The Button Man of Waterloo
Amid all the confusion of the Battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington spotted a man in civilian clothes riding busily around on a stocky horse.
1815
King George III 1760-1820
Amid all the confusion of the Battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington spotted a man in civilian clothes riding busily around on a stocky horse.
1815
King George III 1760-1820
Benjamin Haydon was a respected nineteenth-century English artist and teacher, but his career was a constant struggle, blighted by debt and (in his eyes) betrayal. He died at his own hand in 1846. Haydon left behind a diary in which he recorded an anecdote set against the background of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, on the authority of the Duke of Wellington himself.
24th March, 1843
DINED at Lupton’s with Carew and Clint,* and had a very pleasant night. Carew told us a capital story of the Duke. The Duke was at the Marchioness of Downshire’s,* and the ladies plagued him for some of his stories. For some time he declared all his stories were in print. At last he said, ‘Well, I’ll tell you one that has not been printed.’
In the middle of the battle of Waterloo he saw a man in plain clothes riding about on a cob* in the thickest fire. During a temporary lull the Duke beckoned him, and he rode over. He asked him who he was, and what business he had there. He replied he was an Englishman accidentally at Brussels, that he had never seen a fight and wanted to see one. The Duke told him he was in instant danger of his life; he said ‘Not more than your Grace,’ and they parted.
* John Edward Carew (?1782-1868), ‘the only friend I ever met in the art’ lamented Haydon. Carew designed the bronze panel ‘The Death of Nelson’ attached to the pedestal of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. George Clint (1770–1854) was an English portrait painter and engraver. Both Clint and Carew were associated with George Wyndham (1751-1837), 3rd Earl of Egremont. Following Egremont’s death in 1837, Haydon wrote in his diary: “He was an extraordinary man, — manly, straight-forward, tender-hearted, a noble patron, an attached friend and an affectionate and indulgent parent. His great pleasure was in sharing with the highest and humblest the advantages and luxuries of his vast income. The very animals at Petworth seemed happier than in any other spot on earth, — better fed, and their dumbness and helpless dependence on man more humanely felt for. He was one of those left of the old school who considered a great artist as fit society for any man, however high his rank, and at his table, as at Sir George Beaumont’s, Lord Mulgrave’s, or Sir Robert Peel’s, painter and sculptor, poet and minister and soldier, all were as equals.”
* Lady Mary Windsor (1790-1855), daughter of the 5th Earl of Plymouth and wife of Arthur Blundell Sandys Trumbull Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire (1788-1845). The Marquess of Downshire is an Irish title.
* A cob is a sturdy, thickset horse.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
It was the Battle of Waterloo. A civilian rode onto the battlefield. The Duke of Wellington saw him.
See if you can include one or more of these words in your answer.
IClothing. IIDuring. IIISpot.