Waterloo Wounds
The following table describes the kind of wounds suffered by men at Waterloo, in this instance men of the 2/30th who survived to claim a pension.
There are also two officers whose wounds are of particular interest. Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton took a wound to the leg which, according to the surgeon, Elkington, should have occasioned amputation. Three times the tourniquet was applied, and three times the surgeon was called to other wounded men. As a result, the amputation never took place, and Hamilton recovered.
Even more unexpected was the survival of Lieutenant Lockwood. As Elkington recorded in his journal: ‘I also received Lieutenant Lockwood with a wound of a musket ball in the front sinus. I sent him to the farm at Quatre Bras, whilst I saw the Artillery open fire on the advance of the Cavalry, up the Charleroi road. Shortly after the repulse of the Cavalry I was ordered up to the front to some of the wounded of the Regiment. I attempted to pass down the high road but my horse would not pass the numerous dead men and horses of the French that lay in the road, and I entered the fields on my left and dressed some men at a farmhouse. I then returned to Quatre Bras and extracted the ball (as I thought) from Lieutenant Lockwood’s frontal bone, but three weeks after a portion was found in the sinus and the trephine was used to extract it.” Even by mid-July his recovery was still doubtful, but he did recover, and survived until 1859. He became known as “Bombproof” Lockwood, on account of the silver plate in his skull, engraved with that boast.
NAME | TYPE OF WOUND | DATE OFDISCHARGE |
Cpl Joseph Andrews | Gunshot wound through thigh;disabled left hand | 1815 |
Samuel Barnacle | Loss of use of left hand | 1816 |
John Blackburn | Gunshot wound to left side | 1816 |
Marshal Bodymore | Right thigh | 1817 |
Laurence Brady | Paralysis from Waterloo wounds | 1817 |
Daniel Brennan | Hand and leg; leg finally amputated | 1817 |
Denis Brogan | Right foot | 1816 |
Joseph Brown | Left arm amputated | 1816 |
James Bunker | Right leg, by shell | 1818 |
Thomas Cochrane | Hand and back | 1815 |
James Connolly | Left leg; behind left ear | 1817 |
Charles Cook | Right arm and right leg | 1817 |
Patrick Daly | hand | 1816 |
Sgt John Darville | head | 1816 |
John Davey | Right leg, gunshot wound | 1818 |
Robert Dawes | Broken arm, wounded at Waterloo | 1816 |
Cpl Benjamin Detheridge | Right arm, right leg | 1817 |
John Devoy | Left hand | 1817 |
Cpl Thomas Dobbs | Right leg | 1817 |
John Driver | Left leg | 1817 |
Moses Dyer | Wounded in abdomen | 1817 |
George Edwards | Gunshot wound, left leg | 1816 |
Benjamin Fieldstone | Right arm | 1817 |
Daniel Flinn | Left shoulder | 1817 |
Robert Forbes | Left hand | 1817 |
Thomas Foster | Gunshot wound, right leg | 1816 |
John Harty | Left cheek | 1817 |
Daniel Keeghan | Thigh | 1817 |
John Lanxter | Left thigh | 1817 |
Patrick Lawler | Sabre cut left hand; wound to thigh | 1815 |
Thomas Lowe | Left arm and shoulder | 1816 |
Michael Lynch | Right thigh | 1817 |
Philip Lynch | Left leg | 1817 |
John Lynham | Musket shot through ankle | 1816 |
James Mahon | Compaction of knee joint caused bywound to thigh | 1816 |
John McAndrews | Left foot | 1816 |
James McCabe | Right thigh amputated | 1815 |
Michael McGrath | Loss of use of arm from woundreceived at waterloo | 1816 |
Peter Muxloe | Musket wound of the head | 1816 |
Henry Nowell | Broken arm, wounded at Waterloo | 1816 |
Cpl Michael O’Neill | Right leg | 1817 |
James Patrick | Leg (at Quatre Bras) | 1817 |
Robert Ramsden | Loss of left leg | 1816 |
Edward Ripton | Amputated right thigh | 1816 |
Patrick Robinson | Broken arm, wound received atWaterloo | 1816 |
William Ryan | Lost left eye from wound received atWaterloo | 1816 |
James Ryan | Shell at Waterloo, wound of abdomen | 1816 |
Cpl Joseph Saville | Left hand | 1816 |
Col Sgt Joseph Scotton | Gunshot wound to right leg | 1816 |
John Shanaghan | Loss of use of arm | 1816 |
Elias Simpson | Right arm and fingers | 1817 |
Cpl John Slowey | Groin and thigh | 1817 |
Donald Smith | Gunshot wound, left arm | 1816 |
Nathaniel Smith | Right foot | 1816 |
Thomas Sparkes | Hip joint | 1818 |
John Stubbs | Right thigh | 1816 |
William Taylor | Left leg | 1817 |
William Thompson | Right thigh | 1816 |
William Tinsley | Left leg | 1816 |
Humphrey Vizer | Left arm | 1816 |
Richard Ward | groin | 1816 |
James Waters | Right thigh | 1816 |
Sgt William Watkins | Right knee and middle right finger | 1822 |
Richard Webb | Musket ball received in action withthe enemy | 1815 |
Martin Aaron 25th November 2015 at 10:00 am
Fascinating stuff as always Carole! Thanks so much for publishing these – can I ask where they come from? Is it a PRO document or is there a regimental archive?