Irelands Influence in the Battle of Waterloo

Contents:

Introduction
The Hundred Days and the Waterloo campaign, March-July 1815
Ireland and the outbreak of hostilities Irish soldiers and the Waterloo campaign
Irish military experiences during the Waterloo campaign
Ireland and the aftermath of hostilities
Conclusion
Appendices: (i) Irish Waterloo campaign veterans – 3rd Battalion, 1st Foot (ii) Irish Waterloo campaign veterans – 1st Battalion, 32nd Foot
Bibliography

Acknowledgements

This reports intention is not to re-write history books and underwrite what happened in Waterloo in anyway shape or form. As my job takes me to places that I’ve read or heard about so often Waterloo has always been one of those places what happened and what was achieved there is mind blowing for centuries after. What started off as a routine day out in the field turned into an experience that took me to Ireland where learnt that a little Island like Ireland could have held such an important role in Napoleonic Wars. During this time Ireland was under political and social turmoil and the Napoleonic Wars were considered by a large amount of Irish Society an ‘English’ fight and was never a high concern for Ireland except for the families involved and the people that actually didn’t have a choice in the matter.
First and foremost I’d like to thank everyone involved in the research team, the guys on the field, back in the office and to everyone who spent days and nights answering my very often stupid questions that i had to ask none of this could be done without any of you and your assistant. More particularly I want to mention Bronwyn. Bill, Doug, Warren, Mark, Sarah, Elise, Justine, Lenard and Jason for bearing with me and particularly the constant flow of information that you’ve fed me throughout this time.
If they were alive they’d be 212 years old but a special mention needs to be made to

Bibliography: Description book, 3rd Battalion, 1st Foot, 1812-16. WO 25/314. Description book, 27th Foot, 1816-29 Description book, 32nd Foot, 1815-26. WO 25/366. Royal Hospital Chelsea: Soldiers’ Service Documents (various individual service documents) Sinclair (Captain John Sinclair, 79th Foot, letters covering the period 1792-1815). MS GD 139/369. National Army Museum, London O’Grady (Lieutenant Standish O’Grady, 7th Hussars. Letter to his father, 1st Viscount Guillamore, July 1815). MS 1973-01-51. Kelly (Captain Edward Kelly, 1st Life Guards Fitzgerald (Colonel Edward Thomas Fitzgerald. Letters to wife on campaign, 1813-14). MS 27, 843 (1-6) Grattan (James Grattan Contemporary works of reference Thom’s Irish almanac and official directory for the year 1850 (Dublin, 1850) Thom’s Irish almanac and official directory for the year 1852 (Dublin, 1852). Published contemporary accounts Anton, James, Retrospect of a military life (Edinburgh, 1845). Cadell, Charles, Narratives of the campaigns of the Twenty-Eighth Regiment since their return from Egypt in 1802 (London, 1835) Cassidy, Martin (ed.), Marching with Wellington: with the Enniskillings through the Peninsula to Waterloo (London, 2003). Coignet, Jean-Roch, Captain Coignet: A soldier of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard from the Italian campaign to Waterloo (London, 2007) Costello, Edward, The adventures of a soldier (London, 1852). Cotton, Edward, A voice from Waterloo (London, 1877) de Chaboulon, Fleury, Les cent jours (London, 1820). Eaton, Charlotte, Narrative of a residence in Belgium during the campaign of 1815; and of a visit to the field of Waterloo (London, 1817) Facey, Peter, The diary of a veteran: the diary of Sergeant Peter Facey, 28th (North Gloucester) Regiment of Foot 1803-1819, edited by Gareth Glover (London, 2007). Fletcher, Ian (ed.), The Waterloo campaign: an eyewitness history (London, 2007) Glover, Gareth (ed.), Letters from the battle of Waterloo: unpublished correspondence by Allied officers from the Siborne papers (Newbury, 2004). Grattan, William, Adventures with the Connaught Rangers (2 vols, London, 1847) James, Haddy, Surgeon James’s journal, edited by Jane Vansittart (London, 1964). Mercer, Cavalié, Journal of the Waterloo campaign (2 vols, London, 1870) Morris, Thomas, Military memoirs: the recollections of Sergeant Morris, edited by John Selby (London, 1998). O’Neil, Charles, The military adventures of Charles O’Neil (Worcester, 1851) Ross-Lewin, Harry, With “The Thirty-Second” in the Peninsular and other campaigns, edited by John Wardell (Dublin, 1804). Siborne, H.T Wheatley, Edmund, The Wheatley diary: a journal and sketchbook kept during the Peninsular War and the Waterloo campaign, edited by Christopher Hibbert (London, 1964). Other contemporary works Anonymous, A volume containing 10 song books, printed in Monaghan (Monaghan, 1822). Anonymous, The battle of Waterloo, a grand military melo-drama, in three acts… as performed at the Theatre-Royal, Hawkins Street (Dublin, 1825) Anonymous, The day of Waterloo, a poem. With notes, illustrating the principal events of that ever memorable battle (Dublin, 1817). Swifte, Edmund Lenthal, Waterloo and other poems (London, 1815) Wright, George Newenham, An historical guide to ancient and modern Dublin (London, 1821). Secondary Sources Secondary works of reference Adkin, Mark, The Waterloo companion: the complete guide to history’s most famous land battle (London, 2001) Buckland, Christopher, The Waterloo Medal roll (Dallington, 2001). Dalton, Charles, The Waterloo roll call (London, 1904) Dictionary of Irish biography. Doherty, Richard, and Truesdale, David, Irish winners of the Victoria Cross (Dublin, 2000) Dupuy, Ernest R., and Dupuy, Trevor N, The encyclopedia of military history (London, 1970). Murphy, David, The Irish brigades 1685-2006: a gazetteer of Irish military service, past and present (Dublin, 2007) Oxford dictionary of national biography. Summerville, Christopher, Who was who at Waterloo: a biography of the battle (London, 2007).