Netherlands Artillery
in the Waterloo Campaign
Foot Artillery Battery ‘Du Bois’
by Geert van Uythoven, The Netherlands
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This ‘northern’ battery was served by the 5th company of the 2nd Line artillery battalion. The battery was commanded by Captain Lodewijk Hendrik du Bois (29 years old). Other officers: 1st Lieutenant J.H. Sierevelt; 2nd Lieutenant M. Lotze; 2nd Lieutenant Van Hogendorp. Including the train, on 12 June 1815 the battery had a strength of 13 officers, 200 others, and 22 horses. This battery was armed with six short 12-pdr bronze cannon, and two 24-pdr (iron) bronze howitzers. In garrison in The Hague, the company ‘Du Bois’ was ordered to ‘s Hertogenbosch to make mobile a 12-pdr battery. On 14 April it departed to join the Mobile Army at Aerschot, with a strength of 4 officers and 119 others, the horse teams formed with 214 requisitioned horses. This battery was assigned to the artillery reserve. On 16 June it was at Braine le Comte, with still only 22 of the necessary 230 horses present. When on 16 June the battle of Quatre-Bras was fought, it advanced to Nivelles and deployed in the front line of the Netherlands troops positioned there. Virtually useless however because of the lack of horses, during the retreat on the 17th it was ordered to move to Brussels to the main reserve park. Therefore, it was not present during the battle of Waterloo on the 18th. During the first days of July the battery, which was at Mons by now, was provided with a train detachment of the train battalion of the militia, finally enabling it to take the field. Joining the Netherlands Mobile Army, this company was assigned to the 2nd Netherlands Army Corps (Prince Frederick of Orange), as this corps had the task to besiege French fortresses when necessary during its advance into France. The battery saw no action as such though. After the Waterloo campaign the battery marched back to the Netherlands, being garrisoned in Mons, where its personnel was gradually replaced by men of the southern Netherlands. Netherlands Artillery in the Waterloo Campaign 1815 Part III: Artillery Batteries and Companies
Foot Artillery Company ‘Bunnik’ Foot Artillery Battery ‘Du Bois’ Foot Artillery Battery ‘Kaempfer’ Foot Artillery Company ‘Van der Linden’ Foot Artillery Battery ‘Lux’ Foot Artillery Battery ‘Riesz’ Foot Artillery Company ‘Rommel’ Foot Artillery Battery ‘Scheffer’ Foot Artillery Battery ‘Severijns’ Foot Artillery Battery ‘Spies’ Foot Artillery Battery ‘Steenberghe’ Foot Artillery Battery ‘Stevenart’ Foot Artillery Battery ‘Wijnands’ Horse Artillery Battery ‘Bijleveld’ Half Horse artillery Battery ‘Gey’ Horse Artillery Battery ‘Krahmer’ Half Horse Artillery Battery ‘Petter’ Acknowledgements, Bibliography, and Footnotes Netherlands Artillery in the Waterloo Campaign 1815 Part II: Artillery Officers [First Empire 72]
Adriaan Bijleveld David Esaias Bode (Boode) Lodewijk Hendrik Du Bois A.Willem Du Pont Adrianus Rudolf Willem Gey Carel August Gunkel (Gunckel) Godfried Jacob Holsman Nicolaas Lodewijk Kaempfer Carel Frederik Krahmer de Bichin Martinus Antonius Kuytenbrouwer Frederik Carel List Johannes Hendrik Lux Prince (William) Frederick Carl van Oranje-Nassau Abraham Petter Carel Jan Riesz Johan George Hendrik Scheffer Jacques-Louis-Dominique, Baron van der Smissen Johannes Nicolaas Spies Maximilian-Henry Steenberghe Emmanuel-Joseph Stevenart Hendrik Rudolph Trip Pieter Wijnands Leopold Winssinger Netherlands Artillery in the Waterloo Campaign 1815 Part I [First Empire 71]
The Artillery in the Southern Netherlands The Artillery Arm in the Kingdom of the Netherlands Equipment and The Train Unit Info and Roster (very slow: 377K) Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire # 73 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com |