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Auction: 18003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 24

Waterloo 1815 (Robert Foster, 33rd Regiment Foot.), original steel clip and replacement straight bar suspension, original riband, good very fine

Robert Foster was born at Norwich in 1789. He enlisted into the 33rd (West Riding) Regiment of Foot as a Drummer on 14 May 1801, serving with the regiment in India for over nine years.

Foster served as a Private with the 33rd during the Hundred Days' Campaign. Though the regiment was forced to flee into Bossu Wood when attacked by French cuirassiers at Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815 (see previous Lot), it performed a vital role at Waterloo two days later. Holding the centre-right of Wellington's line, the 33rd engaged the Grenadiers of the Middle Guard during the final French assault at 8 p.m. Driving the Grenadiers back with disciplined volleys, the 33rd resisted the temptation of a bayonet charge, calmly holding their position on the ridge.

Foster's discharge papers confirm that he was wounded in the right knee by a round-shot, possibly fired by the French 'Grand Battery'. Foster's leg would eventually have been amputated above the knee by the Regimental Surgeon at Mont St. Jean, almost a mile behind the front line. Wellington forbade soldiers from helping wounded comrades to the rear, and so Foster had to make the journey himself, probably using his musket as a crutch. Amputation survival rates were remarkably high, at nearly 70%, provided the wounds were treated quickly.

Foster was discharged from the regiment at Boulogne on 24 October 1815, after 12 years and 164 days with the Colours; sold with copied discharge papers.

Recommended reading:

Crumplin, M., Men of Steel: Surgery in the Napoleonic Wars (London, 2007).

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Sold for
£1,900