Hugh Halkett - Waterloo and Later Career

Waterloo and Later Career

At the Battle of Waterloo, Halkett commanded four battalions of Hanoverian landwehr (militia), which were sent to the front with the regulars. These units were organised into the 3rd Hanoverian Brigade of Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton's 2nd Division. Halkett's brigade was held in reserve on the right flank for most of the battle. After the defeat of Napoleon's Imperial Guard, the Duke of Wellington sent Halkett to pursue the disintegrating French forces. He is remembered for capturing General Cambronne while his Osnabrück Battalion engaged the French Imperial Guard.

After Waterloo, Halkett stayed in the Hanoverian service. He rose to be a general and inspector-general of infantry. He led a Federal Army Corps in the First War of Schleswig (also known as the Prussian-Danish War of 1848), and defeated the Danes at the Battle of Oeversee, a rear-guard action at Sankelmark.

Halkett held many foreign orders, including the Prussian Order of the Black Eagle, the Pour le Mérite and the Russian St. Anne. In 1862, he was ennobled (heritable) to a Freiherr (Baron) by King George V of Hanover.

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