Left Wing History (4):
Waterloo 1815
Uxbridge
by Gary Cousins, Germany
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Lieutenant-General Henry William Paget, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge (later Marquess of Anglesey) (1768-1854). Cathcart / Greenock, AQMG to the cavalry, who was with Uxbridge all day, except when delivering orders, said that, during the French cavalry attacks, the inferior numbers and organisation of Wellington’s cavalry became clear; thus: “Lord Anglesey, being sensible of this
disadvantage, gave orders for the better concentration
of his Corps by removing the Bri-gades
from the left of the Haye Sainte towards
the right of the position, as soon as their presence
in that quarter became no longer necessary
in consequence of the arrival of the
Prussians on that flank.” [43]
It is not clear that Uxbridge actually acknowledged
“this disadvantage”, for he wrote:
“It is false to state as has been asserted by
the ignorant and the mischievous, that our
Light Cavalry was unable to contend with that
of the Enemy. In no one instance, had they not
a decided superiority.” [44]
From Cathcart / Greenock’s statement it
is not totally clear if this movement was ordered
during the French cavalry attacks, but to
be carried out only when the Prussians arrived
– but Vivian and Vandeleur recalled no such
order; or if it was ordered only when the
Prussians approached or arrived. In any case,
by the time Vivian’s and Vandeleur’s Brigades
were “brought back to the centre”, the
French cavalry attacks were almost over, and
they did not join any counter-attacks, thus
failing to achieve the purpose of the order. It
may be that Cathcart / Greenock was making
assumptions about what happened, to explain
in hindsight what did happen.
But Captain Seymour of the 60th Rifles,
an ADC to Uxbridge, claimed to have delivered
an order:
“Still later in the day, when delivering the
order for Sir Hussey Vivian’s Brigade to move
towards the centre, we saw the advance of the
Prussians. Sir H. Vivian sent me with an Officer
and a patrol to assure myself that it was
the Prussians who were advancing on our left,
which, on proving, I made the best of my way
to Lord Anglesey, whom I found with the
Duke of Wellington, to whom I reported what
I had seen. Sir Alexander Gordon questioned
me as to my certainty of it being the Prussians
with whom I had communicated, I assuring
him that it was so.
I was desired by the Duke of Wellington
to tell General Bulow [sic] that the Duke
wished him immediately to send him Prussian
Infantry to fill up the loss that had taken place
in his Lines. On starting to deliver this message
my horse was killed, and I believe Colonel
Freemantle [sic] delivered it to the
Prussian General.” [45]
Seymour wrote only of an order for Vivi-an:
he did not say whether or not the order was
conditional upon sighting the Prussians, but in
any case Vivian should have obeyed immediately,
since (in Seymour’s and Vivian’s ac-counts)
he already knew that the Prussians
were approaching. Instead, Vivian only sent
Seymour on patrol to reassure himself; and it
is not said that Seymour reported back to
Vivian, which might have been unnecessary,
or that Vivian obeyed any order as a result.
It is worth noting that Lieutenant-Colonel
Fremantle of the 2nd Foot Guards, an ADC to
Wellington, wrote of Seymour’s errand along-side
others to look for the Prussian arrival, but
mentioned no order:
“Many officers were sent in the morning
in search of the [Prussian] Army. Towards six
o’clock Sir Horace Seymour came and reported
to the Duke of Wellington that he had
seen the Prussian column.” [46]
What is particularly strange is the reaction
which Seymour’s news received when he
reported back to his chief Uxbridge, who had
presumably sent him on his errand, and who
by now was with Wellington and what remained
of his staff.
It suggests that, when Seymour had been sent on his errand, noone
on the staff had been aware that the Prussians
were finally approaching the left wing (an
uncertainty perhaps also reflected in the accounts of Seymour and Fremantle, for if
Seymour’s errand was made at around 6 p.m.,
it was Prussians of Zieten’s I Corps that he
saw advancing, yet both Seymour and Fremantle
mentioned being sent to speak to
Bülow, who was already in action with his IV
Corps against the French right). To issue an
order while in such uncertainty would have
been an act of folly or desperation. However,
his positive report, that Zieten’s Prussians
were finally approaching, should have made
an order for the cavalry to vacate the left wing
realistic.
Vivian’s account did not mention
Seymour’s errand to the left, nor any order to
move to the centre: it mentioned Seymour
only when it told of the order from Uxbridge,
specifying where Vivian’s Brigade should halt
when it reached the centre (an order which at
first led Vivian to halt in the wrong place, until
correctly positioned by Uxbridge himself),
and perhaps Seymour’s account confused this
errand with an earlier one as a look-out to the
left wing, because Uxbridge’s own recollections
were that:
“I first sent, and then being uneasy about
it went myself to reconnoitre it. Having happily
ascertained that it was a Prussian Force, I
immediately withdrew all the Cavalry from
the left in order to strengthen the Centre.” [47]
“…in the evening Sir C [sic] Vandeleur
and Sir R Vivian’s [Brigade] were brought
from the left and arrived at the critical moment
when the enemy were giving way in all directions.
They attacked with great vigour and did
them much mischief.” [48]
Vivian’s Brigade seems to have arrived
and supported the infantry on the right for
some time before the French collapse. It may
be that beneath Uxbridge’s calm and decisive-sounding
account of his orders lies a more
confused and compelling reality.
Left Wing History (4) Vivian’s 6th (Light) Cavalry Brigade on the 18th June 1815
Left Wing History (3) Vivian’s 6th (Light) Cavalry Brigade on the 18th June 1815
Left Wing History (2) Prussian I Corps
Left Wing History (1) Waterloo 1815: Vivian's 6th Cavalry Brigade
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Uxbridge must have known that Wellington
wanted to bring in the cavalry from the left
as soon as possible, and his accounts and those
of his staff claim that the necessary orders
were given.