Wellington'S Smallest Victory (utgåvan 2004)

A fun, well-researched and tightly focused book that covers two things: the specific story of a British officer, William Siborne, who was commissioned to make a scale model of the Battle of Waterloo but soon encountered hostility from none other than the Duke of Wellington; and the general story of Waterloo's historiography, how the story of the battle was told and understood from its earliest reports through to the present day. Hofschröer did his research into Siborne's voluminous papers as well as other reports about Waterloo, and doesn't hesitate to make his conclusions clear: the Duke of Wellington intentionally played down the Prussian role in Waterloo, and (more seriously) concealed how he had hung the Prussians out to dry in pursuit of broader strategic goals after Napoleon stole a march on him in the Waterloo campaign.

Highly readable and enjoyable, recommended for any fan of Napoleonic history. ( )

I like this book because it is about a military ego versus the truth.
It was the Iron Duke's contention that the British Army won the battle of Waterloo all by itself. Now the truth was it did not, and if the Battle had ended at 6:30 on the day, it would at best have been a draw. But the Prussians came crashing into the French Right/ rear at that time, bringing about the battle that Napoleon always tried to impose on HIS enemies. It was the perfect Napoleonic battle but his enemies brought it off on him!
Wellington reveals the least lovable side of his character when a low-ranking officer, Lt. William Sibourne, was commissioned by the United Services Museum
to recreate a scale model of the battle at the "Moment of Victory" (7:15PM).

Siborne was a careful researcher, and collected over 3000 letters from all the armies present on the battlefield and polled the witnesses for topographical information. His actions created the modern style of battle reportage. His diorama contained over 80,000 three dimensional, hand-painted model soldiers, (thus changing the model soldier business with his emphasis on three dimensional models as opposed to the style of "Flats" that had preceded it.) and was as accurate as he could make it. It wasn't good enough for the Duke.

Though the duke could not see the whole battlefield from his position, he held that Sibourne had been "Hoodwinked by the Prussians" and that the crucial movement of the battle was the British charge following the repulse of the French Guard by the British centre. The fact that the Prussians were at that point pressing into the centre of Napoleon's Army, after four hours of bitter fighting on their part, was ignored by the Iron duke.
The book continues with the acts of vindictiveness that the Duke expressed in blighting Siborne's further, sad, military career. It was indeed, Wellington's smallest victory. ( )