Album including two autograph letters signed giving a detailed commentary on the Waterloo campaign; and three from the Duke of Wellington to Sir Alexander Allan concerning East India Company and parliamentary affairs.

WATERLOO - UXBRIDGE, Henry William Paget, first earl of.

Published by 1806-45

About this Item

In two vivid, deeply detailed letters, Lord Uxbridge - later Marquess of Anglesey and commander of allied cavalry at Waterloo - recounts the withdrawal from Quatre Bras and the battle of Waterloo. Written within six months of the engagement, they are almost certainly among his earliest surviving narratives. Autograph correspondence from any senior Allied commander is exceptionally rare. Uxbridge (1768-1854) had been Wellington's brilliant and inspirational cavalry commander in the Peninsula. At Waterloo he reached his zenith at a critical juncture, when Picton's infantry was under overwhelming pressure. He personally led the British heavy cavalry in a sweeping charge that routed vastly superior French numbers, destroyed batteries, and took prisoners and eagles, though at severe cost in men and horses. Throughout the day he moved ceaselessly between units - losing eight or nine horses - until his right knee was shattered by grapeshot in the battle's final moments. His supposed exchange with Wellington - "By God, sir, I've lost my leg!" / "By God, sir, so you have!" - became the most famous anecdote of the field. John Morewood quoted both letters in Waterloo General (2016), and Edward Owen cited them in The Waterloo Papers (1997). Owen identifies the recipient as Colonel James Allan of the 57th Foot, formerly Fitzroy Somerset's successor as Wellington's military secretary, a veteran of the Cape (1795), Seringapatam (1799), and the Peninsular War. Written from Beaudesert, Staffordshire, in December 1815 and addressed to "My dear Sir" (and earlier, "My dear Colonel"), the first letter (10 pages, 9 December) describes Uxbridge's management of the Allied withdrawal from Quatre Bras. After a quiet morning, a substantial force of French cavalry and artillery appeared on the left of Quatre Bras, advancing from the pursuit of the defeated Prussians. As the Anglo-allied light battalions withdrew, Uxbridge organized the cavalry retreat over the Genappe. He gives a sharply observed account of the fighting there, where French harassment became so severe that he ordered a spirited attack by the Hussars, followed by a decisive charge of the Life Guards, which checked the French advance. The second letter (9 pages, 18 December) covers the day of Waterloo. Uxbridge begins by admitting that to answer Allan fully "wd be writing a history of my own exploits", before setting out the celebrated charge of the heavy cavalry: their simultaneous assault under Sir William Ponsonby and Lord Edward Somerset, the overthrow of infantry and cavalry, the seizure of two eagles and some 2,500 prisoners, and the deep penetration into French squares. He notes their over-extension and heavy losses from French artillery, then comments on the actions of Dörnberg, Colquhoun Grant, Arentsschildt, Vandeleur (who took over after Uxbridge fell), and Hussey Vivian. He ends by directing Allan to his aide-de-camp Captain Thomas Wildman of the 7th Hussars at Stevens's Hotel, Bond Street, for further detail. The collection includes a note of 17 January 1816 from FitzRoy Somerset - Wellington's military secretary at Waterloo and later Lord Raglan - giving allied numbers engaged and remarking, "I hope it will be as useful to you as you are welcome to it". Written shortly after Somerset himself lost an arm at Waterloo, it is reproduced in Owen's Waterloo Papers. Three letters from Wellington to his former India colleague Sir Alexander Allan, first baronet, date from 1806, 1814, and 1820 and address James Paull's actions against Richard Wellesley, Allan's candidacy for an East India Company directorship (which Wellington strongly endorsed), and Wellington's request for Allan's influence at India House during the 1820 general election. Two revealing letters from Catherine, Duchess of Wellington, express her lifelong devotion to her husband, ask to keep a portrait lent by Allan, and describe her efforts to canvass support for Allan's directorship bid. A brief account of Allan notes.

Seller Inventory # 154762

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Album including two autograph letters signed giving a detailed commentary on the Waterloo campaign; and three from the Duke of Wellington to Sir Alexander Allan concerning East India Company and parliamentary affairs.
• Publisher: 1806-45
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)