how Napoleon’s career coincided with a peak in political satire on both sides of the channel.
Looking through the eyes of caricaturists and Napoleon’s admirers, it includes work by James Gillray, the first satirist to portray Napoleon as “Little Boney” and thus create his enduring image as a bully of tiny stature.
The Royal Collection also holds a vast number of objects relating to Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon, as George IV in particular was a keen collector.
A Waterloo trail, to be open all year, has been created at Windsor Castle using key items from that collection. Starting in the Drawings Gallery, it covers the lead-up to the battle, its main characters and the after- math, and leads visitors to the Waterloo Chamber in the State Apartments.
From Windsor to Apsley House
“These are items that live in Windsor pulled out of context,” says Kathryn Jones, the curator of decorative arts for the Royal Collection, of the 60 objects on display. “We have tried to display as much as possible while trying to make it accessible, which is why we have created a trail for the first time.”
Highlights of Waterloo at Windsor: 1815–2015 include Napoleon’s red and gold cloak, captured by a Prussian officer as the defeated leader’s carriage fled the battlefield, which is found facing a bust of the duke; the Wellington Chair, reputed to be made from a tree that the duke made his command post during the fighting; and a table created entirely from porcelain, thought to have been made for Napoleon.
No doubt the charismatic Napoleon, who had many admirers in Britain even after his defeat, garners much of the attention, but the duke himself and his life is the subject of exhibitions at London’s Apsley House and Walmer Castle in Kent, both residences of his; at the Wellington Arch, erected in London to mark Napoleon’s defeat; and at the National Portrait Gallery, also in London.
Apsley House, which remains more or less as the duke used it, is focusing on his social life and celebrity. The Waterloo Gallery, where, from 1820 until his death in 1852, the duke held a glittering annual dinner to mark Waterloo, has been opened up following conservation work to the property, which is managed by English Heritage.
Featuring a dining table large enough to seat 80 guests, the gallery has been laid for the banquet and includes a menu from 1839 and a silver dinner service. An exhibition dedicated to the battle itself has opened at the neighbouring Wellington Arch, also recently renovated.
The exhibition contains 40 objects drawn from Engish Heritage’s own collection. Highlights include the Duke of Wellington’s original battle orders, written on vellum, which have not been displayed before, his sword and the original Wellington Boots. Over at Walmer Castle, visitors can see the room where the duke died, and children are invited to take part in a “Wellington Boot Camp” and to hear stories of bravery and battlefield hero- ics as part of a Kids’ Battle of Waterloo.
Charlotte Brontë and Napoleon’s coffin
London’s National Portrait Gallery is taking a more detailed biographical look at the duke’s life in Wellington: Triumphs, Politics and Passion (until 7 June). This is split into five chronological sections: his early life and India; the peninsular war; Waterloo; politics; and his personal life.
Each is dominated by a particular portrait, such as Fran- cisco Goya’s Wellington for the peninsular war section and a photograph taken on the duke’s 75th birthday in 1844.
A 67-foot long panorama of the duke’s entire funeral procession in November 1852 is shown in sections alongside a moving image of the whole length of the work.
It will be shown in its entirety for one hour in a free event on 18 June. “The exhibition is aimed at people who love both history and art,” says curator Paul Cox. “That led me to want to include the really key and first-class portraits of the duke.”
The impact that the duke made on the lives of the Brontë siblings is the subject of small exhibition at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Yorkshire. Collections manager Ann Dinsdale admits Waterloo did not seem like an “obvious topic” when the museum first looked at how to mark the bicentenary but, after mentioning a meeting on the subject on social Butcher helped to curate the Brontës, War and Waterloo (to 3 January 2016), which aims to show how steeped in Waterloo the siblings were.
Highlights of the exhibition, which features around 30 items, include books handmade by Charlotte and Branwell written by the “Duke of Wellington” and a fragment of Napoleon’s coffin, given to Charlotte in Brussels. “Once we got going, there was a lot of material,” says Dinsdale. “So far we have only scratched the surface.”
