• Introduction
• The Hundred Days & Precursory Battles
• The Commanders
• The Battle
• The Aftermath
• Reflecting on Waterloo
• Tourism
• Commemoration

Learn more about Exhibits at the Brown Library

A project of the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

Tourism

Public visitation to the site of the Battle of Waterloo began on June 19, 1815, and continues to this day. Individuals from throughout Britain and continental Europe included the village on their grand tour itineraries or made special pilgrimages to visit the hallowed battlefield, perhaps reliving a relative's experience or connecting with an event of great national and global significance. These travel experiences have been recorded in personal diaries, sketchbooks, and through manufactured souvenirs and images.

National committees from nearly every country engaged in the conflict established memorials to the heroes of the battle and to those who were lost on the day. Also, since 1817, a museum has existed in the village of Waterloo, housing artifacts from the time of the battle and educating visitors about the event and its larger historical context. These sites have helped to sustain public memory of the battle and regular tourism in the small Belgian town over the years.

Items on Display

1. "The Field of Battle, Waterloo as it appeared July 24th 1815" from The Field of Waterloo

   John Heaviside Clark (artist)
   M. Dubourg (engraver)
   Walter Scott (poet)
   Edinburgh, J. Ballantyne for A. Constable, 1815
   This panoramic representation of the Waterloo landscape sketched a month after the end of the battle identifies the major sites of combat, shows the regular presence of tourists on the fields, and comments on the devastating effects that the fighting had on the land, stating: "The whole of the space was in the highest state of agricultural perfection previous to the battle."

2. “Wellington’s Head Quarters at Gonesse”

   Thomas Philip, Second Earl de Grey
   Illustrated manuscript travel journal, 1815
   This travel log, kept by Thomas Philip, Second Earl de Grey, a British Tory and notable statesman, records his trip to the battlefield just days after Napoleon’s defeat. It chronicles his impressions of the landscape, his military observations, descriptions of the town, and events of his travels. De Grey’s trip included a meeting with the Duke of Wellington at his headquarters, and his account of the battlefield visit shows his admiration for the commander.

3. Plan of the Battle—Visits to Paris and Belgium

   Charles Davis Walther
   Illustrated manuscript travel journal, 1817
   In his travel journal, Charles Davis Walther recounts his experiences touring throughout Belgium and France in 1817. During his days in Waterloo, he wrote about his visit to the battlefield and the other tourists he encountered. He also sketched major sites, such as the Hougoumont and La Belle Alliance, and completed this colored representation of the battle plan.

4. “Village of Waterloo”

   Catherine Street
   Personal sketchbook, c. 1821-1827
   Watercolor
   Catherine Street, an English woman, kept her sketchbook during her travels throughout Britain, the European continent, and the Caribbean. Her drawings and watercolor paintings record flower and plant specimens, military uniforms, battle scenes, landscapes, architecture, waterscapes, and ships. This rendering shows a main street within the village of Waterloo as the artist imagined it after the battle, strewn with broken wagons, carts, horses, and debris.

5. “La Veille de Waterloo”—Waterloo Views and Battle Scenes

   Maurice Dubois (artist)
   Benjamin Couprie (publisher)
   Sepia reproduction, early 20th century
   This souvenir image reproduces a scene from the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, as cavalry troops marched into the town. Many printing companies and photographers mass-produced images of the town, monuments, and battle scenes to sell as travel mementos to tourists visiting the battlefield and museums.

6. “Le 9e Cuirassiers a Waterloo – La Charge”—Waterloo Views and Battle Scenes

   Maurice Dubois (artist)
   Benjamin Couprie (publisher)
   Sepia reproduction, early 20th century
   This souvenir image is a reproduction of a painting depicting the 9th Cuirassiers, a French cavalry regiment who fought in the Battle of Waterloo.

7. “Waterloo – Le Caillou”—Waterloo Views and Battle Scenes

   Maurice Dubois (artist)
   Benjamin Couprie (publisher)
   Sepia reproduction, early 20th century
   The Caillou is the farmhouse where Napoleon and his staff established their headquarters for the Battle of Waterloo. The emperor spent the night in this building prior to the battle. A site of continued interest for tourists over the years, the house currently functions as a museum devoted to Napoleon’s history.

8. “L’ossuaire du Caillou”—Waterloo Views and Battle Scenes

   Maurice Dubois (artist)
   Benjamin Couprie (publisher)
   Sepia reproduction, early 20th century
   This small ossuary is located in the garden of the Caillou farmhouse. It contains a collection of soldiers’ bones recovered from the battlefield and is inscribed with the Latin phrase “pro imperator saepe, pro patria semper”, meaning “often for the emperor, always for the fatherland”. This garden also houses the railing from the nearby Hotel des Colonnes, the inn where Victor Hugo stayed in 1861 – the visit during which he completed Les Misérables.

9. 10 Snapshots of Waterloo

   Souvenir photographs, early 20th century
   This assortment of small photographs of the major sites throughout Waterloo is an example of a common souvenir from a trip to Waterloo in the early 20th century.

10. Lead musket balls from the Waterloo battlefield and a hand-drawn map

    Philippe Mertes (collector)
    Gift of Rebecca Moore, Ph.D., 2014
    About 3.5 million musket balls are estimated to have been fired during the Battle of Waterloo. Over the years, tourists have combed the battlefield and collected the ammunition that littered the ground. A visitor from Brussels found these French musket balls during a trip in the 1980s, and drew a map plotting the approximate location of his discovery (see no. 5). This ammunition, found near the Hougoumont, can be identified as French because of its small size. Both Prussian and British bullets were much larger. The smallest ball in the collection is most likely from grapeshot.

11. Les Misérables

    Victor Hugo
    Paris, J. Hetzel et A. Lacroix, 1865
    John Hay's Personal Library Collection, Gift of the Hay Family
    French writer Victor Hugo visited the Waterloo battlefield in 1861 while staying in the village to finish his novel Les Misérables. Devoting nineteen chapters of the book to a discussion of the battle, Hugo was not only struck by the military strategies, coincidences, and heroism within this event, but also by the greater historical significance that it held. Autographed by John Hay, this copy of Les Misérables is from his personal library, and was donated to Brown University by the Hay family.