128 1st Foot Guards, Waterloo 1815

This set records the 1st Foot Guards, first rank kneeling ready to resist cavalry.

The 1st Foot Guards were part of the 1st Infantry Division at Waterloo, with the regiment’s 2nd and 4rd Battalions forming a Brigade under the command of Major General Maitland. On July 16th, 1815 they were heavily engaged at Quatre Bras, helping to secure Wellington’s right flank.

On the field of Waterloo the regiment deployed to the north of the chateau Hougoumont again on Wellington’s right flank, and formed in a defensive square suffered heavy casualties from French cannon fire and numerous cavalry charges. In the early evening of Waterloo, Wellington deployed the 1st Foot Guards to help turn back the attack of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard infantry.  Laying prone in the grass, Wellington ordered the regiment to attack and rising up they delivered a devastating volley of musket fire and advanced to meet the Imperial Guard, who were compelled to retreat from the force of the Anglo-Allied counter attack.