Hello Dr Reynolds, thanks for coming on!

Your mention of shades of blue pretty much immediately reminded me of the Prussians. How did the Prussian army, and indeed the various German and Dutch elements making up the Anglo-Allied force, feature in the memory of the battle in Britain in the period discussed? I appreciate that may actually be quite a big question, so my more specific enquiry would be whether there were those who deliberately highlighted the contributions of non-British forces – or perhaps more accurately the relatively small nature of the British contribution – either in general or specifically as counter-narratives to narratives pushed by specific interested parties?

Great to have you with us, Doctor Reynolds!

Likely you're aware of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series of novels. With Sharpe in mind, how likely would it be for a Sergeant to be commissioned as an officer? How were they treated by the officers who'd got in the usual way? At least one character observes that they'd be made Drillmasters or Quartermasters and take to drink; is this in any way close to how it was?

Congratulations on your book!

How did the officers who served in the Peninsular War, but not at Waterloo, respond to the battle's dominant position in British cultural memory?

Hi Luke,

A question I have always wondered about the memorial of Waterloo is how it came to be viewed as a 'British' victory despite British troops making up less than half of Wellington's force. At the time was it seen as an allied victory with the contributions of the 'German', Dutch and 'Belgian' troops equally recognised as those of the British?

If so, when did it become a 'British' victory in popular memory rather than an allied one of which the British were just one part ?

Hope that's clear !

Edit: when I say British I recognise the differences in how it was perceived in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

So say my rich father purchased an officer's commission for me... where and how would I go to actually learn to become a soldier?

Hello Dr. Reynolds, thank you very much for this AMA! Historical memory is such a broad and exciting field. Besides your own book, which I am personally hoping to purchase once it comes out, what are some of your favorite books or articles on historical memory?

Hello, Dr. Reynolds! Thanks for doing this. Can you tell me why the British Army started requiring its soldiers to wear a mustache after 1860?

How interesting!

It seems like the rest of the world focuses on Napolean as the great leader of that war, and only the UK focuses on Wellington. Is Wellington under-rated outside of the UK or is he over-rated inside the UK?

Thanks for doing this AMA! How quickly did news of the victory travel back to London and out across Europe? How long would it have taken for the average Brit to have heard about the victory and what effect did the initial framing of the battle reports affect how it came to be imagined in popular memory?

Thank you for this! I have a load of questions covered by the general questions 'How was the food situation handled by the sides?' and a whole bunch of smaller ones that kind of incorporate into that like 'what kind of rations were soldiers given? Were officers officially given the same food as the footsoldiers, but paid extra for their better food like the Navy to fit their station or were they just given better things immediately? How important was it to 'live off the land,' and where would camp followers come from and what would they provide.'

I don't need a comprehensive answer for all those, it's just some stuff I've wondered about.

Hello Dr. Reynolds!

In the 7th verse of “Richmond is a Hard Road the Travel” a song about the various failed attempts of Union generals to win battles in Virginia during 1862, the battle of Waterloo is referred to:

Last of all the brave Burnside, with his pontoon bridges, tried

A road no one had thought of before him, With two hundred thousand men for the Rebel slaughter pen,

And the blessed Union flag waving o'er him; But he met a fire like hell, of canister and shell,

That mowed his men down with great slaughter, 'Twas a shocking sight to view, that second Waterloo,

And the river ran with more blood than water.

This “Second Waterloo” is referring to the late 1862 Battle at Fredericksburg and most likely is putting both the French and Union armies under the same light, as of course the Bluecoats preformed a plethora of frontal charges during those 4 days. I’m personally wondering how often have you seen battles or even events refered to as “Second Waterloo” in memory or if this is just a one of reference made by this song?

Thank you so much for joining us for this AMA. There are few topics I love more than historical memory, so I've been looking forward to this, and the book itself!

One particular question I'd like to toss out there though is specifically about the place of Waterloo in the pantheon of 'Decisive Battles'. It of course gets included in those ranks quite often, and most famously I'd think in Creasy's 1851 "The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World". But in your estimation, just how deserving of that mantle is it? The Battle of Leipzig would obviously be the alternative contender, but do you feel that Waterloo outweighs it, or its is elevation over Leipzig in popular memory more a product of British chauvinism preferring to give credit to the fight where they made up a critical element instead of just a detachment of rocketeers?

I have question which has very mildly bothered me for a while.
I've heard that Major General Picton wasn't actually killed by enemy fire, and instead killed by his own troops - mostly because he was very unpopular with the group he was leading at the time. Any word on this?

Did the Duke of Wellington's unpopularity (or at least, decline in popularity in some quarters) in the 1830s during the reform controversies affect how the Battle of Waterloo was perceived or immortalised at the time?

