Leg of Lord Uxbridge

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Lord Uxbridge. Portrait of Henry Edridge (1808), before losing his leg
Uxbridge (r.) And Wellington (l.) During the battle. Detail of a painting by Johan Willem Pieneman (1824)
This 1815 picture by George Jones allegedly depicts the moment of Uxbridge's injury
Fictional meeting of Wellington and Uxbridge shortly after the operation. Oil painting by Constantin-Fidele Coene (ca.1820)

Lord Uxbridge's right leg was shattered on June 18, 1815 by a cannonball hit in the battle of Waterloo and was amputated as a result . The severed leg of Henry William Paget, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge , became a tourist attraction in the village of Waterloo . There are heroic anecdotes and reports of bizarre events surrounding the loss of the leg. After the amputation, Uxbridge used a new type of prosthetic leg that was patented under the name Anglesey-Leg after his marquess title .

Waterloo

The British peer Lord Uxbridge led the Allied cavalry in the battle of Waterloo in the fight against Napoleon's troops in the front line; at least eight of his horses were killed. Shortly before the end of the fighting - around 8 p.m. - he and other high-ranking officers looked out onto the battlefield and discussed the course of the fighting with them. He was hit by one of the last cannon shots fired by the French. His right knee was badly injured.

According to the memory of the aide-de-camp Horace Seymour, who carried the injured man from the battlefield, Uxbridge shouted: "Finally I got caught!", Whereupon the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, the Duke of Wellington , who is next to him found, briefly lowered his telescope and replied, “By God, actually.” According to another, more popular version, Uxbridge's exclamation is said to have been: “By God, sir, I lost my leg!” which seems less likely there Uxbridge had no way of knowing at the time that he would actually lose his leg. The brief dialogue - in different versions -, especially the short replica by Wellington, is an unsurpassed example of British restraint. The British newspaper Telegraph asked in 2015: “Is this the most British conversation ever to be held on a battlefield?” (“Is this the most British conversation that has ever been held on a battlefield?”) This brief exchange of words reveals characteristics, which would be considered typical of “Britishness”: self-control, determination and courage in the face of disaster.

Wellington's cool reaction is also attributed to the fact that his relationship with Uxbridge was considered "frosty": Uxbridge, father of eight, left his wife in 1810 to marry his long-time lover, Charlotte, the wife of Wellington's younger brother Henry whose husband had divorced because of her infidelity. But by order of the Prince Regent and his brother, the Duke of York , Wellington, who would have preferred Lord Combermere , had to reluctantly accept Lord Uxbridge as Deputy Commander in Chief . Wellington on this: “Lord Uxbridge has the reputation of running away with everybody he can. I'll take good care he don't run away with me. ”(“ Lord Uxbridge has a reputation for running away with everyone. I'll take good care that he doesn't run away with me. ”) Nevertheless Wellington praised after the battle Waterloo Uxbridge's commitment and advocated his promotion to the 1st Marquess of Anglesey .

amputation

After Lord Uxbridge was wounded, he was taken to the house in Waterloo which he used as his headquarters. There, his injured right leg was amputated, in the middle of the thigh. The operation was performed without an antiseptic or anesthesia . Uxbridge is said to have endured this as stoically as before the injury: "Who would not give up a leg for such a victory?" He is said to have merely complained that the saw was blunt.

A visit to Wellington's hospital bed in Uxbridge shortly after the amputation, as the Belgian painter Constantin-Fidèle Coene (1780–1841) depicted in an oil painting, never took place. Uxbridge was later offered an annual pension of £ 1200 in compensation for the loss of his leg, but he declined.

It is estimated that around 500 soldiers from the Allied forces were amputated on this and the following days; the mortality rate was around 70 percent. The battle took the lives of around 50,000 men.

