Narrative of a few days' residence in Belgium in June 1815, and of a visit to the Field of Waterloo, [ca. 1817].

  1. Resources
  2. View Resource

ArchivalResource

Narrative of a few days' residence in Belgium in June 1815, and of a visit to the Field of Waterloo, [ca. 1817].

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/702176879

Manuscript, in a single hand with many corrections , excisions, and pasted-in additions, of a diary recording a journey to Belgium coinciding with the Battle of Waterloo. The author, traveling with her brother John and sister Jane, as well as Sir Neil Campbell, Knight of Elba; Major Wiley, aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington; and Mr. Littleship, an English merchant, records her journey by steam packet from Ramsgate to Ostend on June 10, 1815. She describes their difficulty convincing the sentry to allow them to enter the garrison of Ostend; praises their hotel once they arrive; visits Ghent; and finds Brussels "new and amusing." She breakfasts with Major Llewellyn in Brussels two hours before the Battle of Waterloo, and the remainder of the diary consists of a description of her experience during the battle, including her and her companions' efforts to dine and sightsee without mentioning public events; their attempts to obtain information about the battle's progress; the exodus from Brussels by "masters and servants, ladies and stableboys, valets and soldiers"; and reports of the battle's outcome. After the battle, she is evacuated to the Netherlands, where she comments unfavorably on the character and habits of the Dutch inhabitants. Several weeks later, she returns to Brussels and visits Waterloo.

1 v. (390 p.) ; 21 x 17 cm.

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8024993

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Related Entities

There are 4 Entities related to this resource.

Napoléon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69x15nw (person)

Napoleon Bonaparte was a general of the French Revolution (1789-1799); the ruler of France as First Consul of the French Republic from November 11, 1799, to May 18, 1804; Emperor of the French and King of Italy under the name Napoleon I from May 18,1804, to April 6,1814; and briefly restored as Emperor from March 20 to June 22, 1815. He conquered much of Europe but lost two-thirds of his army in a disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. After his final loss to Britain and Prussia at the Battle of...

Waldie, John, 1781-1862.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69k4wkc (person)

Waldie was born in 1781; attended Univ. of Edinburgh; awarded D. Lit; assumed the administration of Hendersyde Park at Kelso, Roxburghshire, Scotland, shortly before the death of his father, George Waldie, in 1826; traveled extensively in Europe; he died in 1862. From the description of Papers, 1793-1862. (University of California, Los Angeles). WorldCat record id: 39724834 John Waldie (1781-1862) was the administrator of Hendersyde Park at Kelso, Roxburghshire, Scotland. Wh...

Watts, Jane (Waldie), 1793-1826.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66d6c30 (person)

Eaton, Charlotte A. (Charlotte Anne), 1788-1859

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61z4pjr (person)

Charlotte Ann (Waldie) Eaton (1788-1859) was a writer. In June 1815 she visited Brussels, the headquarters of Wellington's army, with her brother John and sister Jane. Her account of the battle was first published as Circumstantial Detail By a Near Observer in The Battle of Waterloo (1815). In 1817, her family published a more extended account based on her own experiences titled Narrative of a Residence in Belgium, During the Campaign of 1815, and of a Visit to the Field of Waterloo. By an Engli...