The battle itself plays centre stage at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds with its Waterloo 1815: Art of Battle exhibition. At its heart is William Siborne’s 18ft 7in model of the Great Cavalry Charge, which took place at around 1.30pm on the day of the battle.
The model has been restored by conservator Cymbeline Storey as part of the Conservation Live! project, which allowed visitors to see her work and ask questions. Another highlight is Daniel Maclise’s Waterloo cartoon, on loan from the NAM.
The aftermath of the battle and the “souvenirs” of war form a key part of the National Museum of Scotland’s Waterloo: After the Battle exhibition, which runs until 27 September. “We had the idea to look at after the battle, so people can see how it relates to them,” says its curator Stuart Allen.
Covering both the reaction in Scotland and the rush of tourists to visit the battle- field to acquire relics, it includes Captain Charles Ewart’s Eagle of the 45th, which he captured during the charge of the Royal Scots Greys in a key moment of the battle. It is usually housed at Edinburgh Castle.
“Tourists flocked to the battlefield, and returned with objects that they had found or bought locally in the flourishing market for souvenirs,” says Allen.
While today’s visitors may not yet share the same appetite for Waterloo facts and memorabilia, it is their gain that their ancestors saw it as such a seminal moment in his- tory. This wealth of objects and artefacts has created enough content to create a rich programme of events that should spark interest in the bicentenary and beyond.
With its Chelsea site closed for a two-year £23m renovation, the National Army Museum (NAM) is spearheading a national campaign of events, activities and displays to mark the Battle of Waterloo bicentenary.
The focus of its programme is the individual soldier and how Waterloo changed the development of the British Army. It was the first time that every soldier, regardless of rank, was awarded two years’ pay and a special campaign medal.
“Waterloo was transformational for soldiers so we want to focus attention on that during the commemoration,” explains Genevieve Adkins, the assistant director (public programmes) at the NAM. “Lots of the problems faced by those returning from the
campaign are still issues today, so there is serious reflection alongside some more fun aspects.”
Up to 100 objects and paintings from its collection are on loan around the country following an open call that allowed museums to apply for items. “We have been able to loan things that are not usually available to be borrowed and, in some cases, to quite small museums,” Adkins says.
Objects from the NAM’s collection are appearing across the country in museums ranging from The Black Watch Museum in Perth through to the National Museum of Scotland, to which it has loaned the Eagle of the 105th to appear alongside its Eagle of 45th for the first time in 60 years.
The NAM wants to engage military history lovers and Waterloo enthusiasts but also a wider variety of people, such as families and tourists, with its events, which include pop-up pubs and cinema, a lecture programme and a book by Peter and Dan Snow.
Based on the fact that many returning veterans became publicans (the reason why so many pubs bear the duke’s name) the pop-up pub will land in locations as diverse as Waterloo train station, the Royal Norfolk Show and Woolshops Shopping Centre in Halifax. Serving up “pints of knowledge” rather than beer, it aims to attract families that might not want to visit one of the exhibitions.
The brutal nine-hour battle, which was fought on 18 June 1815, saw some 50,000 soldiers and 12,000 horses slaughtered. It not only brought peace to the continent after 20 turbulent years but also sowed the seeds of the Europe we know today.
Yet 73% of the British population has little or no knowledge of the battle, according to new research from the National Army Museum (NAM), and 67% do not realise that 18 June will mark the battle’s bicentenary.
Speaking as the research was released in April, Janice Murray, the director general of the NAM, said: “Despite the battle of Waterloo being an iconic moment in British history, UK public awareness is dramatically low.”
The NAM and Waterloo200, a charity supporting the commemorations, have led the charge in terms of working to fill this knowledge gap and garnering public interest in the bicentenary. Primarily, this has been through the Waterloo200.org website, which combines historical information, an online gallery of artefacts and a comprehensive guide to the raft of exhibitions, reenactments and events.
“For people that don’t know about Waterloo, this is an opportunity to reach out and touch something that was not that long ago,” explains James Morrow, the secretary of Waterloo200. “One of the reasons why we are a charity is because we want to educate and, primarily, we want to educate young people.”
