In Napoleonic Wars, most of those killed in combat were interred on the battlefield where they fell.

A few though were moved elsewhere or taken home for burial – one of whom was Major the Hon. Frederick Howard, 10th Hussars, killed at Waterloo in 1815. A short 🧵1/ The Hon. Frederick Howard, son of the 5th Earl of Carlisle, was commissioned ensign in 85th Foot in 1801, aged 15.

He became lieutenant in the 10th Light Dragoons in Dec 1802, captain by 1804, and from May 1811 was a major in the regiment – now styled 10th Hussars. 2/

“Soldiers of the 5th!”

The epic scene of Napoleon winning over the 5th Line in 1815 has come to symbolise the emperor’s appeal in the army. But who were the real men of the 5th? Were they die-hard Napoleonic veterans?

Naturally, I dipped into the records to find out. A 🧵1/ When they met Napoleon in March 1815 there were 1308 men registered in the 5th Line, excluding those on leave or who had deserted or been discharged (1932 men including them).

What follows is compiled from the individual service records of each and every one of those men. 2/

Some quite interesting information about casualties at the Battle of Waterloo has come out of the regimental registers of the French 17eme Ligne, which was part of Donzelot’s 2nd Division in I Corps. Here’s a short summary of some findings 1/ Entries in the register record 634 men lost in some way on 18 June 1815:
560 ‘Lost, presumed dead or prisoner of war’
2 disappeared
8 missing, later returned
9 prisoners of war
38 killed in action
17 wounded
The register (very unusually) also gives some details of those wounds 2/

Most regimental register entries give a few scant details of a man’s enrolment, unit, campaigns fought, and demise/discharge. Not so for Felix Dieppedalle, who rose to Adjutant Sous Officier in 17eme Ligne – and whose record tells a fascinating (if fragmentary) tale. 1/ Felix Dieppedalle (or Jean Felix, on his initial inscription record) was born in Rouen on 4 August 1782. He was conscripted in 1805 and placed in the Company of Reserve of his department of Seine-Inférieure. He was 165cm tall, just above average for the time. 2/

Just come across the service record of an Egyptian soldier, Solimand Moustapha, who found himself fighting in a French line infantry regiment at Waterloo.

He’d have had a fascinating career - here’s a brief overview. 1/ Solimand (the spelling given on his enrollment record in the 17eme Inf. de Ligne) was born in Egypt in 1786, and joined French service at the age of only 14 on 20 February 1800. 2/

I’ve finally finished analysis of the service records of the infantrymen of Napoleon’s 1st Division in the Waterloo campaign. 7352 soldiers passed through the regiments from the Restoration to Waterloo. Here are some random initial thoughts 1/ Context: Part of d’Erlon’s I Corps, 1st Division comprised two battalions each of the 28th, 54th, 55th and 105th Line infantry – around 4,000 men and officers in the field. They did not come into action until the day of Waterloo, when they were very heavily engaged. 2/