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This image shows the remains of a horse excavated recently from a trench at Mont-Saint-Jean Farm in Waterloo, Belgium. The farm was the site of a field hospital for the Duke of Wellington’s troops in the aftermath of the battle there on 18 June 1815.
The discovery was made by archaeologists, serving personnel, and veterans as part of the Waterloo Uncovered project, which began digging at the farm in 2022. Archaeologists confirmed that the trench, underneath what is now the farm’s orchard, was dug on purpose to clear the hospital of gore after the battle.
To the south of the trench, archaeologists found a pile of amputated human limbs, many of which still showed evidence of removal by a surgeon’s saw. These were laid alongside a complete human skeleton, which was uncovered at the site during the last dig two years ago.
The hospital would have been bustling with gruesome activity in the aftermath of the battle, which saw the deaths of at least 20,000 soldiers and brought about the end of the French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte. With more than 500 limbs amputated there in one day, eye-witnesses at the time described human remains ‘piling up in all four corners of the courtyard’. The skeletons of at least seven horses were found nearby, including three that appear to have been euthanised by means of a musket ball to the head.
According to the charity’s archaeological director, Professor Tony Pollard of Glasgow University, the site is ‘truly unique’, as there are no other Napoleonic battlefields in which a complete skeleton, human limbs, and euthanised horses have been found buried together.
The Waterloo Uncovered charity offers the chance for veterans and serving military personnel to take part in archaeological digs to improve their mental health and wellbeing. One is volunteer Clive Jones, of the Welsh Guards, who was stationed with the Household Cavalry in Knightsbridge during the Hyde Park Bombing of 1982, which killed seven cavalry horses. Speaking about his experiences on the excavation, he said: ‘I thought [uncovering] the soldier would affect me most, but it was actually the horses. It brought back the horrors of that day.’
‘Every beneficiary has a story that has brought them to Waterloo,’ he added. ‘Away from home and among a group of fellow veterans and wellbeing professionals, they can start to face those memories.’ MHM
Text: Calum Henderson / Image: Chris van Houts/Waterloo Uncovered
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