James Graham (British Army Soldier) - The Road To Waterloo

The Road To Waterloo

The United Kingdom and her Allies had been at war against Napoleon's French Empire since 1803, but by early 1814 Wellington's army had fought its way through the Peninsula to France, and the eastern Allies were threatening France's eastern borders. As well as supporting Wellington's actions in the south, the British government agreed to send a small force to the Netherlands under Sir Thomas Graham to capture the fortress of Bergen op Zoom. An attempt was made on the fortress during the night of 8 March 1814. Sir Thomas Graham split his 4,000 men into four detachments; the Coldstream Guards were among those who attacked on the left, and gained the ramparts. The general attack was not a success, and the British were repelled. The British losses were heavy, but the Guards were commended for their "steady conduct during the many hours they maintained their position upon the ramparts; and with the soldierly and orderly manner in which they effected the retreat." Among the officers commended was Ensign Gooch, who would later shut the gate at Hougoumont with James Graham.

The campaign was progressing well elsewhere, however. On 31 March 1814, allied armies entered Paris, and Napoleon abdicated on 6 April. The news was slow to reach Wellington, who fought and won a battle against the French at Toulouse on 10 April. Within a month of Napoleon's abdication, he had been exiled to Elba. It appeared that the war was over, and arrangements for the peace were discussed at the Congress of Vienna. But on 26 February 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France, where he raised an army. By 20 March he had reached Paris. The Allies assembled another army and planned for a summer offensive.

Following the unsuccessful assault on Bergen op Zoom, the combatant Coldstream companies had been garrisoned in Brussels and Ath, where they were joined by the 2nd Battalion's remaining four companies in early 1815. In preparation for the coming offensive, Graham's battalion joined with the 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards to form the 1st Division's 2nd Brigade.

Basing themselves in Belgium, the Allies formed two armies, with the Duke of Wellington commanding the Anglo-Allies, and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher commanding the Prussians. Napoleon marched swiftly through France to meet them, and split his army to launch a two-pronged attack. On 16 June 1815, Napoleon himself led men against Blücher at Ligny, while Marshall Ney commanded an attack against Wellington's forward army at the Battle of Quatre Bras.

Wellington had received news of Napoleon's position on the night of 15 June, and issued orders to his army to hold the ground at Quatre Bras. Graham's battalion, along with the rest of the 2nd Brigade, left Enghien, where they were quartered, at 3 a.m. on the morning of the 16th, for a twenty-five mile march to Quatre Bras. They reached Quatre Bras at 4 p.m., by which time the battle had been engaged for two hours. The Coldstream Guards immediately deployed into position to support the 1st Foot Guards, who were engaged with the enemy at Bossu Wood. Once the wood was cleared of French, Lieutenant-Colonel James Macdonnell led the 2nd Brigade's light companies (including Graham's) in a counter-attack against Jérôme Bonaparte's Frenchmen, with other Guards companies in support. The various Guards battalions sustained heavy losses, but by 6.30 p.m. Wellington's position had strengthened. By 9 p.m., Ney had withdrawn his men, and Wellington held the field. The French had lost 4,000 men, the Allies 4,800.

Wellington held Quatre Bras, but the Prussians were not so successful at Ligny, and were forced to retreat. Hearing of Blücher's defeat on the morning of 17 June, Wellington ordered his army to withdraw level with his ally; they took position near the Belgian village of Waterloo. Graham's company, and the Scots Guards' light company, masked the retreat from the right, and did not leave Quatre Bras until mid-afternoon.

The field at Waterloo was 5.5 km wide, with two parallel ridges running west to east, creating a shallow valley 1.4 km across. On the allied right lay the chateau of Hougoumont, a collection of walled farm buildings lying closer to the French line than the Allies' line. Recognising its defensive importance, Wellington ordered Hanoverian and Nassau troops to occupy the farm. In allied hands, it would provide cover for flanking fire against any French assault of the main allied line; in French hands, it would provide a bastion from which they could launch attacks. Since it defended the Nivelles road as well as the Allies' right flank, Wellington ordered that it was to be held at all costs. The 2nd Brigade of Guards took position on the slope above Hougoumont. On the morning of 18 June, Wellington sent the four light companies from the 1st and 2nd Brigades to Hougoumont to supplement the troops already there.