The British Army and the Struggle against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, 1793-1815

This new Gallery looks at the British Army in an age of contrasts. The Army won a series of spectacular military victories in Europe, but it's soldiers died of sickness in their thousands in garrisons across the world. It was a time when uniforms were particularly glamorous, but many soldiers ended up campaigning in rags and often only the drunk or the desperate could be persuaded to join the ranks. Nevertheless an intense regimental pride existed.

Wellington may once have described his men as 'the scum of the earth' but he also commented, 'it is really wonderful that we should have made them the fine fellows they are.

The Gallery features weapons, paintings, prints, maps and items from one of the world's finest collections of military costume.

Among the more unusual exhibits is the skeleton of Marengo, Napoleon's favourite horse. Also on display is Captain William Siborne's 1838 model of the battlefield of Waterloo which measures over 400 square feet and features over seventy thousand tiny model soldiers.

The feature of the Exhibition to have attracted particular interest is the inclusion of ten specially commissioned, life - sized reconstructions of British Soldiers of the period. These figures were constructed by Gary Embleton's 'Time Machine'. Embleton, a well known military illustrator, has set up his company in Onnens, near Yverdon in Switzerland. His figures are not 'dummies' upon which the Museum can display original items of uniform and equipment. Instead they attempt to show. what soldiers may have looked like in particular situations. They illustrate items which have not survived and show the appearance in use of original uniforms too rare or fragile to be displayed in this way.

Therefore, because the uniforms of the Time Machine figures are not original, it is possible to tear them, patch them or even cover them with mud. The visitor to the Exhibition will discover that in some cases this has been done liberally!

One of the most spectacular figures on display is that of Sergeant Charles Ewart of the 2nd (Royal North British) Dragoons at Waterloo. Ewart is shown dismounted having captured the Eagle of the French 45th Regiinent during the repulse of D'Erlon's Corps by the heavy cavalry. His tight breeches have been replaced by a more practical pair of leather reinforced overalls and his bearskin cap has a waterproof cover. His entire uniform is covered in small splashes of mud, kicked up by his horse as he rode it across the wet battlefield. He carries the 1796 pattern heavy cavalry sword. It was a heavy weapon, primarily used for hacking and chopping, and was generally regarded as poorly balanced and difficult to handle. However, it could be devastating in the hands of a powerful man like Ewart, who later described how he took the Eagle and in doing so he gives us a graphic account of the 1796 pattern sword in use:

It was in the charge I took the eaglke from the enemy. He and I had a hard contest for it; he made a thrust for my groin, I parried it off and cut him down through the head. After this, a lancer came at me; I threw the lance off by my right side, and cut him through the chin and upwards through the teeth. Next, a foot soldier fired at me, and then charged me with his bayonet, which I also had the good lack to parry, and then I cut him down through the head, thus ended the contest.

Ewart was made an officer as a reward for his actions. He died in 1845, aged 77.

The 'Road to Waterloo' Exhibition is on display at the National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HT. The nearest tube station is Sloane Square and Bus 239 (Mon - Sat) stops immediately outside the museum. The Museum is open seven days a week, from 10.00am to 5.30pm. (Closed 24-26 Dec, 1 January, Good Friday, May Bank Holiday).

Admission to the Exhibition and to the rest of the Museum is free of charge.