Waterloo 200

Private Frederick Gray

King’s Shilling

This large silver coin is the notorious ‘King’s Shilling’. It was a symbol of recruitment in to the British Army at the time of Waterloo and that is why it is linked to Private Frederick Gray who joined the army at this time.

To ‘take the King’s shilling’ meant that you had joined the British Army. The idea of a shilling came from the original daily pay for a private soldier. Although it was voluntary to enlist a trick of the recruiters was to put a shilling into a pint of beer to make it look like that man had agreed to join up!

The last shilling like this was minted in 1798, the next one in 1816 so this would be the same as the one Frederick would have had.

Wooden blocks The wooden blocks had cavalry soldiers painted on them. The cavalry used them to help plan their tactics and so they could see all the different formations. This allowed them to work out the best tactics. They were able to experiment with tactics, formations and different scenarios. They relate to Private Frederick Gray because he was in the Second Life Guards which was a cavalry regiment and he would therefore have practised with these blocks himself and been shown by officers where and how to move.

Discipline could win battles so drill practice was an important activity. It meant that in battle the soldiers would move together and act as one body.

These blocks meant instructors could demonstrate how drill movements worked before putting them into practice in training and so the soldiers knew what to do in battle. Waterloo showed how good the British were with their changes in formation to confuse Napoleon and his army.

Water Canteen This is a standard War Department issue water canteen usually used by private soldiers like Frederick Gray.

It would have been made of wood and held together by iron straps. It would have been painted light blue or green with the soldier’s battalion and number on it. String kept the lid attached to the canteen and soldiers carried it on a leather strap over the right shoulder .

It held around 1.4 litres, which would have been a day’s supply. The canteen needed to be kept full to stop it shrinking and then leaking. Sometimes the canteens would be filled with alcohol instead of water!

Field Bugle The field bugle was used to start the

charge of the Household Cavalry Brigade.

It is linked to Frederick Gray because the

2nd Life Guards were part of the

Household Cavalry Brigade, so the bugle

would signal for him to charge.

For the start of the charge the field bugle

was blown by 16-year-old John Edwards,

who was duty trumpeter of the day.

Bugle calls and there were over forty of

them were an important communication

method where the noise of battle

drowned out human voices. Only the

sound of the trumpet could communicate

between cavalry squadrons and they all

had a trumpeter.

French thrusting sabre

• The French thrusting sabre was used by the cuirassiers or armoured

cavalry.. The sabre was used to break up formations. When the

French got enough momentum they would thrust the sabre at

enemies either killing them or badly injuring them. I think it's linked

to Frederick Gray because he might have been attacked by it during

the charge where he was killed. A wound caused by the stabbing

motion of this 98cm straight blade was likely to be fatal

• The hilt or handle is made from cast brass with four bars coming out

of the guard to protect the soldier’s hand. The handgrip was wooden

and covered in leather and brass wire to stop it slipping if the

soldier’s hand was covered in sweat or blood.

• The sword had two grooves which ran along both sides of the blade

possibly to let the blood from a wound to flow easily down the

blade but really to make the sword lighter without losing its

strength.

The French Lance This is a cavalry lance like the ones used at the Battle of Waterloo by soldiers of the French Army. Its long reach of 275cm meant a soldier on horseback could stab an enemy cavalryman before his sword could reach the lancer. It was another weapon that could have ended Private Gray’s life.

Lances were carried in the French Army by ordinary soldiers of the light cavalry.

The lance is made of hardwood such as ash or deal. The bottom has a steel ‘shoe’ to protect the wood when the lance was rested on the ground. The centre of the shaft has a whitened leather grip and a loop for the fingers called a martingale. The lance was decorated with a small red and white flag called a pennon. The steel point was made with a flattened diamond section which allowed it to easily penetrate an enemy soldier’s body. It is secured by long steel straps called langets which made it harder to chop off the point with a sword.

French Cuirassiers • The French cuirass is a metal breastplate

that the French cavalry soldiers wore when they fought against the British. This breastplate got hit by a British cannon ball.

• I think this is linked to Frederick because he would have come up against a soldier wearing one of these.

• The steel helmets, breast and back plates of the cuirassiers made them formidable enemies who were hard to kill. Lord Edward Somerset, commanding the Household Brigade, said that ‘the blows on the cuirasses sounded like braziers at work’.

The story of the Earl of Uxbridge and his

artificial leg

Henry Paget, Lord Uxbridge, who commanded the British cavalry at the

Battle of Waterloo. He was hit on the right knee by a canister shot.

When the earl of Uxbridge had lost his leg on the battlefield, he said to

the duke of Wellington , "By God, sir, I've lost my leg." And the duke

replied " By God, sir, you have !"

Lord Uxbridge’s leg was amputated above the knee and his detached leg

became a tourist attraction. Wellington’s own doctor operated on him.

This artificial leg or ‘Anglesey Leg’, is of far better quality than most

amputees would receive with its bending knee and moving foot.

This artefact was chosen as the injury to Lord Uxbridge happened as he

was leading the same cavalry charge that Private Gray was part of.

Plaster Cast Of The Skull Of Corporal John Shaw

This is a plaster cast of the skull of boxer and soldier Corporal

John Shaw of the 2nd Life Guards. Shaw would had served with

Private Frederick Gray, also of the 2nd Life Guards. After the

charge Shaw became separated and was quickly surrounded. He

fought desperately and killed nine of his opponents before his

sword broke. Instead of surrendering, he used his the helmet as a

weapon inflicting damage before being finally shot by a

cuirassier.

His body was recovered after the battle and buried near La Haye

Sainte.

A few years later Sir Walter Scott arranged for the exhumation

and return of the remains to Britain. Scott’s fascination with the

great man inspired him to retain Shaw’s skull in his library at

Abbotsford, where it has remained to this day as a rather

macabre memento of a legend among men. This plaster cast was

made by Shaw’s comrades, and can be seen in the Household

Cavalry Museum.

Private Frederick Gray would have known Shaw and they

probably would have fought and died together.

Waterloo Teeth This set of dentures is fitted with real human teeth, Before

modern dentistry, corpses were the best source of

replacement teeth, and complete sets of healthy teeth were

very valuable because of poor dental hygiene and the

popularity of sugar.

After a major battle like Waterloo scavengers would

search the field with pliers, ready to steal the teeth of the

dead. Dentists publicly advertised their dentures as

“Waterloo teeth” or “Waterloo ivory”. They were in great

demand because they came from young, healthy soldiers,

killed in the prime of life, rather from rotting corpses dug

up by grave robbers, or executed criminals.

The link to Private Gray is that as he lay dead on the

battlefield his teeth may have been taken by the

scavengers.

Private Soldier’s Waterloo Medal

The Waterloo medal was the first ever “campaign medal”

issued by the British Army and given to every soldier that

took part in the Battle of Waterloo and this is why it is

linked to Private Frederick Gray. It didn’t matter what

rank you were or if you had been particularly brave you

still received the medal. Private Gray or his family would

have received one of the 39,000 medals given out.

Each medal had the name of the soldier to around the

edge, and the words “Waterloo” and “Wellington” on

opposite sides. The head on the medal is Prince Regent.

The soldiers who had fought at Waterloo were seen as

heroes as people were so pleased that Napoleon had

finally been defeated and the idea of giving every soldier a

medal quickly became popular.