Journal Of The Waterloo Campaign [Paperback]

General Cavalie Mercer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 1995

Journal of the Waterloo Campaign remains one of the most famous personal accounts of the climactic three days which ended the military career and empire of Napoleon Bonaparte. Captain Cavalié Mercer (1783–1868), was a skilled writer who recorded the day's events each evening. As a result, readers can experience through Mercer's keen eye the turbulence and graphic immediacy of the entire campaign: the news of Napoleon's return from Elba; the landing of Wellington's forces in Belgium; the lulls and hard marching; the battle at Quatre Bras (where Mercer fired a few rounds at Napoleon himself); Wellington's retreat; the ferocious fighting at Waterloo; and Mercer's own bold contribution to the larger Allied victory.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Captain Cavalié Mercer (1783–1868), was commander of G Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery in Wellington’s army.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 22, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306806517
• ISBN-13: 978-0306806513
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,798,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for anyone interested in Waterloo, February 11, 2002

By 

Mike Daplyn (Totescore, Isle of Skye, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Journal Of The Waterloo Campaign (Paperback)

Cavalie Mercer achieved fame in his own lifetime as the horse artillery Captain who disobeyed Wellington's orders to abandon the guns and take shelter with the infantry when the French cavalry closed in (he was afraid the infantry would run and they would all be butchered together). Hence, G Troop Royal Horse Artillery shot down three successive French charges almost at the gun muzzles. It was one of the hotter corners of a bitterly contested battlefield, and Mercer describes it graphically.

There is much more to this book, though, than the battle itself. Mercer's journal covers the campaign from G Troop's embarkation in England right through to the end of his service in the Allied Army of Occupation in France. He was a highly observant and analytically minded man (the gunners, as Ordnance Board troops, were among the few branches of the British Army required to display intellectual competence), and a competent linguist, so the book is a fascinating window on the social scene in rural Belgium and northern France, and in occupied Paris.

Do not look for a grand strategic overview of the Waterloo campaign, or even a coherent picture of the whole battle. As a military testimonial, the journal records the day to day worries of a relatively junior officer (Mercer was only acting Commanding Officer), trying to keep his unit efficient for the day of battle - and put it back together again afterwards. For the battle itself, this is the classic soldier's view of Waterloo, restricted to a few hundred square yards of chaos and slaughter.

The journal was not published (nor intended to be published) in Mercer's own lifetime, and is consequently largely free of the self-justification prevalent in many military memoirs. He is inclined to whinge about his failure to get accelerated promotion as a reward for the campaign (he believed, correctly or not, that Wellington viewed him with disfavour) but these are only occasional sour notes in a narrative which is generally remarkably light-hearted and humorous considering the events it covers.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Experience Waterloo as if you were there..., January 2, 2000

By 

nowyat - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Journal Of The Waterloo Campaign (Paperback)

This book, written from the journals of Captain, later General, Mercer, kept while commanding the G Troop Royal Horse Artillary, gives a detailed account of the time. He is a skilled writer, provides lots of details which bring the work to life, and is individualistic enough to appeal to the modern reader. Some of the battle scenes, revealing the incredible suffering of men and horses are hard to read, but give a feel for the reality of war.

Here is a sample of his writing: ""19th, The cool air of the morning lasted not long; the rising sun soon burst in all his glory over our bloody bivouac, and all nature rose into renewed life, except the victims of ambition which lay unconscious of his presence. I had not been up many minutes when one of my seargents came up to ask if they might bury Driver Crammond. "And why particularily Driver Crammond?" "Because he looks frightful, sir, and many of us have not had a wink of sleep for him." Curious! I walked over to the spot where he lay and certainly a more frightful site cannot be imagined...""