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Auction: 22102 - Orders, Decorations and Medals e-Auction VI - e-Auction
Lot: 1

(x) Waterloo 1815 (Jeremiah Cooper, 1st Reg. Dragoon Guards.), fitted with replacement split-ring suspension, very fine

Jeremiah Cooper enlisted in the 1st or King’s Dragoon Guards on 13 July 1804 at Nottingham and served until 30 August 1828 when he was discharged 'worn out'.

At Waterloo he would have shared in that first great charge of the Household Brigade (1st and 2nd Life Guards, Royal Horse Guards and K.D.G., 1220 sabres in all) against the 1st and 4th Cuirassiers of Dubois’s Brigade which resulted in putting the four infantry divisions of D’Erlon's Corps into full flight.

With 32 officers and 555 men, the 1st Dragoon Guards were the largest British heavy cavalry regiment at Waterloo. They were brigaded with the Household Cavalry under Major-General Lord Edward Somerset, and helped to cover Wellington's retreat from Quatre Bras on 17 June. That night Wellington redeployed his army on the ridge of Mont St. Jean, 11 miles south of Brussels, with the village of Waterloo as his Headquarters. He positioned Somerset's Brigade on the reverse slope just west of the Brussels-Charleroi road.

When Napoleon launched his main infantry attack at 1.30 p.m. the following day, consisting of D'Erlon's Corps, he sent Milhaud's Corps of Cuirassiers (armoured heavy cavalry) in support. The French Cuirassiers advanced to the left of the Allied-held farmhouse of La Haye Sainte, catching the Hanoverian Luneberg Battalion in line and annihilating it almost to a man. The Cuirassiers were armed with extra-long sabres which enabled them to thrust at wounded men lying on the ground without leaving the saddle.

Just when Wellington's centre appeared to be crumbling, Lord Uxbridge, commander of the Allied Cavalry Corps, ordered both brigades of British Heavy Cavalry to charge. While Ponsonby's Union Brigade (including the famous 'Scots Greys') made for D'Erlon's infantry, Somerset's Household Brigade engaged Milhaud's Cuirassiers. The Cuirassiers' longer sabres gave them a considerable advantage against their British counterparts, who did not wear cuirasses. Somerset's Brigade was also heavily outnumbered. Despite these handicaps, the British troopers succeeded in routing the Cuirassiers and saving Wellington's position. Somerset's Brigade suffered appalling casualties in this action, the 1st Dragoon Guards losing 7 officers and 37 men killed, 4 officers and 100 men wounded. A further 124 men were 'missing'.


Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Sold for
£1,900

Starting price
£1500