Hot News Concerning Waterloo

Napoleonic Newsdesk

supplied by Graeme Cooper

Hougoumont For Sale

The latest news is that Hougoumont Farm is still for sale following the departure of Mme Temmerman who enjoyed many memorable years there. No doubt those who have visited Hougoumont will want to thank her for her kind hospitality in the past and wish her well for the future.

20 Million Euros For Waterloo

Monsieur Serge Kubla, Walloons Minister for tourism has announced that 20,000,000 Euros will be spent improving the Battlefield. A resume of the local media is as follows:

New Horizon For The Site Of The Lion

The Lion Mound at Waterloo

The Minister in charge of Tourism, Serge Kubla, has revealed his project for rearranging the Waterloo Battlefield. The most major Belgian tourist attraction, the site will become a veritable window of Walloon. His objective is in response to tourists’ needs and to increase their numbers from 300,000 to 500,000 visitors per year. With the town of Bruges and the Grand-Place in Brussels, the Waterloo Battlefield is one of the most visited in Belgium. Each year, it attracts 300,000 tourists, but these visitors rarely stay more than half a day. The Minister, Serge Kubla, would like to increase the revenue for the Burgomaster’s coffers.

“The passion for the Battlefield is enormous”, says the Minister for Tourism. “But we would like to attract nearer 500,000 people each year and entice them to stay here for longer. The site should become the gateway of tourism in Walloon”. Serge Kubla mainly envisages visitors being able to stay overnight near the site. For instance, the project includes the construction of the conference centre, which could be used by different companies and enterprises. The assortment of services, shops and installations will be reorganised.

To best achieve this, a serious development plan has been drawn up. With this objective, the Walloon government has already invested 5 million Euros to acquire the multitude of buildings around the Battlefield. Only the Lion remains a federal responsibility. Several buildings, like the Panorama or the Visitors’ Centre will undergo major restoration. Others will purely and simply disappear.

Two approaches will guide the vision of achieving the future modifications. Firstly, centred on technological possibilities: holograms, 3D images, special effects will appear. “The visitors will be able, for example, to find themselves on the battlefield with the impression of truly experiencing a cavalry charge”. However, Serge Kubla promises that these effects will not abuse or denegrade the natural look of the site. Besides, part of the development is envisaged to be underground.

It Must Give A Meaning To The Visit”

An increased presence of actors is equally envisaged, like at Puy du Fou in Vendee. Terracing is also envisaged to allow spectators to comfortably view the re-enactments. “But we will respect each place and give a meaning to the visit”, assures Mr Kubla. “We have been inspired by the memorial for Peace at Caen where the last room is entirely consecrated to The Rights of Man”. Another wish of the Minister: to make the visit more comfortable and convivial. To achieve this, the roads around the site will have to be pedestrian zones.

A plan to have a bypass is also envisaged. Moreover, several parking areas will be constructed to accommodate an increased number of visitors. The scientific aspect is not forgotten. To ensure historical truth, a group of specialists have been out on foot. Amongst them, the celebrated Napoleonic historian, Jean Tulard, but also indisputably eminent people from Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. A choice which respects a certain equality between the different countries involved in the battle. In this way, the different local sensibilities will be guided in the choice that will be made, in a totally unbiased manner.

The cost of the project is estimated at approximately 20 million Euros, which will be financed by the tourist budget of the Walloon Region. Besides an agreement in principle has already been taken on the subject of this grand plan. A development which will profit Waterloo will do likewise for the region.

The Project Finalised For June 2004

The finalisation of the project of our Burgomaster, the Minister Serge Kubla, ought to begin in several weeks. It is the ASBL (Association sans but lucrative/non-profit making organisation) Battlefield 1815 which will co-ordinate the project. Already, the President of the Intercommunale Waterloo 1815, Yves Vander Cruysen, is running the ASBL. “Nobody in my entourage knows the plans and the places better than him”, assures Serge Kubla. Equally placed in Tourism at Waterloo, Yves Vander Cruysen has already worked on the site for about fifteen years. And if the Intercommunale holds a financial role, the ASBL will become the driving force of the project. The management and the exploitation of the site will then be entrusted to the private sector, controlled by public supplies. The ASBL has until June 2004 to finalise the project before reaching fulfilment.

Extensive Research Reveals A New History Of The Battle of Waterloo

NAPOLEON’S WATERLOO is a new interpretation of the Battle as witnessed and described by Napoleon from his accounts he wrote or dictated about the 1815 campaign, the notes of his companions on St Helena about the subject and the first account of General Gourgaud. A book by Bernard Coppens historian, guide and re-enactor refers to three dictated accounts of the battle:

The first, dictated in Laon, on June 20th, 1815 (under the title The Battle of Mont-Saint Jean), was published in a supplement of the Moniteur on June 21st, 1815.

The second can be found in a work published in London in 1818, under the name of General Gourgaud, and entitled. The 1815 campaign, or Account of the military operations which took place over a hundred days, written in St Helena.

The third account features in an anonymous work published in Paris in 1820, and entitled Memoirs to be used for the History of France in 1815”. There is no doubt that this text should be attributed to Napoleon and indeed it was included in The letters of Napoleon I, published during the Second Empire. Bernard Coppins’s book attempts to analyse what Bonaparte knew about the situation at the actual time of the battle, what he learned afterwards, the conclusions he reached, as well as why, and how, he rewrote the history of the Battle of Waterloo.

