Waterloo 200 Trip June 2015 - A Short Memoire

   Never did get to go up to the Lion's Mound in that trip. Next time, I'll make sure to arrive when hardly anyone else is around.

'The Duchess of Richmond's Ball' by Robert Alexander Hillingford, 1870s

Notable moments during my June 19th - 21st, 2015, trip to the Waterloo 200 commemorations in Brabant, Waterloo

                        I could barely afford to make the life-long dreamed about trip to Waterloo, but I made it.

   Although I was en route on the June 18th, I had the rest of the event filled weekend to run amok and enjoy as best as my restricted budget would allow; including no hotel stays - I roughed it out and luckily the stay-away-rain gods favoured me in my overnight outings. The journey was of immense gratification, and the hardships were endured with the mindset of reminding myself what hundreds of thousands of soldiers endured during the short and horrific Waterloo campaign.

   From the onset at the Brussels airport, things got off to a good start when the customs agent asked me a question related to my intended trip destination; "Who won the battle?" he asked - apparently with some historical interest in the event. I replied with a philosophical short answer along the lines of; "Who really wins in the wars of Empires." We both smiled and I was on my way. I headed straight to the battlefield since I had no hotel check-ins to worry about. I was travelling lightly with a small but still too heavily loaded sports bag filled with Waterloo books I never ended up reading. Surprisingly, I ended up spending as much as my time ogling and biding my time in wondrous the City of Brussels as I did on the battlefield of Waterloo.

   My first arrival to the battlefield was from Braine L'Alleude train station. I decided to walk from there to start my ground level tour from the get-go. I took a wrong turn somewhere in the suburbs and was heading south, down the wrong-side of the Nivelles highway! So, like D'Erlon on his June 16th misadventure, I had to retrace my steps, marching back a mile or so to take the proper walking route to the battlefield.

   In a nutshell, I spent very little time in the whole trip watching the major battle re-enactments; during which I grated my teeth when I heard the official local battle-announcer describe in the action phases, how at Waterloo, the French cavalry "attacked the British squares". I'm wondering if the Belgian and Dutch militias had a quiet word with him after about all the various nationalities in Wellington's army being obliged to form squares along the heights of Mont St.Jean and Ohain. I didn't get up to the Lion's Mound since the long line-ups put me off, nor for the same reason, did I bother to visit the Panorama. I did join the patient line-up to go inside Hougoumont itself. Amazing view of the historic site and the epic renovations that dedicated historical enthusiasts undertook to revitalize this historic shrine. I got into a good but- all too short friendly chat with a KGL re-enactment detachment there too.

   Equally impressive was pacing alongside the farmhouse of La Haye Sainte. When on site in its shadow, the place is more massive than the sense one gets looking at photos of the buildings and its representations seen in hundreds of miniature models variations. The structure was obviously formidable and all too daunting seen from the side of the French attackers.

   My most stirring experience was the trek to Plancenoit. Imagine, a mile away there are the bustling visitor attractions of the Waterloo 200 weekend events going on, and at the same time in the evening - when I took my solitary leave of the re-enactment refight to retrace the path of the famous Old Guard reinforcement battalions charge into the village at 7 pm in the battle - I find the village is like a ghost town. There literally no persons on the street, and nary a car driving by. I had the whole village to myself as twilight descended. Going along only by my mental map of where the village church of Sainte Catherine should be, this time I did not get lost, and my guesses of which side streets to turn off at brought me directly to the hallowed ground.

   Throughout the walk - being undistracted by no activity around me, I was free to immerse my imagination into the horrors of 200 years earlier when the village was a cauldron of no-mercy, no quarter, street-fighting to the death, between men and young lads of both sides spewing out their bloodlusts - already searing from embittered hatred between the Prussians and the French soldiers. I envisioned buildings of fire, and boots of soldiers clattering along the paved streets while charging or fleeing; screams and gunshots incessantly roaring. Once at the empty expansive Church area I took my time pacing around it - especially the graveyard - which when depicted in wargames and war movies, have a paradoxical attraction for more meaning to conquer in combat. I read memorial plaques and gravestone names. Darkness was falling and I left the deeply moving site along the same way (I was hoping) that I had come. This time my mind's eye imagined the victorious Prussians sweeping over the last holdouts of defenders, heading to the Brussels highway in triumph while tens of thousands of French soldiers fled the battle before them and the final advance of Wellington's army.

  I did come across thousands of French soldiers streaming down the Brussels highway as I reached it that night. They were not a ghost army - they were the French re-enactment units on their way back to their encampments nearby following the evening's refight which had just finished. The whole past 3 hours of the Plancenoit side trek was seared into my memory - very sullen in its solitude, very engrossing in its violent actual-three hour battle history.  The whole trip was worth just that experience.

