With the outcome of the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815, the Napoleonic era came to an end. Allied forces had managed to defeat Napoleon’s troops in a field near the village of Waterloo near Brussels. It is estimated that more than 50,000 men lost their lives in the slaughter. So far, however, many have been puzzled as to what happened to their remains. Only recently, the British archaeologist Tony Pollard, based on the analysis of written documents, put forward the thesis that bones could possibly have been processed into fertilizer on a large scale.
That archaeologist and a team of war veterans have now unearthed a complete skeleton believed to be that of a soldier who fought at the Battle of Waterloo. It was in a pit not far from what was then a field hospital at Mont-Saint-Jean, which was operated by British General Wellington. The seekers are part of the Waterloo Uncovered excavation project launched in 2015; a charity project that helps modern-day war veterans and other military personnel recover from the suffering they have experienced and the effects of their service, including through participation in the digs.
As “Waterloo Uncovered” announced in July 2022, the skeleton was found surrounded by ammunition boxes, medical waste and arm and leg bones. The limbs had probably been amputated by hospital doctors – there was still a bullet in one. The skeleton now recovered is only the second complete skeleton of a battleman ever uncovered. The bones, first found ten years ago, went down in history as those of the so-called “Waterloo soldier”. The remains of the Hanoverian, who died young and is said to have fought alongside the British, are now part of an exhibition in the “Mémorial Waterloo 1815” museum.
Pollard, who directs the Center for Battlefield Archeology at the University of Glasgow, said of the recent finds that he had never seen anything like it – despite having been a battlefield archaeologist for 20 years. The remains of at least three horses were uncovered at the same time as the human remains. “It’s a stunning discovery and a real eye opener to the horror of the reality of Waterloo,” said Pollard.
Dealing with the discoveries is not always easy for the veterans involved. Ashley Gordon, who helped excavate the human remains, admitted making such comparisons that it could have been a comrade who died in Iraq. That’s why the find isn’t something “that you should glorify and jump up and down about,” he said. Gordon wants to treat the person with dignity and respect and hopes – future-oriented – to help piece together the story of the deceased.
As Pollard had reported on the basis of his source study, given the sheer number of dead, it was probably not possible to bury them all. Some were burned, some were swiftly stalked by looters who even stole teeth for prosthetics, and bone dealers also appeared because bones ground into bone meal were used in fertilizer at the time.
On the other hand, according to descriptions, there must have been mass graves – even if they fell victim to looters or bone hunters. These are believed to be in the areas around Hougoumont, near La Haye Sainte and at La Belle Alliance. So far, however, both test excavations and investigations with ground-penetrating radar have not provided any clear results.
Author: Verena Greb
Originally published by Deutsche Welle.
