William Clarke of Prestonpans, Scotland, joined the 2nd Royal North
British Dragoons, the Scots Greys, in 1803. Clarke had risen to the rank
of sergeant by the time the regiment was ordered to Belgium on the news
that Napoleon had escaped from Elba. Forming part of what became known
as the 'Union' Brigade, the Scots Greys played a key role in Napoleon's
defeat at Waterloo.
The John Rylands Library, Manchester, recently acquired William Clarke's
600-page, handwritten memoir describing his enlistment and military
career, the highlight of which was the Waterloo campaign, which he
describes in unusual detail in the vernacular of the day, presented and
annotated by the renowned historian Garth Glover.
Thanks to this rare discovery, the reader can follow the movements of
the Scots Greys at every stage of the action throughout the three days
from Quatre-Bras to that climatic encounter on the Mont St Jean. Clarke
naturally portrays the charge of the Union Brigade in dramatic and
heroic terms, but he claims that the man who led the charge, Major
General William Ponsonby, was killed by a musket ball and not cut down
by French cavalry, as is usually stated, for recklessly charging too
far.
After the battle, Clarke was part of the Burial Party. He then
graphically describes the sad scene as he does the trail of the defeated
French army as the pursuing Prussians cut a merciless path on their way
to Paris.
A Scots Grey at Waterloo provides the reader with an exceptionally
in-depth account of the actions of the cavalry at Waterloo that will
mark this memoir out as one of the most significant to have been
published in the last 200 years.