Has ABBA's album "Waterloo" had any discernable impact on the public knowledge or interest in visiting the battlefield?

Hey! So I’m not too well versed in the Napoleonic Wars, and have been wondering…

How far-reaching were the ramifications of the war within the British people’s minds, or it could be put as, how much did they affect the decisions and choices of the British following it in wars and society afterwards?

I hope you can understand what I’m getting at, putting together words isn’t exactly my specialty. I look forward to hearing what you have to say to everyone else!

Thanks for doing this Doctor Reynolds.

I was wondering about how the battle was remembered within the British army itself. I know that units that had been at the battle would obviously commemorate it, but what about the rest of the army.

If I'm a young lieutenant in the 1880s in, say, the Irish Rifles- would I think of Waterloo as the great British feat of arms, or would I make more of a fuss about the Peninsular campaign that the Irish Rifles' predecessors had been part of?

In other words, was Waterloo always the great battle of the British army as seen by the British army?

Hi Dr. Reynolds, how many colonial soldiers were used in Waterloo? Where in the British empire did they come from? Was it all men? What role did they play, if any? Also, what role did gender play in Waterloo?

Hi Dr. Reynolds!

I'm writing my master's dissertation on something to do with 19th-century cultural history in Britain - specifically, political thinking around the idea of what Duncan Bell calls 'Greater Britain'. That is, the potential federalisation (or similar) of the British Empire.

I was just wondering if you had any knowledge or thoughts on it? Would be interested to hear them if you do. For instance, do you think the idea of 'Greater Britain' permeated the public consciousness much at all, or was it more of a thought experiment for the political elite?

If not then no worries!

Is there any truth to the claim that “entrepreneurial” British companies would extract the bones of fallen combatants from the battlefield for processing into fertiliser back home?

Hi Dr. Reynolds,

The Duke of Wellington would go on to have a long political career in his later life. How did partisan or factional politics shape the memory of Waterloo and Wellington’s role in the battle?

If I picked up a Whig pamphlet against Wellington would it mention Waterloo or Britain’s casualties at the battle?

This is a bit silly, but have you heard of Waterloo, Illinois in the US?

Local lore says it got its name from the residents' wry humor over the fight to pick a town name after two settlements merged. Allegedly around the time the Battle of Waterloo was in recent memory an Irishman tired of the bickering said "if ye's all don't quit I'll give you your own Waterloo," and it stuck.

Edit:the real quote is so much better:

Legend has it that in 1818, a man named Charles Carroll, an Irishman, came upon the scene, and to the astonishment of the Peterstown men and the Bellfontainers, ignored the rivalry and built his house on one side of the creek, his barn on the other and said “It won’t be Bellefontaine, and it won’t be Peterstown, but begorra, I’ll give ye’s both your Waterloo.”

I have a bachelors degree in History but am curious about what career paths exist outside of academia for a History PhD?

Reading about your book makes me sincerely miss my studies in college.

This might have some common ground with some of the other questions about the allied involvement and how its commemorated, but I wondered about 'Slender Billy' in particular. He was famously villainized in the Sharpe books and series, but the historical accounts (as far as my very limited understanding goes) goes towards both extremes, with some seeing him as an incompetent man, and others attempting to redeem his reputation.

My question being, is there any indication as to how his portrayals in Sharpe of him as a person match his real character?

Hi Luke. Thank you for doing this. My first question is how much did British society, particularly the working class, appreciate and make sacrifices to defeat Napoleon. For example, the cases of unrest after the war ended, such as the peterloo massacre. Particularly with there being little known of such events known in the historical timeline during the war. Also, how much did the British public believe in the myths about Napoleon in conttast to the facts and the objectivity of modern times.

Hi Dr. Reynolds,

I've seen in one of your replies that the Scots and Irish used it to highlight their importance within the United Kingdom.

Who were the ones keen to emphasise this?

Were there others in Scotland and Ireland that were against their involvement in such affairs? I'm thinking, perhaps, the burgeoning Catholic middling-class

How did the French receive the influx of British tourists pilgrimaging to the site of their national military defeat?

Do you have any history on the formation of Waterlooville in Hampshire, UK? The folklore is that it was the first place the returning troops camped, but would be good to hear any further information.

Thanks for being here. After the battle, thousands of men were listed as missing. Were they ever found?

What do you think the result of a French victory at Waterloo would have been?

Is the situation with Waterloo becoming a British war similar to the way that in Australia and New Zealand you would get the impression that Gallipoli was purely an ANZAC battle without much mention of the British and French. It seems most countries want to have a hero battle. In the case of Australia Fromelles was perhaps a more significant battle but it is overshadowed by Gallipoli commemorated on ANZAC day.

