#hougoumont

[illustratus]

Closing the Gates at Hougoumont, 1815 by Robert Gibb

[lesmisscraper]

Hougomont, the First Obstacle, the First Resistance of the Napoleon at Waterloo. Volume 2, Book 1, Chapter 2.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

The battle of Waterloo depended on the closing of those gates.

Duke of Wellington.

There were many key moments at the Battle of Waterloo. Many were only recognised after the battle had been won as a close run thing. But in the heat of the battle there was one moment that was not lost on either Wellington or Napoleon and that was the chateau and outbuildings of Hougoumont which were situated 500 yards from Wellington’s line, and if held by the Allies would disrupt any French advance. Likewise, their loss to the French would have created an immense threat to Wellington’s right flank.

Hougoumont was defended by 2600 allied crack troops including Coldstream, Grenadier and Scots Guards plus Nassauers and Brunswickers. The north gate of Hougoumont had been deliberately left open to allow friendly troops to pass through, but had to be closed rapidly when the French started to attack at about 11.30 am. This attack was the first action of the Battle of Waterloo. The gates were however not closed properly and French soldiers started to push through. Desperate hand-to-hand fighting ensued but somehow the defenders managed to close the gates. The 30 Frenchmen who had entered were swiftly dealt with, all being mercilessly killed except for a young and unarmed drummer-boy.

This brave action meant that the French were never able to take Hougoumont at any time during the remainder of the day, although 12,700 of Napoleon’s troops were tied up in the attempt.

Some years later a Reverend John Norcross left a sum of money in his will to be given “to the bravest man at Waterloo”. Wellington, who was asked to nominate the winner, said that the success of the battle turned upon the closing of the gates at Hougoumont, and the recipient was a Corporal James Graham of the Coldstream Guards. This soldier had shown immense bravery and probably saved the life of the commanding officer at Hougoumont, Lieutenant-Colonel James MacDonell.

Photo: Guards Memorial Hougoumont, Waterloo, Belgium.

[liberty1776]

Archeologists Uncover How Napoleon Lost At Waterloo

also Viking Age Anglo Saxon Coins.

[archaeologyinbulgaria]

Archaeologists Set Out to Resolve Mystery of 20,000 Waterloo Battle Bodies from Napoleonic Wars in 1815

Archaeologists are seeking to figure out the mystery of the missing humans remains at the field of the Battle of Waterloo in today’s Belgium. Image by Marco Federmann, Pixabay An upcoming archaeological excavation aims to uncover the fate of the remains of 20,000 men who perished during one of the most important and famous battles in world history, the Battle of Waterloo during the Napoleonic…

[fluentisonus]

guy who's only ever read one literary account of waterloo reading another: getting a lot of les mis vibes from this

[g1-skywarp]

I should be asleep but I just remembered entry point exists out of nowhere

[alicedrawslesmis]

it seems to me pretty obvious that Tempest Within A Brain and Javert Derailed are mirrors of each other. One thing we notice about Valjean that may consist a flaw is that he's too introspective

These two thoughts [to escape men and to return to God] were so closely intertwined in his mind that they formed but a single one there; both were equally absorbing and imperative and ruled his slightest actions. In general, they conspired to regulate the conduct of his life; they turned him towards the gloom; they rendered him kindly and simple; they counselled him to the same things. Sometimes, however, they conflicted.

while Javert (we'll find this out later so no quotes yet) is a man who has trouble seeing below the surface. He abhors thinking and reflection and more practically in the end, he has trouble literally feeling Marius's pulse and understanding the things that can happen inside of a house? This is a genuinely incredible detail about him and about the concept of buildings in Hugolandia that building interiors sometimes physically manifest people's interiors. Javert does not know what happens inside of a home. Rather tragically I may add, because he never really had a "proper" one.

In Déraillé he is forced to look inwards and see he has a soul and a heart and is capable of kindness and of love and isn't just a pure representative of real world mundane law. He isn't made of stone no matter how much he may want to.

Here's from Fantine's arrest:

Javert up to that moment had remained erect, motionless, with his eyes fixed on the ground, cast athwart this scene like some displaced statue, which is waiting to be put away somewhere.[...] From time to time she paused, and tenderly kissed the police agent’s coat. She would have softened a heart of granite; but a heart of wood cannot be softened.

And here is from Derailed:

Terrible situation! to be moved. To be made of granite, and doubt! To be the statue of punishment cast all of one piece in the mould of the law, and suddenly to perceive that you have under your bronze bosom something absurd and disobedient, which almost resembles a heart!

Now for Valjean: He is faced here with a question impossible to be resolved kindly. Valjean represents divine goodness in the same way Javert represents the law. On the one hand, ignoring Champmathieu means saving the people of the town, maybe even Cosette, on the other, Champathieu will endure the 'artificial hell' in Valjean's place. There is no possible answer that leads to universal good. So Valjean makes the choice to sacrifice himself, suffer a symbolic (and later a false) death by turning himself in and then jumping onto the sea.

Like I said, it's important to understand that Les Mis is interested in symmetries. Beginnings that mirror endings, people who go toward evil and people who go toward good. Miners that work to change society and miners that work to undermine it. Paris above, the sewers below. "justice" and Justice. Hougoumont at Waterloo and the Barricade during the june rebellion.

This also got me thinking that the reason there's a certain kinship between Javert and Éponine is because they form an opposing pair with Valjean-Cosette. Valjean interacting with Montparnasse like Javert interacts with Marius, you know what I mean? It is absolutely no wonder a book full of cycles and mirrors has exactly 365 chapters, starts on a short little paragraph foreword and ends on a poem with the verse "Comme la nuit se fait lorsque le jour s'en va."