The leg as a sight

The house in which Uxbridge had been operated belonged to Hyacinthe Joseph-Marie Paris. He asked to be allowed to bury Uxbridge's severed leg in the garden of the house, and he erected a kind of "tombstone" with the inscription

«Ci ​​est enterré la Jambe de l'illustre et vaillant comte Uxbridge, Lieutenant-Général de SM Brittanique, Commandant en chef de la cavalerie anglaise, belge, et hollondaise, blessé le 18 June 1815, à la mémorable bataille de Waterloo, qui, par son héroïsme, a concouru au triomphe de la cause du genre humaine, glorieusement décidéé par l'éclatante victoire du dit jour »

“Here lies the leg of the illustrious and brave Lord Uxbridge, Lieutenant General of His British Majesty, Commander-in-Chief of the English, Belgian and Dutch cavalry, wounded on June 18, 1815 in the memorable Battle of Waterloo, who, through his heroism, made the cause of the triumph Humanity contributed, gloriously decided by the resounding victory on said day. "

- Notes and Queries . September 27, 1862, p. 249 .

According to this article, a "prankster" had also written on the tombstone:

"Here lies the Marquis of Anglesey's limb
The Devil will have the remainder of him."

"Here lies the member of the Marquis of Anglesey.
The devil will take the rest."

The leg was buried in a kind of coffin.

In 1821 a mocking poem was published, which for a long time - probably wrongly - was attributed to George Canning , in which it is said that Uxbridge had "tripped up" the enemy. Although he now goes to balls and the theater, he still has "one leg in the grave". These verses are said to have been circulated “in all the newspapers”. The historian George Paget, 7th Marquess of Anglesey , a descendant of Uxbridge, suspected, however, that the journalist Thomas Gaspey was the author.

The resting place of the leg became a sight and attracted numerous tourists, including members of the European upper class, from the King of Prussia to the Prince of Orange , which was a welcome source of income for the Paris family. She showed them not only the grave, but also the bloody table that Uxbridge had lain on during the amputation. Uxbridge himself came to visit and was entertained by the Paris family.

In 1878 Lord Uxbridge's son, Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey , came to Waterloo. He found out that his father's leg bones were no longer under the ground, but were exposed. The Belgian ambassador in London then asked the Paris family to hand over the bones, fearing diplomatic complications. The Paris family refused and instead offered them to the Uxbridge family for sale, which they were indignant about. The Belgian Minister of Justice then instructed the Paris family to properly bury the bones again; instead they disappeared. After the last descendant of the Paris family died in Brussels in 1934 , his widow found the bones and documents that attest to their origin in his study. It is said that she burned bones and papers in the central heating boiler to avoid further trouble.

The "Anglesey leg"

Uxbridge prosthesis in the Wellington Museum in Waterloo

Uxbridge used novel prostheses with hinged knees and ankles and arched toes to prevent stumbling on cobblestones . James Potts of Chelsea designed this model and patented it as the Anglesey leg ; The prosthesis was advertised under this name in advertisements until 1914. Uxbridge is said to have owned four specimens in his lifetime, each serving different purposes: walking or riding. Until his 60s, Uxbridge is said to have been able to march for miles, at the age of 71 he danced at a tsar's ball in Russia . He was nicknamed One Leg .

One of the surviving limewood , leather and steel prostheses is on display at the Uxbridge country estate, Plas Newydd on the Isle of Anglesey . Next to it is the oil painting by Coene that Charles Paget, 8th Marquess of Anglesey donated to the National Trust in 1992 . Another prosthesis is in the Wellington Museum in Waterloo.

“The leg of cork made for Lord Uxbridge at Bradford, England, is very curious of its kind. The springs on the knee and foot move so easily that the general can walk, sit, and move about as easily as he can with a natural foot. "

- Note in the Austrian observer

The saw used to amputate Lord Uxbridge's leg and the bloody glove of Uxbridge's adjutant Thomas Wildman, who was present at the amputation, are kept in the National Army Museum in London .

literature

  • Edward Baines: History of the Wars of the French Revolution, from the Breaking Out of the War, in 1792, to the Restoration of a General Peace in 1815: Comprehending the Civil History of Great Britain and France, During that Period . Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1818, pp. 468 ( archive.org ).
  • George Paget, 7th Marquess of Anglesey : One Leg: The Life & Letters of Henry William Paget KG, First Marquess of Anglesey, 1768-1854: Life and Letters of Henry William Paget, KG, First Marquess of Anglesey, 1768-1854 . Pen & Sword Books, 1996, ISBN 978-0-85052-518-2 (English).