   So, the two days I spent touring the battlefield and multitude of events and markets on site were enriching even though my budget did not allow for me to partake in gratuitous meals or the market vendors' irresistible militaria merchandise, but I picked up a few good deals and souvenirs anyway. Alongside from the mostly unseasonably excellent weather I was further lovingly saturated with - during the days - I indulged in sightseeing the near-paradise awesome spectacles of the City of Brussels in its summertime. Its many main streets were jam-packed with tourists. Tall skinny buildings looked like fable-book scenes. The Grand Place / Great Market Square, was astounding - and I made several trips there; at night only a good rain cleared the place of many students gathered in circles enjoying each other's company. On the overnights I strayed around from place to place where 24-hour eateries were open. It was rough-going especially, like during the Waterloo campaign nights, everything gets chilly. Coupled with bouts of drizzle, those moments put a literal damper on things when stuck outside and exposed to the elements. But, many photos of the fantastic city scenes were made. One day, after the Covid-19 debacle is vanquished, I'll head back to Brussels, hopefully with a proper trip budget!

   But the travails of the trip reminded me why I wanted to be there; to envision and absorb, in any small sense at least, the tumultuous days of the Waterloo Campaign when misery in all its various shades and extremities was rife throughout the region for soldiers and civilians alike.

   Now onto my gallery of a few select photos from my trip....

This is a sketch of Hougoumont's south-side that I drew on location during the 2015 trip, with a few tweaks in the otherwise blocked windows.

Hougoumont - the North Gate

   The famous site of the battle where the French almost scored an early victorious capture of the strategic fortified outpost after catching the surprised defenders off-guard. The attack was repulsed and Hougoumont stayed in Allied possession for the rest of the battle - even despite other brief break-ins by the French.

   The building's main doors and the crossbeam above them were exquisitely refurbished by a team of historians and volunteers dedicated to its revitalization in recent years.

For further details, please go and visit Project Hougoumont's website listed near the top of this site's LINKS PAGE.

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Hougoumont - the South Gate entrance

   The French attackers made fanatic efforts to try and breach the Allies defences at this sector of the fortified position. But here, primarily the British Foot Guard defenders poured volleys of destructive musketry fire from the house windows, and the wall's loopholes and firing platforms, decimating the waves of brave enemy assaults. The bodies of the dead and wounded piled high in this merciless blood-drenched area.

   The redcoat re-enactors seen here are from a KGL unit who were very pleasant to chat with.

La Haye Sainte, on the highway

   Photos seem to not do this farmhouse complex justice in conveying just how huge it looks when there in person next to the place.

   The farmhouse is actually lived-in, and by the owner's choice, is understandably sectioned off from curious visitors straying onto the property. I saw enough visitors wandering off paths and blundering into farmer's crop fields during my tour to see why barricades was undoubtedly a reasonably used option to ensure privacy and avoid damages.

   From what I've gleaned hear and there on La Haye Sainte discussions, it seems this place has had a few different owners in recent times.

Marching to Re-Enactment War

   A very successful Waterloo 200 week-ending week was held for the record numbers of visitors. Re-enactment units made the most of this epic get-together. Since 2015, and especially with Covid-19 ravaging the Western world and Europe, many re-enactment teams have faded away forever - everything has its time;. Nevertheless, this unique event was thoroughly enjoyed by many. Napoleon's actor-double is in this picture somewhere - but I think a soldier blocked him out when I took the photo.

   "Vive L'Empereur" shouted out some members of the nearby onlookers.

Plancenoit - St.Catherine's Church in the village center - from the west/French side

   It was twilight - and not a soul in sight on this most historic occasion at this fateful little place. Plancenoit was a ghost-town when I toured it on that summer night of mid-June, 2015. The eerie feeling solitude heightened my imagination of the vicious hours-long close-combat in and around this church, fought-out 200 years earlier; the dwindling numbers of French defenders of the Young  Guard Division and the Old Guard detachments defiantly clinging to the church and its graveyard, while equally determined Prussian infantry battalions surged forward to vanquish their long-time foes.

   This memorable experience was one-of-a-kind; chilling while retracing the actions of the combatants, and so mysterious that I would have this whole scene to myself while Europe's most busiest re-enactment involving tens of thousands of participants and visitors was in action less than two miles away.

The Grand Place / Grote Markt - Brussels

   Here is the famous and historic Brussels open square landmark - 'The Grand Place'. My memory of this attraction is one of it being larger than life - rising up like a robust stadium of well-preserved culture. There was an abundance of human enjoyment coming from the multitudes circulating at the site - gazing up at the towering historical architecture on all sides. Everyone leisurely meanders in the square as it is pleasantly devoid of any presence of vehicular traffic. The square's many adjoining café terraces cater to their consistently fully occupied tables. Great time!

   Striking presence of Highlander re-enactors dynamically adding to the event's overall success.

A French cuirassier - perhaps in thought, not liking the looks of enemy infantry squares forming in the distance.