Waterloo General: The Life, Letters and Mysterious Death of Major General Sir William Ponsonby 1772-1815

At the Battle of Waterloo Sir William Ponsonby, a man who the Duke of Wellington stated had ‘rendered very brilliant and important services and was an ornament to his profession’, was killed by French lancers after leading the Union Brigade (the three Dragoon Regiments of the Royals, Iniskillings and Scots Greys) in a charge that wrecked a French advance that threatened Wellington with defeat. Sir William was a career soldier who had led his regiment in the decisive charge at the Battle of Salamanca and served with great distinction during the Peninsular War. Yet historians have blamed him because the charge at Waterloo got out of hand.

In this book John Morewood uses family sources, including Sir William’s letters, as well as French and German accounts, to restore his reputation and, by shedding new light on the battle, establishes what really happen to him on that fatal afternoon. It is also a biography of a man whose bravery and professionalism distinguished him as one of the outstanding cavalry commanders of the age.

John Morewood read history at Oxford University. He was editor of the Nelson Society from 1997 to 1999 and of the Waterloo Association from 2001 to 2011. He writes articles and lectures on the Napoleonic Wars and co-authored HMS Vanguard at the Nile: The Men, the Ship, the Battle. The mystery surrounding the circumstances of Sir William Ponsonby’s death during the Battle of Waterloo, and the criticism levelled at him by historians, prompted John to research in depth Sir William’s life and career, following in his footsteps through Belgium, France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain.