I’m a historian from Finland, and much interested about Napoleon and Napoleonic Wars. I found this video very interesting and fascinating! Keep it up! It is a truly fascinating viewpoint to choose to look at the events through artifacts and objects of history. Particularly the medical equipment, and the rifle stories were truly fascinating and groundbreaking stories. Thank you! Keep it up! 👍👏
"Waterloo teeth" were mentioned. I was shocked to read that more than a million bushels of human and inhuman bones were imported from Europe into the port of Hull after the battles of Leipzig, Austerlitz and Waterloo (fertiliser trade). At the time the British were called the vampires of Europe.
@@MatMcLachlanHistory another use of the bones of horses and soldiers: "farmers in Belgium, facing a shortage of raw materials for sugar production, resorted to digging up the mass graves to obtain bones. It reveals how the bones were used to make bone char, a black substance that was used to filter and decolorize the sugar beet juice."
When sibourne built the model he had to decide what part of the battle to recreate. I think he choose 2:30 in the afternoon rather than the end of the battle. That is why the Prussians are not represented.
In the orginal version of the Waterloo model, Siborne who was a serving army officer did include more Prussians, A fact seen by Wellington, who of had the Prussian numbers reduced, especially on the Allied left flank. reference the book "Wellingtons smallest victory"
Very well done on this one guys! Great explanations and tales about this awful battle, the painting at the beginning is a fabulous mood painting that says a lot about the era and the uniforms and weather, wonderfully portrayed. The musket or "Brown Bess" was a great piece of kit for the time and as said here, in the hands of someone who knew what they were doing in the heat of combat, very effective. I would however not recommend standing in front of one even at 100 yards, especially wearing a red jacket! The wonderful horses, also victims and casualties in not just this battle but for centuries were often just a mode of transport, they still had feelings and suffered as well as their riders. RIP all. Thanks for this, great video!
While Peter is not always spot on in his descriptions of the various weapons systems, I'm not one to quibble. I got the gist of what he was trying to explain in an enjoyable manner. I am a great fan of Peter Hart's writing about WW2. I need to read some of his WW1 histories. One thing he got right was that infantry in line formation were very vulnerable to a charge by cavalry. It's kind of how modern mounted police break up a riotous crowd by using the mass of the horses to get into the gaps. Once formed into square, the horses are not to keen to try and break a line of sharp bayonets and they shy away or are impaled. The best descriptions of Waterloo I've read were in Sir John Keegan's "The Face of Battle." He really explains why the cavalry charge failed, and why the artillery almost broke the squares. Ney made a critical mistake in not coordinating his charges with the infantry. They would have prevented the British with a dilemma: Stay in line to meet the infantry and risk the cavalry charge at the same time, or go into square and be decimated by the artillery. Apologies for the long post and my rambling along, but this was a fascinating video to me.
Shadrach Purton was a private in the 52nd foot, lived out his days in tazzie. He had a sword from waterloo, and until recently the family thought he was an officer. It turns out he was just an enlisted man and likely pilfered it off the battlefield. The sword was passed down through the family until it was stolen in 1961
@@MatMcLachlanHistory yep, it's a real shame. There should be a photo of it around somewhere, my Grandmas cousin used it when he graduated from Duntroon. Everything was stolen the day he died
I've been a huge Napoleonic era buff most of my life and I can put it down to 2 things, one was seeing Siborne's Waterloo diorama when I was about 11 and the other was a painting I saw in an art gallery on the Wirral whilst staying at an aunts. I'll never tire of seeing content and learning about this period of warfare. Cheers lads 👍🏼 PS I think you meant embellished and not embroidered 😂 but who cares, the closing of those gates changed the course of history..........perhaps 😆
Yes dental problems were a big issue in the 19th century, they replaced them with dead people's teeth. If a young man with a perfect set of teeth died they would not let them go to waste. Also some of the bones of the dead were ground down and used on farmers field in the UK.
