Cuirassier Regiments

 I've been working on the 12 Cuirassiers regiments, all of which fought at Waterloo, along side the two Carabinier, two dragoon and all the Guard cavalry regiments in the Reserve Cavalry charges which are, arguably, the most iconic moment of the battle.

The strength of these regiments varied hugely:

Horse Grenadiers             796

Empress Dragoons           816

1^st Polish Lancers             200

2^nd Red Lancers               1,134

Horse Chasseurs             1,223

Mamelukes                           26

1^st Cuirassiers                     485

2^nd  Cuirassiers                   311

3^rd  Cuirassiers                   480

4^th Cuirassiers                     314

5^th  Cuirassiers                   518

6^th  Cuirassiers                   285

7^th  Cuirassiers                   180

8^th  Cuirassiers                   459

9^th  Cuirassiers                   412

10^th  Cuirassiers                 359

11^th  Cuirassiers                 332

12^th  Cuirassiers                 258

1^st Carabiniers                    434

2^nd  Carabiniers                  413

2^nd Dragoons                      593

7^th Dragoons                       517

Total                                    10,545

The area to be covered by the regiments is as follows:

The Cuirassier regiments were distinguished by their facing colours:  1-3rd Regiments -red; 4-6 Regiments Aurore; 7-9th regiments yellow; 10-12th regiments pink.  They are currently in plastic boxes and even though they look quite clinical and compressed in this environment, I thought you would be interested to see what all 12 regiments look like.  Casualty figures are among them.  Another 100 charging figures for the 11th Regiment are still to come, plus many more casualties.

1st Regiment

2nd Regiment

3rd Regiment

4th Regiment

5th Regiment

6th Regiment

7th Regiment

8th Regiment

9th Regiment

10th Regiment

11th Regiment

12th Regiment - not yet sorted out

The figures are a mixture of metal and plastic of all makes.  I will show the Carabiniers, Dragoons and Guard cavalry separately.

The North East - an Update

 Recently, I've spent my time working on the 12 Cuirassier regiments - a never ending task that occasionally leaves me losing the will to live.

In between times, it's fun to achieve concrete results with the Smohain hamlet and the adjoining farms.  

Here are some images:

The interior of La Haye Farm, with Nassauers in defence

Southern edge

Overview - the Nassau defenders are in place but the French are yet to be attached.

Entrance to farm

Grenadier company - the bases are yet to be hidden

The joins in the track are too obvious at the moment but will be disguised

Barn to the East of the main farm

Track skirting the farm heading North-East.

The buildings in Mmohain (also known as La Marache) follow the scheme in the map below and are built by my father from modern images on Google Earth, but suitably adapted to 1815.

The buildings are arrayed on a table and are not quite in their correct positions.  If you take a Street View search on Google Earth you can how they look today. 

And two more houses:

The North-East of the Battlefield

 

Over the last few years, I have researched the least known part of the battlefield, the North-East - the area that anchored Wellington's left.  The ground is complex and marked by four locations: first, the farm of Papelotte; a second farm at La Haye; thirdly, the hamlet of Smohain (sometimes called La Marache) and finally the chateau of Frischermont.  

These locations run west to south east through complex country and presented a defensive opportunity that was arguably just as formidable as Plancenoit or Hougoumont.  Of course, the difference being that while a whole corps was thrown at Hougoumont, only Durutte's division was available to attack these four locations.

While information about the rest of the battlefield is plentiful, our understanding of certain aspects of the North-East is much more tentative, notably in respect of Smohain and Frischermont, nevertheless it is possible to piece together a coherent picture.

This entry provides a summary of what has been learned so far, plus some updates on Smohain.

Papelotte

Despite Durutte's claims, the French never captured Papelotte, but did manage to get into the garden.

Papelotte Farm and garden

Close up

Dutch half battery above the farm

Nassau infantry to the West of the farm

La Haye Farm

The farm will be garrisoned by these Nassauers:

Smohain/La Marache

A battalion of the Orange Nassau Regiment will defend the hamlet. These are in production:

With help from Liam I have taken the buildings in the village at the time of the battle and given each a number that equates to what is there today.  My father has then worked his magic to interpret how they would have looked.  The odd one out is the school building which clearly existed in 1815 but there is no evidence today.

Building 1 - The Three Ducks

Building 8 - School House

Building 9 - Oak frame gable

Building 12

the rear of the building

Frischermont

Frischermont was held briefly by the Orange Nassau regiment but was quickly taken by the French and then captured by the Prussians later in the day.