A Belle Alliance
The Battle About Books
About the Battle
Introduction
by Gary Cousins, Germany
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I am intrigued by the seeming "Belle Alliance" of Mr. Hofschröer with the Sibornes, as evidenced by several recent magazine articles (some listed at [2]). Mr. Hofschröer has written two books on the subject of the 1815 campaign, ([3], [4]), and a third book is on the way, in which inter alia the theme of Wellington’s
errors, and cover-ups, leading to the creation and maintenance of a British Waterloo myth, (which perhaps obscured the "fact" that it was a German victory), is developed. Yet there are significant differences between Mr. Hofschröer’s stance and version of events, as related in his books, and that contained in Siborne Sr.’s "History" [5] (and Siborne Jr.’s "Letters" [6]).
Siborne Sr.’s attitude towards Wellington and the British is highly positive -- particularly in his praise of Wellington’s personality, and in his approving description of his strategy and tactics (and although he is warm towards the Germans in Wellington’s army and towards the Prussians, a German victory is certainly not his conclusion). Regarding events pre-campaign, and on the 15th-17th June 1815, Mr. Hofschröer must find little explicit support for his case against Wellington in the description of Wellington’s conduct in this period given in "History".
But as for the 18th June, Siborne Sr. leaves the reader in no doubt that the victors of the main battle were the British and German troops -- particularly the British -- under Wellington; and that the Prussians, whose intervention is described more than once with the word "tardiness", (e.g. "History", p.395), played a supportive and co-operative role, and one that was not necessarily as decisive or effective as Mr. Hofschröer and others insist.
There are two main aspects of Siborne Sr.’s description of the events of 18th June which I would like to consider: they both involve differences about the quantitative and qualitative factors referred to in the introductory quotation.
A Belle Alliance The Battle About Books About the Battle
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"... writing about the battles and campaigns of earlier times is no easy task, nor is it one to be undertaken lightly. The basic facts are not always easy to discover; and when they are found, it often proves difficult to reconcile one with another. Every battle has unique nuances and shifts of mood as well as aspects of special military importance, and to miss the fluctuating atmosphere of doubt and confidence, of fear and elation, is often to misrepresent the true events, albeit unwittingly. These qualitative factors… are often of greater significance than purely quantitative considerations…The writer, therefore, in seeking to do justice to his subject, must attempt to qualify as well as quantify - and in this, considerations of personal inclination and national bias inevitably enter into the picture".
[1]