WATERLOO, AND THE ORDER OF THE BATH FOR THE NAPOLEONIC WARS

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Waterloo, June 18, 1815.

This victory, generally considered the most glorious ever gained by British troops, was commemorated in divers manner. The first regiments of Guards were allowed to assume the title of Grenadiers; all who participated were granted a medal bearing the effigy of the Prince Regent—the first medal ever given to all ranks by the British Government—and were permitted to count two years' service towards pension; and the word "Waterloo" was inscribed on the colours and appointments of the following regiments:

1st Life Guards.
2nd Life Guards.
Royal Horse Guards.
1st Dragoon Guards.
Royal Dragoons.
Royal Scots Greys.
Inniskilling Dragoons.
7th Hussars.
10th Hussars.
11th Hussars.
12th Lancers.
13th Hussars.
15th Hussars.
16th Lancers.
18th Hussars.
Grenadier Guards.
Coldstream Guards.
Scots Guards.
Royal Scots.
King's Own Royal Lancasters.
West Yorkshire.
Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
Gloucesters.
East Lancashire.
Cornwall Light Infantry.
West Riding Regiment.
South Lancashire.
Welsh.
Royal Highlanders.
Oxford Light Infantry.
Essex.
King's Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry).
Highland Light Infantry.
Gordon Highlanders.
Cameron Highlanders.
Rifle Brigade.

The story of the Battle of Waterloo has been described in the minutest detail by the most accomplished military historians in Great Britain, Germany, and France, so that nothing remains to be told on this head. As is well known, Napoleon, worn down by the successive campaigns which had been waged against him in Europe and in Spain, had at last abdicated, and was relegated to honourable exile in the Island of Elba. In the early spring of 1815 he violated his engagements, and returned to France, where the majority of his soldiery flocked to his standard. The Allies once more mobilized their armies, and prepared for war. Whilst Austria and Russia were advancing from the east, the armies of Prussia and of Great Britain pushed forward from the north. Napoleon endeavoured to defeat these before the arrival of the Russians and Austrians on his frontier. On June 16 he simultaneously attacked the Prussians at Ligny and Wellington at Quatre-Bras. The Prussians were undoubtedly worsted, and we at the best fought a very doubtful action at Quatre-Bras. The Allies then fell back, and it was agreed that a further stand should be made at Waterloo. Circumstances arose which prevented BlÜcher from arriving on the field as soon as was anticipated, and for four long hours the small British army withstood the onset of the whole of Napoleon's forces; then, early in the afternoon, the effect of the Prussian advance on our left began to be felt, and as the divisions of our allies came successively into action, the success of the day was no more in doubt. By sundown the battle was won, the French in full retreat, and Napoleon's sun had set for ever.

The vexed question of the relative part played by the Prussians and ourselves will never be settled to the satisfaction of all. One point in regard to this question has, in my humble opinion, never been sufficiently brought out. The Prussian army was virtually an army of mercenaries, kept in the field by the large subsidies so generously voted by the English Parliament. It is true that we might have held our own without the arrival of the Prussians, but it is quite certain that we should never have inflicted the crushing defeat had not BlÜcher arrived—not so opportunely, as some writers assert, but according to his promise. Then, we know that the battle was a part of the prearranged plan between the Duke of Wellington and Prince BlÜcher. This, however, is beyond all doubt—that had it not been for the generous subsidies voted to Prussia by the English Parliament, amounting to 3,000,000 sterling, in the years 1814-15, there would have been no Prussian army to assist us. Throughout the wars with Napoleon, Austria, Prussia, and Russia received large sums to enable them to keep their armies in the field. It was not only the King's German Legion which was paid with English gold, but the Prussian army also; and when the Germans taunt the British army with being an army of mercenaries, it would be well for them to study the financial conditions under which they fought in the wars with France in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The following figures, showing the pecuniary assistance afforded by England to her allies, are of passing interest:

Casualties during the Waterloo Campaign.

The Order of the Bath.

At the close of the Peninsular War, the Order of the Bath, which up till then had consisted of but one class (the K.B.), was enlarged, and henceforth comprised three classes, as at present. The First Class, or Knight's Grand Cross, was reserved for General and Flag Officers; the Second Class was open to officers not below the rank of Post-Captain in the navy or Lieutenant-Colonel in the army. In order to obtain the Third Class of the Bath, better known as the C.B., an officer must have been mentioned in despatches for service in presence of the enemy. This qualification does not apply to the two higher classes, and it has happened more than once that officers have received the Grand Cross of the Bath who, under its statutes, are ineligible for the lowest class! The number of K.C.B.'s was limited to 180, and of these, 80 were bestowed on the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, and 100 on the army, in the following proportion as to ranks: 19 Admirals and 9 Lieutenant-Generals were granted the Order; 23 Vice and 25 Rear Admirals; and 37 Major-Generals, 19 Post-Captains, and 22 Colonels; whilst 32 Lieutenant-Colonels commanding regiments or Staff Officers received the same Order. Three officers of Marines were likewise granted the Order of the K.C.B. It is very rare now for a regimental commanding officer, still rarer for a Post-Captain, to obtain admission to the Second Class of the Bath.

I think I am right in stating that the late Sir William Peel and Sir Harry Keppel were the last Post-Captains who obtained this distinction. Sir Robert Sale and Sir Harry Smith were actually Lieutenant-Colonels of the 13th Light Infantry and of the Rifle Brigade respectively when they were advanced to the dignity of Grand Crosses of the Bath, but they held the local rank of Major-General in the East Indies. The latter was almost immediately promoted to the rank of substantive General Officer; the former was killed before reaching the higher grade.

The Battle of Waterloo was the first engagement for which the C.B. was granted. It is true that in the same Gazette a number of officers received the decoration for their services in the Peninsular War, and of these not a few also appeared in the Waterloo Gazette with a star against their names, intimating that they had received the decoration for previous services. The list of officers granted the dignity of K.C.B. was published in the Gazette of January 2, 1815; but the C.B.'s, both for the Peninsula and for Waterloo, appeared in the Gazette of September 4, 1815.

The following list gives the number of decorations conferred regimentally. It will be noticed that a number of regiments do not figure in the list at all. On the other hand, a number of regiments which participated in these honours have long since ceased to exist, amongst them the well-known King's German Legion and the little-known Greek Light Infantry. Of these I have not given the details.

The First Regimental Recipients of the Bath.

No regimental officers were granted the dignity of a K.C.B. for the Battle of Waterloo.