Thanks for doing this AMA. I was recently watching Mary Berry’s series on English estates and one was centered on Goodwood, home of the Duke of Richmond. On the episode, the current Duke showed off the chair Napoleon used to plan the battle which was still in use by the Duke in his study. He talked a bit about the ball given the night before. You've alluded to the ball in previous comments so I wanted a bit more detail about that ball and maybe others during the campaign.

What outfits would have been written, since many were still wearing those outfits when they fought? Would the food have been different than normal rations? Also, why was there a ball the night before the battle and who would have attended/been invited?

What sort of other memorabilia/spoils of victory would have been given out and how would it be decided who received what?

Thanks in advance!

Have you seen Sharpe?

Congrats on the book!

This might be a bit personal, but do you consider the Waterloo reenactments historically accurate?

Have you seen the movie Waterloo (1970)?

Had a conversation about old weapons, like the muskets in that era of Napoleon, so just asking: Which guns were actually used by the soldiers at Waterloo, but also before? If i am right, did the French Army still use the 1777 Musket model for the Infantry?

Note, i'm only talking about the main weapons, there were of course a lot of different guns around, like for the Jäger regiments and others.

I hope I'm not too late!

I see you are an expert on the British memory of the battle but I wonder if you could answer some questions related to french accounts of the battle. In particular I'm interested in knowing what you think about Hugo depiction of the battle in Les Miserables. How accurate is his description of the battle ? Do we know about how British and french audiences reacted to it?

I understand your research focuses on the 19th century, but as a modernist I’m curious: how did the cultural memory of the battle shape towards the turn of the 20th as the geopolitical situation was changing towards an Anglo-French alliance in an arms race with Germany? Was the battle still live in popular memory in the 20th century and were there any differences between that of the 19th century?

Did the British and French elites, in general, maintain a courteous relationship with each other despite the ongoing wars?

It seems to me that at least scientists and mathematicians maintained friendly acquaintances with those across the channel, frequently exchanging letters and memoirs, and occasionally visiting each other whenever the circumstances of war allowed it— such as during the Peace of Amiens and immediately after the first abdication of Napoleon.

Did the peerage, for example, or even military commanders and soldiers, maintain correspondence with French friends? Would this have been frowned upon?

Also, how much of an influence did Gillray have on the British public's perception of the war? Were his cartoons still reproduced after Waterloo?

Waterloo teeth!

Hi there Dr Reynolds

Regarding the composition of the officer corps: just how rare was it for an officer to come from the ranks (In the style of “sharpe”) during the napoleonic period? Were they all “gentlemen” who purchased their commissions?

I'm curious about the French side of Waterloo memory and commemoration, especially Cambronne's famous episode and Ney's charge. Was the French memory of Waterloo shaped by political needs of the time? Would the July monarchy replacing the Bourbon restoration be linked with a more positive view of Waterloo (such as Victor Hugo's famous commemoration of 'le mot de Cambronne') maybe discreetly promoted by the social atmosphere? (Since they did Retour des cendres and all)

And would agenda-serving memoirs have played a large role in shaping the memory of Waterloo? I read some opinions that Ney's 'unsupported futile charge into well-formed squares' that ended in disaster was likely actually orchestrated by Napoleon himself, with Ney being the scapegoat of defeat, Napoleon's inner circle at Saint Helena quickly pointing blaming fingers. Is this feasible, or more of a minority opinion?

And moving onto a broader question, how can we discern from fact and facade in memoirs? A lot of Allied memoirs claim to have engaged the Imperial Guard that day, even when it clearly wasn't the case. If we know some parts of a memoir is unreliable, how can we use other parts of the same memoir to paint a picture of some other aspect of the battle? Is meticulous cross-examination the only way? What about conflicting accounts?

Sorry for the heap of questions, but the subject really is so fascinating! Congratulations on your great book!

Why did soldiers wear armored breastplates when it was vulnerable to cannonfire in the battle?

Have you watched the fim ‚Waterloo‘ and what is your opinion of it?

Hello Dr. Reynolds. I just watched a video on battle tactics during the Napoleonic era, and wondered if there’s any better way of fighting a line or column, are there any tactics we can borrow from the last two hundred years of learning and did anyone ever attempt them at the time? Lines, columns and squares seems like a recipe for high casualties in almost every instance.

I don't think I've heard of you before. Any intresting facts you'd like to share about your self?

Ross why do you pretend to be a doctor?

At what address did the Duke of Wellington live at when he lived in Brussels as a young man?