[bantarleton]

Fought on this day, June 18th, in 1815, the battle of Waterloo. I had never seen this piece of artwork before today, a great view of D'Erlon's assault on the Allied centre-left near the opening of the battle. The French columns can be see entering the valley and assaulting the opposing ridge, with the grand battery obscured in smoke behind them, and Hougoumont ablaze in the distance. Unfortunately, despite my best squinting, I've been unable to identify the name of the artist, but if anyone knows I'll amend this post!

[cliozaur]

JSAMN 20 Readalong. Week 9. Chapters 40–44

This is well-written, but a few minor adjustments could improve flow and clarity. Here’s a refined version:

When my Susanna Clarke meets my Victor Hugo: the chapter on the Battle of Waterloo feels almost intimately familiar, with the fateful rain, the siege of Hougoumont, Highlanders, and French cuirassiers doomed to die. However, here, they don’t fall into an abyss but are pulled into mud by gigantic hands. I really didn’t expect this Waterloo encounter to bring me so much joy!

Segundus, as usual, forgets he’s already met Childermass—twice. Why does Childermass want him to forget they know each other? I like the description of Childermass ‘with his long, ragged dark hair’ as ‘the portent of doom in a bad play.’ Though he’s threatening and blackmailing Segundus, Childermass doesn’t seem entirely hostile, even apologizing and offering to help if Segundus ever considers opening a regular school.

There are two types of authors: those, like Mr. Norrell, who plan to write a book but never start, and those, like Mr. Strange, who actually write it.

The chapter titled Strange Decides to Write a Book spends only its first two pages on this subject; the rest centres on the Gentleman and Stephen. This often happens in their chapters, as if they’re hiding behind other characters.

The Gentleman’s fine aesthetic taste never ceases to amaze me: this time, he’s indignant over Mr. Strange’s ‘battered and ugly’ old penknife. So sensitive!

The end of Chapter 44 is indeed heartbreaking.

[fraught-antlion]

what's your favorite mission on g&b and why? :-)

San Sebastián or Hougoumont ^^

I like San Sebastián’s map, not too claustrophobic like some of em. And Hougoumont is just fun to me.

[illustratus]

The Attack on the Gatehouse of the Chateau of Hougoumont

by Ernest Crofts

[blutgeist]

Closing the Gates at Hougoumont, Robert Gibb

[stinky-winky28]

just got the scottish and brunswick regiments and i was playing hougoumont and i decided just to fw my team that i would play as a musician with the bagpipes yk. So they were all dying and i was lowkey giggling because i was playing scotland the brave and they were screaming at me in the chat to fight and the only other guy that was alive saved me when i got tackled by a runner and i out loud and in chat said "you know what im gonna do now" and i started playing it again. safe to say i got kicked from the server

[amarguerite]

wanna thank u again for AEFM cuz I got a third degree burn last saturday iirc and im so chill abt half bc adhd and half bc everytime I think abt it I go 'huh the dudes in the battle of hougoumont probably got severe burns like this thats so interesting' or 'oml lizzy and the other soldier wives didnt have enough bandages and shit' /srs /gen

Omggggg I hope that you are ok and healed up!!! But I’m very glad my work could be of any consolation to you in your time of affliction

[roosterarts]

"Of all the wars I have waged

To propel my nations might

For this I'll be remembered

From now 'till the end of time

If To the victor goes the spoils

I may die an impoverished man

For in the end irony

Has dealt the cruelest hand"

- Waterloo by Iced Earth

----------------------------------------

On this day, 208 years ago, the battle of Waterloo was fought. This engagement was part of the Hundred Days campaign, in which the newly returned French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, attempted to regain control of France and secure his reign. Fearing another attempt by Napoleon to conquer Europe, various European nations formed the Seventh Coalition.

At first, the tides of war seemed to be in Napoleon's favor as he defeated a Prussian force in the battle of Ligny on June 16. Meanwhile, on that same day, Marshal Ney, commanding the left wing of the army, defeated an Anglo-Dutch force at the battle of Quatre Bras.

Napoleon would then detach the right wing of his army to pursue to retreating Prussians, while he and the army reserves joined Marshal Ney's left wing to pursue the Anglo-Dutch force. This latter force, under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, would eventually halt their march on a ridge south of the town of Waterloo. There, Wellington, a commander who is a master of defense, decided to hold his ground and prevent Napoleon marching on to Brussels.

On June 18, the battle of Waterloo would be fought. During the day, Napoleon desperatelt tried to break through the Anglo-Dutch lines. This resulted in many famous engagements, such as the fight to capture the farm house at Hougoumont, the charge of the British heavy cavalry, the fight for the La Haye Sainte farm house, and the charge of the French cavalry against the British squares.

However, by the afternoon, a new force was approaching the battlefield. It turned out to be the Prussians. Managing to outmarch the French army's right wing, the Prussian force followed the sound of the guns and soon began to outflank Napoleon.

In one last bid to break the Anglo-Dutch lines, Napoleon threw in his Imperial Guard, which included his veteran and elite Old Guard. (Contrary to popular belief, the Old Guard did not directly engage against the Anglo-Dutch lines and just acted as a reserve behind the Middle Guard)

The Imperial Guard was Napoleon's last chance to secure victory, or at least a draw. But it failed. The Guard failed to break the line and Napoleon had to be persuaded to abandon the field, as Anglo-Dutch and Prussian forces closed in on his disintrigating army.

It was over for Napoleon. Eventually he would be caught and would be exiled to the lonely Atlantic island of Saint Helena.