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Waterloo


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Today is the Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo 18th June 1815 when Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by Wellington's army. Napoleon was subsequently banished to the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic where he later died. Waterloo is in Belgium, south of Brussels.

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1 hour ago, Stallard12 said:

My favorite story about Wellington, was that while they sawed off his damaged leg, he sat up and joked with the doctors.  Fact check me, I don’t want my hero to be a lie.

Same battle but wrong bloke Stall. It was Henry Paget, the Earl of Uxbridge, a cavalry officer under Wellington who had his leg amputated during the battle. He did joke with the doctors but I presume he was under the influence of strong drink, which was what they used as anaesthetics in those days 🥴.

A story my granny told me was that when she was a young girl in County Waterford (before the first world war), she had to go to the dentist in Dublin to have a load of teeth pulled out and the anaesthetic was whiskey. It didn't take much as she had never drunk alcohol, and she never did again until she died aged 98.

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Lord Uxbridge was the Senior Cavalry Commander and Second in Command to Wellington.   He's reputed to have lost his leg to a cannon ball, whilst riding alongside Wellington; as depicted in the Film with Christopher Plumer, which was a fairly accurate account of the Battle.   :unsure:

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22 hours ago, Evil Sid said:

most people under forty think it is a train station in London or a song by abba....🤭....🤣

Wonder what cause will be offended by that battle and want to rewrite it so the English are the villains of the piece.....🤔

The French 🤣

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St. Helena was allegedly plagued by mosquitos, and claims that Napoleon was poisoned by the arsenic in the wallpaper paste.  However, most now believe he died from stomach cancer.   In writing his memoirs, he blamed everyone else for his defeat (bit like BoJo !), when it was he that divided his Army, sending Marshal Grouchy with 30,000 men to pursue the Prussians. By 1815 he'd lost his flair as a General,  using blunt frontal assaults which proved suicidal against formed infantry lines sheltered behind a reverse slope.   In any event, with France being invaded by a coalition of forces that outnumbered his,  his end was inevitable.  :unsure:

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43 minutes ago, Observer II said:

St. Helena was allegedly plagued by mosquitos, and claims that Napoleon was poisoned by the arsenic in the wallpaper paste.  However, most now believe he died from stomach cancer.

If there was any truth in the Wallpaper paste story then thousands more in Britain would have suffered the same fate.

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There is a tinge of truth in the arsenic wallpaper paste. Arsenic was used for many things in those days. but unless They were ripping the wallpaper off and eating it then it would be highly unlikely to have much of an effect on anybody.

Any way according to one source the reason he stuck his hand up his vest was to conceal the fact that he bit his finger nails....🤭

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