Educational programme
Waterloo200 has focused on two key areas: the large number of artefacts that exist in museum collections and among families, which help to bring the battle to life; and the making of personal connections by encouraging people to research their own family tree to see if they had an ancestor in the battle.
It is also working with 200 schools on projects which will see each one researching a local solider who was killed in the fighting and finding the stories behind various artefacts. The results will be in 200 Schools, an online book published this month.
The existence of so many artefacts and artworks associated with the battle, the characters involved, the previous 20 years of fighting and unrest in Europe and the aftermath means that the need to limit exhibitions in order to keep them focused on specific angles and stories has been a recurring theme.
Sheila O’Connell, the curator of the British Museum’s exhibition Bonaparte and the British: Prints and Propaganda in the Age of Napoleon, spent two years researching and developing the exhibition, and the biggest challenge was knowing when to stop.
“There are 163 objects in the exhibition and that is enough for visitors to take in,”
O’Connell says. “Our collection is so huge that it was difficult to know what to leave out, so we have selected key items as we try to tell a story.” The exhibition, which runs until 16 August, uses the bicentenary as context to show part of the museum’s collection of political satire and to examine how Napoleon’s career coincided with a peak in political satire on both sides of the channel.
Looking through the eyes of caricaturists and Napoleon’s admirers, it includes work by James Gillray, the first satirist to portray Napoleon as “Little Boney” and thus create his enduring image as a bully of tiny stature.
The Royal Collection also holds a vast number of objects relating to Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon, as George IV in particular was a keen collector.
A Waterloo trail, to be open all year, has been created at Windsor Castle using key items from that collection. Starting in the Drawings Gallery, it covers the lead-up to the battle, its main characters and the after- math, and leads visitors to the Waterloo Chamber in the State Apartments.
From Windsor to Apsley House
“These are items that live in Windsor pulled out of context,” says Kathryn Jones, the curator of decorative arts for the Royal Collection, of the 60 objects on display. “We have tried to display as much as possible while trying to make it accessible, which is why we have created a trail for the first time.”
Highlights of Waterloo at Windsor: 1815–2015 include Napoleon’s red and gold cloak, captured by a Prussian officer as the defeated leader’s carriage fled the battlefield, which is found facing a bust of the duke; the Wellington Chair, reputed to be made from a tree that the duke made his command post during the fighting; and a table created entirely from porcelain, thought to have been made for Napoleon.
No doubt the charismatic Napoleon, who had many admirers in Britain even after his defeat, garners much of the attention, but the duke himself and his life is the subject of exhibitions at London’s Apsley House and Walmer Castle in Kent, both residences of his; at the Wellington Arch, erected in London to mark Napoleon’s defeat; and at the National Portrait Gallery, also in London.
Apsley House, which remains more or less as the duke used it, is focusing on his social life and celebrity. The Waterloo Gallery, where, from 1820 until his death in 1852, the duke held a glittering annual dinner to mark Waterloo, has been opened up following conservation work to the property, which is managed by English Heritage.
Featuring a dining table large enough to seat 80 guests, the gallery has been laid for the banquet and includes a menu from 1839 and a silver dinner service. An exhibition dedicated to the battle itself has opened at the neighbouring Wellington Arch, also recently renovated.
The exhibition contains 40 objects drawn from Engish Heritage’s own collection. Highlights include the Duke of Wellington’s original battle orders, written on vellum, which have not been displayed before, his sword and the original Wellington Boots. Over at Walmer Castle, visitors can see the room where the duke died, and children are invited to take part in a “Wellington Boot Camp” and to hear stories of bravery and battlefield hero- ics as part of a Kids’ Battle of Waterloo.
Charlotte Brontë and Napoleon’s coffin
London’s National Portrait Gallery is taking a more detailed biographical look at the duke’s life in Wellington: Triumphs, Politics and Passion (until 7 June). This is split into five chronological sections: his early life and India; the peninsular war; Waterloo; politics; and his personal life.
Each is dominated by a particular portrait, such as Fran- cisco Goya’s Wellington for the peninsular war section and a photograph taken on the duke’s 75th birthday in 1844.