References and comments

  1. ^ Leaves from a Soldier's Notebook . In: Colborn's United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal . tape 2 . London 1847.
  2. ^ A b Anglesey, Paget, Henry William, 1st Marquis of Anglesey (1768-1854) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, September 2004.
  3. ↑ George Jones / John Booth: The Battle of Waterloo: With Those of Ligny and Quatre Bras, Described by Eye-witnesses and by the Series of Official Accounts Published by Authority . L. Booth, 1852, p. 403 ( google.com ).
  4. ^ A b Baines, History of the Wars , p. 468.
  5. ^ Military Review. Command and General Staff School, 1958, p. 49 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  6. ↑ John Wilson Croker: The Croker Papers. Cambridge University Press, 2012, ISBN 1108044581 p. 124 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  7. ↑ The dialogue is reproduced in these words in the 1970 film Waterloo by director Sergei Bondarchuk . Uxbridge is portrayed in it by Terence Alexander and Wellington by Christopher Plummer .
  8. ↑ a b c d Paul Kendall: The Battle of Waterloo: is this the most British conversation ever to be held on a battlefield? In: telegraph.co.uk. June 18, 2015, accessed May 15, 2020 .
  9. ^ RE Foster: Wellington and Waterloo. The History Press, 2014, ISBN 0750954809 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  10. ↑ Uxbridge had ten more children with his second wife.
  11. ^ A Right Royal Scandal. Pen and Sword, 2016, ISBN 1473863422 p. 23 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  12. ↑ Great Britain. In:  Wiener Zeitung , July 11, 1815, p. 2 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrz
  13. ^ Why we must remember the bloody cost of Waterloo. In: telegraph.co.uk. March 4, 2015, accessed May 17, 2020 .
  14. ^ A b Imaginary Meeting of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) and Henry William Paget, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge, later 1st Marquess of Anglesey (1768-1854). In: nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. Retrieved on May 16, 2020 (English).
  15. ↑ Allen Kim: Human remains and musket balls found at battle site marking Napoleon Bonaparte's final defeat - CNN. In: edition.cnn.com. July 18, 2019, accessed May 21, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Even today, individual, amputated limbs are found during excavations on the battlefield. See: Amputated limbs unearthed in Waterloo dig. In: bbc.com. July 17, 2019, accessed on May 21, 2020 .
  17. ^ Battle of Waterloo - Crisis and the French collapse. In: britannica.com. Retrieved May 21, 2020 (English).
  18. ↑ a b Notes and Queries . September 27, 1862, p. 249 ( google.com ).
  19. ↑ Great Britain (sic!). In:  Lemberger Zeitung , June 3, 1816, p. 1 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / lez
  20. ↑ The Marquess of Anglesey: One Leg. Pen and Sword, 1990, ISBN 1473816890 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  21. ↑ The Marquess of Anglesey: One Leg. Pen and Sword, 1990, ISBN 1473816890 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  22. ^ Gareth Glover: Waterloo in 100 Objects. The History Press, 2015, ISBN 0750964480 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  23. ↑ Wendy B. Murphy: Spare Parts: From Peg Legs to Gene Splices . Twenty-First Century Books, 2001, ISBN 978-0-7613-1355-7 , pp. 25 ( archive.org ).
  24. ^ Artificial leg of the Earl of Uxbridge. In: Age of Revolution. June 20, 2019, accessed May 16, 2020 .
  25. ^ The Marquess of Anglesey's revolutionary wooden leg. In: countrylife.co.uk. January 14, 2020, accessed on May 16, 2020 .
  26. ^ Napoleon's Last Stand 1815. In: 100days.eu. Retrieved May 17, 2020 (English).
  27. ↑ Leslie Klenerman, Bernard Wood: The Human Foot. Springer Science & Business Media, 2006, ISBN 184628032X p. 164 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  28. ↑ NPG 313; Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey. In: npg.org.uk. Retrieved May 18, 2020 .
  29. ↑ The Anglesey Leg 1175888. In: nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. Retrieved on May 16, 2020 (English).
  30. ↑ Great Britain (sic!) And Ireland. In:  Oesterreichischer Beobachter , October 12, 1815, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / maintenance / obo
  31. ↑ Blood stained glove, Captain Thomas Wildman, Battle of Waterloo, 1815. In: collection.nam.ac.uk. Retrieved May 15, 2020 .