The Correspondence of Sir Henry Clinton in the Waterloo Campaign

Sir Henry Clinton was appointed second in command to the small British-Hanoverian army that served as a defence force for the newly liberated Netherlands under the command of the hereditary Prince of Orange in August 1814. He performed the role of Inspecting Officer for all the troops in Belgium including the fledgling Belgian and Dutch units and is a vital witness to the quality and training of all of these troops and to the massive repair programme to the main border fortresses in the run up to the Waterloo campaign. With Napoleon's return to power and the mobilisation of the army for war once again, Henry Clinton was then appointed by the Duke of Wellington to command the Second Division, consisting of Adam's British Light Infantry Brigade, Du Plat's Brigade of King's German Legion troops and Halkett's Brigade of Hanoverian troops, a very diverse group with varying degrees of experience, equipment and training. His correspondence most importantly is written contemporaneously and gives honest assessments regarding the strengths and weaknesses of all of these troops and is both enlightening and often surprising.