@@MatMcLachlanHistory well for one thing he said that smoothbore muskets were completely inaccurate, you couldn't hit anything past 50 yards. I have watched many people repeatedly hit a target at 100 yards. They are not nearly as inaccurate as is commonly said. Are they as accurate as a rifled barrel. No but they are accurate enough to repeatedly hit a man sized target at 100 yard. 2. It's not hard to load a musket. When he said that you couldn't load it in a hour tells me he knows little to nothing about about loading a musket. I could show you once and you would be able to load one easily. Would you be able to load and fire three rounds a minute right off the bat. No. That takes repetition but you should be able to load and fire three rounds a minute in less than a days practice. That was the whole reason for switching from long bows and cross bows to muskets. It takes years of practice to build up the muscle strength and muscle memory to shoot a 100lb war bow but takes less than a day to learn how to load a musket efficiently. As for there being no anesthetics at the time is a all out lie. They had multiple anesthetics at the time including Laudanum and Ether. Now wether or not they had enough for all of the casualties is another matter. Basically he was a bad choice as a interviewee
Laudanum is opium tincture, it's an analgesic not an anaesthetic. Ether, could you give a reference. The American Civil War is usually 'lauded' for first using it.
@@benjo_pharmerI think you mean morphine by injection, Lauandum was used before the civil war for pain, it was taken mostly taken orally,,, I'm no expert but that's what I am familiar with they have their differences. but I agree with the above idk if this guy is just very excited to talk about it or what but his knowledge seems great but a couple of things had me smiling.
I’m a historian from Finland, and much interested about Napoleon and Napoleonic Wars. I found this video very interesting and fascinating! Keep it up! It is a truly fascinating viewpoint to choose to look at the events through artifacts and objects of history. Particularly the medical equipment, and the rifle stories were truly fascinating and groundbreaking stories. Thank you! Keep it up! 👍👏
Thank you for the kind words! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
"Waterloo teeth" were mentioned. I was shocked to read that more than a million bushels of human and inhuman bones were imported from Europe into the port of Hull after the battles of Leipzig, Austerlitz and Waterloo (fertiliser trade). At the time the British were called the vampires of Europe.
Yes, it was pretty shocking. There are now very few graves from the battle - as you say, most of the dead ended up as fertiliser.
Shows you how history always treats the every day soldier
@@robertwalker951 Yes, especially the younger ones since they, most of the times, had the best teeth for dentures.
@@MatMcLachlanHistory
another use of the bones of horses and soldiers:
"farmers in Belgium, facing a shortage of raw materials for sugar production, resorted to digging up the mass graves to obtain bones. It reveals how the bones were used to make bone char, a black substance that was used to filter and decolorize the sugar beet juice."
When sibourne built the model he had to decide what part of the battle to recreate. I think he choose 2:30 in the afternoon rather than the end of the battle. That is why the Prussians are not represented.
In the orginal version of the Waterloo model, Siborne who was a serving army officer did include more Prussians, A fact seen by Wellington, who of had the Prussian numbers reduced, especially on the Allied left flank. reference the book "Wellingtons smallest victory"
Great info. Thanks!
I have been to the battlefield of waterloo, it is really small and very sad
Very well done on this one guys!
Great explanations and tales about this awful battle, the painting at the beginning is a fabulous mood painting that says a lot about the era and the uniforms and weather, wonderfully portrayed.
The musket or "Brown Bess" was a great piece of kit for the time and as said here, in the hands of someone who knew what they were doing in the heat of combat, very effective.
I would however not recommend standing in front of one even at 100 yards, especially wearing a red jacket!
The wonderful horses, also victims and casualties in not just this battle but for centuries were often just a mode of transport, they still had feelings and suffered as well as their riders. RIP all.
Thanks for this, great video!
Thanks Derek! Glad you enjoyed it!
As a learned historian, I agree with Peter entirety. It's definitely a horse.
