<article_title>Battle_of_Waterloo</article_title>
<edit_user>Philip Baird Shearer</edit_user>
<edit_time>Tuesday, October 26, 2010 9:31:25 PM CEST</edit_time>
<edit_comment>/* Armies */ Attempt to small rewrite on Wellingtons &amp;quot;infamous army&amp;quot; but it probably needs a more root and branch rewrite</edit_comment>
<edit_text><strong><strike>These Coalition armies had been re-established in 1815, following the earlier defeat of Napoleon. Most of the professional soldiers in these armies had spent their careers in the armies of France or Napoleonic regimes, with the exception of some from Hanover and Brunswick who had fought with the British army in Spain. </strike></strong>Many of the troops in the continental armies were inexperienced militia.&lt;ref&gt;&lt;br /&gt;An artillery captain, Mercer, thought the Brunswickers &quot;perfect children&quot;.&lt;/ref&gt;&lt;ref&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On 13 June, the commandant at Ath requested powder and cartridges as members of a Hanoverian reserve regiment there had never yet fired a shot.&lt;/ref&gt; Wellington was also acutely short of heavy cavalry, having only seven British and three Dutch regiments. The Duke of York imposed many of his staff officers on Wellington, including his second-in-command, the Earl of Uxbridge. Uxbridge commanded the cavalry and had carte blanche from Wellington to commit these forces at his discretion. Wellington stationed a further 17,000&amp;nbsp;troops at Halle, eight miles (11&amp;nbsp;km) away to the west; they were not recalled to participate in the battle but were to serve as a fall back position should the battle be lost. They were mostly composed of Dutch troops under William, Prince of Orange's younger brother Prince Frederik of the Netherlands.</edit_text>
<turn_user>Philip Baird Shearer<turn_user>
<turn_time>Tuesday, October 26, 2010 9:43:51 PM CEST</turn_time>
<turn_topicname>Armies</turn_topicname>
<turn_topictext>These second paragraph is not clear: ...Of these, 25,000 were British, with another 6,000 from the King's German Legion. All of the British Army troops were regular soldiers and 7,000 of them were Peninsular War veterans.[16] In addition, there were 17,000 Dutch and Belgian troops, 11,000 from Hanover, 6,000 from Brunswick, and 3,000 from Nassau.[17] William, Prince of Orange showed personal bravery in the battle. These Coalition armies had been re-established in 1815, following the earlier defeat of Napoleon. Most of the professional soldiers in these armies had spent their careers in the armies of France or Napoleonic regimes, with the exception of some from Hanover and Brunswick who had fought with the British army in Spain. The British Army was part of a coalition army and the British Army had not been "re-established in 1815, following the earlier defeat of Napoleon". "Most of the professional soldiers in these armies had spent their careers in the armies of France or Napoleonic regimes" , most of the professional soldiers (who would have been British, KGL) in these armies had not "spent their careers in the armies of France or Napoleonic regimes". If this second paragraph means the Dutch, Belgian and Nassauian troops then it should say that. -- PBS (talk) 23:45, 26 September 2010 (UTC) I have had a go at a minor rewrite of the paragraph that stated "These Coalition armies..." It probably needs more. As only 7,000 British soldiers were Peninsular War veterans, quite a lot although professional soldiers may not have been in a major battle. This should be teased out a bit (Ie it was not just Jonny foreigner who was inexperienced). I am not sure if the Dutch Army (or the other armies) had been reconstituted or if it was an amalgamation of pre-existing forces. I think more research needs to be done to find out what the secondary sources actually say about where these armies came from and if they claimed previous battle experience of fighting together as units. For example the Prussians had been allied for Napoleon for a time, But few thought that any Prussian regiment would go over to Napoleon. The only reason this is relevant is it was thought that some of the French speaking Belgian regiments could not be trusted. -- PBS (talk) 21:43, 26 October 2010 (UTC) I think Barbaro is one of the better sources in comparing the armies. Much of Wellington's old force was either coming back from New Orleans or from Canana. Much of the Brit forces were gathered from reserve and garrison battalions at home if memory serves, its getting late here so I will check for you in the morning. Many of the Dutch Belgians had seen service under Napoleon but many were Landwehr or equivalent types just brought together. Of the 3 armies there that day the shipwreck were the Prussian forces, and even at that they had gotten some experience and fought harder with the loss of the Rhinelander that didn't want to be there. I do remember that Barbaro stated that the 3 armies were about equal, something I at 1st disagreed with, but as time goes on I'm coming to his view.Tirronan (talk) 04:47, 27 October 2010 (UTC) Ok the Armies of Hanover and Brunswick were recent reconstructions under professional officers and most of the enlisted were recent recruits hired for life or long service in the most traditional of ways and of varying nationalities. The KGL was considered among the best. Barbero p.32-33</turn_topictext>
<turn_text>I have had a go at a minor rewrite of the paragraph that stated "These Coalition armies..." It probably needs more. As only 7,000 British soldiers were Peninsular War veterans, quite a lot although professional soldiers may not have been in a major battle. This should be teased out a bit (Ie it was not just Jonny foreigner who was inexperienced). I am not sure if the Dutch Army (or the other armies) had been reconstituted or if it was an amalgamation of pre-existing forces. I think more research needs to be done to find out what the secondary sources actually say about where these armies came from and if they claimed previous battle experience of fighting together as units. For example the Prussians had been allied for Napoleon for a time, But few thought that any Prussian regiment would go over to Napoleon. The only reason this is relevant is it was thought that some of the French speaking Belgian regiments could not be trusted. -- </turn_text>