The Waterloo Campaign, 1815

by William Siborne

Such was the termination of this ever memorable Battle—a Battle, remarkable for the spectacle it afforded, on the one hand, of a bravery the most noble and undaunted; of a passive endurance, the most calm, dignified, and sublime; of a loyalty and patriotism, the most stern and inflexible: and on the other, of a gallantry in assault the most daring and reckless; of a devotion to their Chief, the most zealous and unbounded; and, lastly, of a physical overthrow and moral annihilation unexampled in the history of modern warfare. Such was the consummation of a victory, the most brilliant in its development, the most decisive in its operation, and the most comprehensive in its result, of any that had occurred since the commencement of that Revolution which it was thus the instrument of bringing to the termination so long and so ardently desired by the suffering and indignant nations of Europe.

From the contemplation of the triumph, the glory, and the result, of such a Battle: we are impelled to turn our thoughts upon the melancholy spectacle of the awfully severe losses sustained by both the victors and the vanquished; whose heroic exertions and noble endurance could not but be attended with immense sacrifice.

The following Table shows the losses sustained by the troops composing the Anglo-Allied Army:—

	KILLED.			WOUNDED.			MISSING.
	Officers	NonCom. Officers, Trumpeters, Drummers, and Privates.	Horses.	Officers	NonCom. Officers, Trumpeters, Drummers, and Privates.	Horses.	Officers	NonCom. Officers, Trumpeters, Drummers, and Privates.	Horses.
British	85	1334	1319	365	4560	719	10	582	708
King's German Legion	27	335	194	77	932	144	1	217	54
Hanoverians	18	276	—	63	1035	—	3	207	—
Brunswickers	7	147	77	26	430	—	—	50	—
Nassauers	5	249	—	19	370	—	—	—	—
	———	———	———	———	———	———	———	———	———
Total	142	2341	1590	550	7327	863	14	1056	762

If to this loss be added that of the Dutch-Belgian troops—about 4,000—the total number of Noncommissioned Officers, Trumpeters, Drummers, and Privates, killed, wounded and missing, amounted to 14,728.

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The losses of the Prussian Army in the Battle were as follows:—

	KILLED.			WOUNDED.			MISSING.
	Officers	NonCom. Officers, Trumpeters, Drummers, and Privates.	Horses.	Officers	NonCom. Officers, Trumpeters, Drummers, and Privates.	Horses.	Officers	NonCom. Officers, Trumpeters, Drummers, and Privates.	Horses.
Zieten's Corps	—	34	18	8	164	21	—	111	2
Pirch's "	1	36	9	3	192	7	4	93	9
Bülow's "	21	1133	259	151	3869	328	35	1143	89
	———	———	———	———	———	———	———	———	———
Total	22	1203	286	162	4225	356	39	1347	100