What do you think?
Ladies of Waterloo: The Experiences of Three Women During the Campaign of 1815
Three women in days of war Waterloo Days by Charlotte A. Eaton
A Week at Waterloo by Magdalene de Lancey
Juana's Story by Juana Smith Waterloo is arguably the most famous battle the world has known. Many books have been written about it and not a few military memoirs have included accounts of it by participants from both sides of the conflict. Commonly, accounts of warfare in the Napoleonic age have been the province of men so this book is decidedly different. Women have been caught up in the maelstrom of war in all ages and the defeat of Napoleon was no exception. Whilst Charlotte Eaton may have been a tourist her 'on the spot' impressions are no less important both as a female perspective and as a resource of information about the momentous events of 1815 regardless of gender. Magdalene De Lancey's book is far more poignant. Very recently married at the time of the battle, her husband William De Lancey was on Wellington's staff. He was tragically serious wounded and it fell to Magdalene to nurse him. Juana Smith, the famous Spanish bride of Harry Smith of the 95th Rifles as usual accompanied her own soldier husband to war and had her own Waterloo adventure which is included here. This is an unusual book of the Napoleonic Wars available from Leonaur in soft cover or hard back with dust jacket for collectors.
A Week at Waterloo by Magdalene de Lancey
Juana's Story by Juana Smith Waterloo is arguably the most famous battle the world has known. Many books have been written about it and not a few military memoirs have included accounts of it by participants from both sides of the conflict. Commonly, accounts of warfare in the Napoleonic age have been the province of men so this book is decidedly different. Women have been caught up in the maelstrom of war in all ages and the defeat of Napoleon was no exception. Whilst Charlotte Eaton may have been a tourist her 'on the spot' impressions are no less important both as a female perspective and as a resource of information about the momentous events of 1815 regardless of gender. Magdalene De Lancey's book is far more poignant. Very recently married at the time of the battle, her husband William De Lancey was on Wellington's staff. He was tragically serious wounded and it fell to Magdalene to nurse him. Juana Smith, the famous Spanish bride of Harry Smith of the 95th Rifles as usual accompanied her own soldier husband to war and had her own Waterloo adventure which is included here. This is an unusual book of the Napoleonic Wars available from Leonaur in soft cover or hard back with dust jacket for collectors.
268 pages, Hardcover
First published March 12, 2009
About the author
Charlotte Anne Eaton
34 books5 followersCharlotte Anne Eaton, neé Waldie was an English banker, travel writer, memoirist and novelist.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
October 21, 2014
This was a bit of a mixed bag. Three very different, very personal first-hand accounts of Brussels at the time of the Battle of Waterloo, which on the whole I have to say left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. I do know quite a lot about the context and the battle itself, sine I've been studying it over the last four months or so for my current writing, but without that knowledge I think much of the pathos of these accounts would be lost. The sheer horror of the battle, the nature of Wellington's army, the stark contrast between the conditions of the men and officers, and of the circumstances of Wellington's inner circle compared to the officers on the outskirts, and the life-style of the women, wives of officers and men, really need to be understood a bit in order to understand the writings of these women.
To a modern-day reader the first piece by Charlotte Eaton is, I think, the hardest to take. Charlotte writes through a veil of extreme hero-worship and advanced xenophobia that made me grit m teeth. Wellington is the god come down from Mount Olympus, and Brussels, and Waterloo, are to Charlotte like a pageant enacted for her delectation, bizarre delight and rather smug horror. You'll have gathered that I took agin Charlotte and you'd be right. I tried, I really did, to get her into the context of her time and place, but she just really, really bugged me.
On the other hand, Magdalene de Lancey's account of her husband's death moved me to tears. Here is stoicism and real, enduring love, told in such a self-deprecating and honest way, that it made the book worthwhile on its own. The extremes of emotions she suffers, waiting for news, trying so very hard to obey her husband's parting instructions not to panic, being told he was alive, being told he was dead, being told he was at death's door, being told he might recover - no wonder she had hysterics - but she had them on her own, out of sight, and in that sense without making a fuss. Finally realising that she had to pull herself together to make the last days of the man she wholeheartedly loved was really tear-jerking to read. She did it too, and her account of the tenderness between them, the way they each tried, despite their different, extreme suffering, to make the best of what they had so as not to mar their very short, perfect marriage, would have made a stone bleed.
Finally, we come to Juana Smith, and my gripe her is that it was simply far, far too short. I didn't know that Georgette Heyer's 'The Spanish Bride' was based on Juana's life, and as it's one of the very few I've never read, it's now on my list. Juana is basically an amazingly intrepid and bold character, I wanted more, and a few little pages merely whetted my appetite.
So as I said, a mixed bag, but one excellent, and one that has given me another lead to follow, so definitely worth it.
To a modern-day reader the first piece by Charlotte Eaton is, I think, the hardest to take. Charlotte writes through a veil of extreme hero-worship and advanced xenophobia that made me grit m teeth. Wellington is the god come down from Mount Olympus, and Brussels, and Waterloo, are to Charlotte like a pageant enacted for her delectation, bizarre delight and rather smug horror. You'll have gathered that I took agin Charlotte and you'd be right. I tried, I really did, to get her into the context of her time and place, but she just really, really bugged me.
On the other hand, Magdalene de Lancey's account of her husband's death moved me to tears. Here is stoicism and real, enduring love, told in such a self-deprecating and honest way, that it made the book worthwhile on its own. The extremes of emotions she suffers, waiting for news, trying so very hard to obey her husband's parting instructions not to panic, being told he was alive, being told he was dead, being told he was at death's door, being told he might recover - no wonder she had hysterics - but she had them on her own, out of sight, and in that sense without making a fuss. Finally realising that she had to pull herself together to make the last days of the man she wholeheartedly loved was really tear-jerking to read. She did it too, and her account of the tenderness between them, the way they each tried, despite their different, extreme suffering, to make the best of what they had so as not to mar their very short, perfect marriage, would have made a stone bleed.
Finally, we come to Juana Smith, and my gripe her is that it was simply far, far too short. I didn't know that Georgette Heyer's 'The Spanish Bride' was based on Juana's life, and as it's one of the very few I've never read, it's now on my list. Juana is basically an amazingly intrepid and bold character, I wanted more, and a few little pages merely whetted my appetite.
So as I said, a mixed bag, but one excellent, and one that has given me another lead to follow, so definitely worth it.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review