News from the
Waterloo Battlefield
Napoleonic Newsdesk
by Paul Chamberlain
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“Battle behind the Battle” Re-enacts with Great Success. 350 Re-enactors assembled in Plancenoit to re-enact, the ferocious “Battle behind the Battle” for the 188th Anniversary weekend of Waterloo. Austrian, Italian, British, German, Prussian and French Regiments took part including Cavalry and Artillery contingents. Windmills defeated at Genappe Many rumours circulate in the breezes around Waterloo. The latest, talk about a wind farm proposed to be built near Genappe, has been laid to rest. The Green party, which encouraged the idea, has been voted out of office. Some applications for permission to put up windmills have not been submitted, others have been turned down. British Monument in disgraceful appearance again on Waterloo Anniversary The Gordon Monument continues to disgrace the battlefield setting . Sitting opposite the immaculately kept Hanoverian Monument the memorial to Wellington’s ADC is nothing less than a site of revulsion. On the 18th June : Brambles at 10 feet high blocked out the view of the Lion Mound. Waste bins were still full with refuse and rusty cans from last year. Should you have any doubts about this report then please see it for yourself. Hougoumont Walls The wall that formed the northeast boundary of the formal garden in the grounds of Chateau Hougoumont has recently collapsed. A larger part of the southern wall is in danger of doing the same. If no Supports are supplied or Restoration forth coming this part of the wall might not stand another 6 months. Waterloo Committee The 30th Anniversary of the Waterloo Committee was held in Belgium in the elegant private club, the Cercle Gaullois, on the edge of the Parc Royal, Brussels. In 1815 Wellington and members of his staff were billeted in houses facing the Park, and it was here that British troops were assembled and on parade during the weeks before the battle took place. The Duke of Wellington gave an introduction to the new Chairman of the Friends of the Waterloo Committee, Major General Sir Evelyn-Webb Carter. Sir Evelyn’s father was Commander of the First Battalion, The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in Italy, and he himself was General of the Guards, London Division. The Duke appointed him Honorary Colonel of the Duke of Wellington’s 3rd Foot and, this year, entrusted the Friends of the Waterloo Committee to his supervision. After this interesting and spirited meeting, members were invited for a drink and a delicious lunch at the Cercle Gaullois. Good conversation and good cheer were the order of the day. Restoration Restoring Mt. St. Jean Farm is now scheduled for after the summer holidays. Funding has been approved. Lion Mound The Waterloo Commune has now purchased all of the buildings near the Lion Mound that were not already theirs. The next step will be to put out an international tender for bids from companies which can offer designs and plans to develop the tourist aspects of Waterloo in an authentic and accurate way. The site, which will be proposed for World Heritage Status, will illustrate and explain European history from the French Revolution through to 1848. ‘Comité Scientifique’ A ‘Comité Scientifique’, made up of historians from France, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany and Holland, has been appointed to define the objectives of the development work and to supervise its historical authenticity. It is hoped that the new “Waterloo” will be up and running ten years from now. La Belle Alliance La Belle Alliance under a change in management who will continue to run the bar with dancing, but no longer as a TexMex Restaurant. 1100 acres (550 hectares) of farmland on the eastern side of the battlefield, the area of the Prussian advance, have been included for protection by Monuments et Sites, and another 1000 to 3000 acres (500 to 1500 hectares) are being studied for the same classification. Hougoumont Comte d’Oultremont, the owner of Hougoumont, said recently that he will only sell the farm to a person or company which will respect its historic significance. In the meantime, the farm, while unoccupied, is guarded and looked after. The Panorama The level of the classification of the Panorama has been raised, so that its restoration may be funded from the national treasury. The canvas is in quite good condition, with only slight problems due to fungal invasion, and the building will be restored to the specifications of an architect still to be appointed. More Napoleonic Newsdesk
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