While Peter is not always spot on in his descriptions of the various weapons systems, I'm not one to quibble. I got the gist of what he was trying to explain in an enjoyable manner. I am a great fan of Peter Hart's writing about WW2. I need to read some of his WW1 histories. One thing he got right was that infantry in line formation were very vulnerable to a charge by cavalry. It's kind of how modern mounted police break up a riotous crowd by using the mass of the horses to get into the gaps. Once formed into square, the horses are not to keen to try and break a line of sharp bayonets and they shy away or are impaled. The best descriptions of Waterloo I've read were in Sir John Keegan's "The Face of Battle." He really explains why the cavalry charge failed, and why the artillery almost broke the squares. Ney made a critical mistake in not coordinating his charges with the infantry. They would have prevented the British with a dilemma: Stay in line to meet the infantry and risk the cavalry charge at the same time, or go into square and be decimated by the artillery. Apologies for the long post and my rambling along, but this was a fascinating video to me.
Thanks for the comments, and for watching!
Shadrach Purton was a private in the 52nd foot, lived out his days in tazzie. He had a sword from waterloo, and until recently the family thought he was an officer. It turns out he was just an enlisted man and likely pilfered it off the battlefield. The sword was passed down through the family until it was stolen in 1961
Oh no! That was a great story with a rotten ending! I’ll bet the person who flogged it doesn’t even know what it is.
@@MatMcLachlanHistory yep, it's a real shame. There should be a photo of it around somewhere, my Grandmas cousin used it when he graduated from Duntroon. Everything was stolen the day he died
Great video, Waterloo well worth a visit, paid a visit on my way to Ypres last year. Have also been to that museum in London which is another must.
Nice one!
I've been a huge Napoleonic era buff most of my life and I can put it down to 2 things, one was seeing Siborne's Waterloo diorama when I was about 11 and the other was a painting I saw in an art gallery on the Wirral whilst staying at an aunts. I'll never tire of seeing content and learning about this period of warfare. Cheers lads 👍🏼
PS I think you meant embellished and not embroidered 😂 but who cares, the closing of those gates changed the course of history..........perhaps 😆
Thanks for watching!
Pete, Waterloo teeth, seriously? I can't imagine the horror of inserting a cadaver's teeth in my mouth.
Pretty awful, I agree!
Yes dental problems were a big issue in the 19th century, they replaced them with dead people's teeth. If a young man with a perfect set of teeth died they would not let them go to waste. Also some of the bones of the dead were ground down and used on farmers field in the UK.
@@Mulberry2000 Wow.
A whole lot of falsehoods and myths being told here. Especially about the firearms and anesthetics
Interesting comment. Please expand.
@@MatMcLachlanHistory well for one thing he said that smoothbore muskets were completely inaccurate, you couldn't hit anything past 50 yards. I have watched many people repeatedly hit a target at 100 yards. They are not nearly as inaccurate as is commonly said. Are they as accurate as a rifled barrel. No but they are accurate enough to repeatedly hit a man sized target at 100 yard.
2. It's not hard to load a musket. When he said that you couldn't load it in a hour tells me he knows little to nothing about about loading a musket. I could show you once and you would be able to load one easily. Would you be able to load and fire three rounds a minute right off the bat. No. That takes repetition but you should be able to load and fire three rounds a minute in less than a days practice. That was the whole reason for switching from long bows and cross bows to muskets. It takes years of practice to build up the muscle strength and muscle memory to shoot a 100lb war bow but takes less than a day to learn how to load a musket efficiently.
As for there being no anesthetics at the time is a all out lie. They had multiple anesthetics at the time including Laudanum and Ether. Now wether or not they had enough for all of the casualties is another matter.
Basically he was a bad choice as a interviewee
Laudanum is opium tincture, it's an analgesic not an anaesthetic. Ether, could you give a reference. The American Civil War is usually 'lauded' for first using it.
@@benjo_pharmerI think you mean morphine by injection, Lauandum was used before the civil war for pain, it was taken mostly taken orally,,, I'm no expert but that's what I am familiar with they have their differences. but I agree with the above idk if this guy is just very excited to talk about it or what but his knowledge seems great but a couple of things had me smiling.