Bernard Coppins says:

“These three texts nevertheless present significant discrepancies between them. In the first, the Emperor wished (according to Napoleon’s secretary, Fleury de Chaboulon) to set down the truth about what had happened. The other two texts were dictated by Napoleon to his companions during his exile and constitute a complete re-write of the battle. Other documents (the conversations on St Helena, recorded by Gourgaud, Bertrand, Montholon and Meara, an account of the battle by General Gourgaud) enable us to understand how Napoleon experienced the battle, how he was kept abreast afterwards about his adversaries intentions, how he integrated all of these elements into his account, presenting himself as the general who missed nothing, but was betrayed by his lieutenants, by the elements and by fate itself.

A surprising observation. No historian has ever compared Napoleons three accounts, nor picked up the contradictions between them and tried to explain the differences. Instead, all of the historians (Thiers, Siborne, Houssaye, Lachouque, Margerit) have concentrated on the third text, the most complete in terms of re-writing the battle, and have taken as undisputable fact, elements that, at the very least, manifest themselves as questionable, if not completely false or impossible. This third account has even become the yardstick for accuracy, with other witnesses or accounts that disagree with it being rejected as doubtful. Yet it is obvious that a comparative study of Napoleon’s three texts would allow us to understand how his thoughts on the battle evolved, and to learn more about his analysis of what happened and the conclusions he reached about the battle. Such an assertion may seem presumptuous, but it should be noted that the history of the Battle of Waterloo has never been the subject of a vigorous and scientific study. Napoleon succeeded in imposing his version of the history of the Battle of Waterloo with little respect for what actually happened. He imposed erroneous information, leaving us with a battle that has become incomprehensible and mysterious.

It is not too late to try to understand what really happened at Waterloo, but to give history its dues, it is necessary to strip away the legends that have accumulated around the battle, legends that have been reinforced through their repetition. Research must be based on original texts and documents.”

Quatre Bras Monument Dedicated

The memorial erected by the Association of Friends of the Waterloo Committee at Quatre Bras was dedicated on Friday 7th June by the Duke of Wellington, to all those German and British troops who fought under Wellington’s command at Quatre Bras on 16th June 1815. The monument stands on the western side of the N5, 100 m from the crossroads on the southern side of the road to Nivelle.

French Memorial For Quatre Bras

A new monument is being proposed by the French military to commemorate those French soldiers who fought at the battle of Quatre Bras. There are no further confirmed details as yet.

Statue Up

Bonaparte has returned to his Headquarters at Le Caillou in the form of a bronze statue. He stands hatless but life-size reflecting his age and demeanour at the time of the campaign. The statue is very similar to the way that Mme Leporeg, the postmistress at Beaumont, described Bonaparte in her letters. Napoleon had questioned her at length on the state of the roads in the region on the eve of the 14th June prior to the attack at Thuin and the crossings over the Sambre.

She told her family that he had a meditative and gloomy face, was a little fat but seemed in good health and was still animated.

The statue reflects this and more. Bent slightly at the knees with gesturing hands it reflects the moments of anxiety at the end of the battle when his Imperiale Garde (1st Chasseurs which guarded his Headquarters at Le Caillou throughout the battle) were about to escort him south to Charleroi. The statue from Italy recently erected is due to the efforts of Luigi Di Qintana, Bellini Trinchi, Principe Di Cagnano. It commemorates Italians, Poles and Knights of Malta who saw service under Bonaparte.

The Association Of Friends Of The Waterloo Committee - Register Of Memorials

The objective of this project is to publish a volume of all known memorials to British and allied soldiers who fought in the Peninsular Wars and at Waterloo, wherever they may be located, together with details of inscriptions on memorials and a photograph wherever possible. The project requires visiting local venues and farther afield if possible. Volunteers are needed.

Anybody who would like to assist in this Register of Memorials project are asked to contact: David and Janet Bromley, Sunnyside, Papcastle, Cockermouth, Cumbria, CA13 OLA (Tel: 01900 827816: e-mail: djbromley@derventio.fsnet.co.uk).

Wellington Museum

The Exhibition to the First Duke of Wellington will open on 14 Jun. This will be followed by a public concert in the evening. It is hoped that Mr Serge Kubla the Minister for Tourism in Walloon will be present to open the exhibition which will open to the public fthe following day.

UNESCO

The Belgium authorities have applied to UNESCO for the Battlefield to become a World Heritage site.

The Quatre Bras Memorial

This monument has now been erected and is to be commemorated by the Duke of Wellington sometime in June in honour of those British and Hanovarian troops that were under Wellington's command on the day. Dutch, Belgian and Brunswick monuments already exist on the Quatre Bras battlefield.

Waterloo Refight

The week-end 15th-16th June (the nearest to the anniversary of the battle) will see re-enactors marching and drilling in and from various bivouacs that surround the battlefield.

Victor Hugo

A season of Victor Hugo is being celebrated in Waterloo and includes an exhibition in the Wellington Museum from 6 Sep - 6 Oct. Further information may be obtained from the Tourist Information Centre in Waterloo: Tel -0032 02 354 9910

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