A 67-foot long panorama of the duke’s entire funeral procession in November 1852 is shown in sections alongside a moving image of the whole length of the work.
It will be shown in its entirety for one hour in a free event on 18 June. “The exhibition is aimed at people who love both history and art,” says curator Paul Cox. “That led me to want to include the really key and first-class portraits of the duke.”
The impact that the duke made on the lives of the Brontë siblings is the subject of small exhibition at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Yorkshire. Collections manager Ann Dinsdale admits Waterloo did not seem like an “obvious topic” when the museum first looked at how to mark the bicentenary but, after mentioning a meeting on the subject on social Butcher helped to curate the Brontës, War and Waterloo (to 3 January 2016), which aims to show how steeped in Waterloo the siblings were.
Highlights of the exhibition, which features around 30 items, include books handmade by Charlotte and Branwell written by the “Duke of Wellington” and a fragment of Napoleon’s coffin, given to Charlotte in Brussels. “Once we got going, there was a lot of material,” says Dinsdale. “So far we have only scratched the surface.”
The battle itself plays centre stage at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds with its Waterloo 1815: Art of Battle exhibition. At its heart is William Siborne’s 18ft 7in model of the Great Cavalry Charge, which took place at around 1.30pm on the day of the battle.
The model has been restored by conservator Cymbeline Storey as part of the Conservation Live! project, which allowed visitors to see her work and ask questions. Another highlight is Daniel Maclise’s Waterloo cartoon, on loan from the NAM.
The aftermath of the battle and the “souvenirs” of war form a key part of the National Museum of Scotland’s Waterloo: After the Battle exhibition, which runs until 27 September. “We had the idea to look at after the battle, so people can see how it relates to them,” says its curator Stuart Allen.
Covering both the reaction in Scotland and the rush of tourists to visit the battle- field to acquire relics, it includes Captain Charles Ewart’s Eagle of the 45th, which he captured during the charge of the Royal Scots Greys in a key moment of the battle. It is usually housed at Edinburgh Castle.
“Tourists flocked to the battlefield, and returned with objects that they had found or bought locally in the flourishing market for souvenirs,” says Allen.
While today’s visitors may not yet share the same appetite for Waterloo facts and memorabilia, it is their gain that their ancestors saw it as such a seminal moment in his- tory. This wealth of objects and artefacts has created enough content to create a rich programme of events that should spark interest in the bicentenary and beyond.
The National Army Museum: Waterloo Lives!
With its Chelsea site closed for a two-year £23m renovation, the National Army Museum (NAM) is spearheading a national campaign of events, activities and displays to mark the Battle of Waterloo bicentenary.
The focus of its programme is the individual soldier and how Waterloo changed the development of the British Army. It was the first time that every soldier, regardless of rank, was awarded two years’ pay and a special campaign medal.
“Waterloo was transformational for soldiers so we want to focus attention on that during the commemoration,” explains Genevieve Adkins, the assistant director (public programmes) at the NAM. “Lots of the problems faced by those returning from the
campaign are still issues today, so there is serious reflection alongside some more fun aspects.”
Up to 100 objects and paintings from its collection are on loan around the country following an open call that allowed museums to apply for items. “We have been able to loan things that are not usually available to be borrowed and, in some cases, to quite small museums,” Adkins says.
Objects from the NAM’s collection are appearing across the country in museums ranging from The Black Watch Museum in Perth through to the National Museum of Scotland, to which it has loaned the Eagle of the 105th to appear alongside its Eagle of 45th for the first time in 60 years.
The NAM wants to engage military history lovers and Waterloo enthusiasts but also a wider variety of people, such as families and tourists, with its events, which include pop-up pubs and cinema, a lecture programme and a book by Peter and Dan Snow.
Based on the fact that many returning veterans became publicans (the reason why so many pubs bear the duke’s name) the pop-up pub will land in locations as diverse as Waterloo train station, the Royal Norfolk Show and Woolshops Shopping Centre in Halifax. Serving up “pints of knowledge” rather than beer, it aims to attract families that might not want to visit one of the exhibitions.