Today is the 205th anniversary of the famous Battle of Waterloo fought on June 18, 1815. The 23-year-old Prince Bernard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach led his brigade throughout the battle and defended the extreme left of the Allied position. His men defended the farms of Papelotte, La Haie, and Frischermont through the whole of June 18th, and were the first Allied troops to meet the advancing Prussians who unfortunately mistook his brigade for French and caused some casualties due to friendly fire. His 2ème Brigade de la 2ème Division d'Infanterie consisted of the Nassau-Usingen and his old command the Orange-Nassau regiment. Fighting throughout the early afternoon against Durette's French 4th Division, he was able to hold out against far larger numbers until the French were forced to retreat. Having performed well on the 18th the Prince is deservedly more well known for his decision to take a stand on the night of June 15th, 1815 at the crossroads of Quatre Bras. Having taken command of a brigade of Nassau troops, due to the wounding of his former superior by a kick from a horse, the newly promoted General stood his ground and fought a delaying action against a larger French foe on the 16th! He allowed time for his reinforcements of Dutch, Brunswick, Belgian, and British units to arrive and fight the French to a bloody standstill. His defiance of direct orders not only saved the Allied army from being attacked piecemeal but forced the French to fight a battle instead of attacking the open right flank of the Prussian army at Ligny. So many great books are written about this battle that the majority of the people out there know every detail so I will not give a minute by minute recount. However, I would like to post a few pictures of the man in his early military career. The first is my depiction of the Prince as an officer of the Saxon Leib Garde Grenadiers c.1810. The second is the actual portrait and the last two are a painting of the Prince as a general and a photograph in the late stages of his life.
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Portrait of Prince Bernhard in uniform of an officer of the Saxon Leib Garde Grenadiers 1810
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Portrait of Duke Bernhard in uniform of a General in the Netherlands Army
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Photograph of Duke Bernhard later in life
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Now I would like to focus on the main reason why I wanted to write this post. The Prince traveled to the United States in 1825 and wrote a diary of his travels, which are very detailed and fascinating to read. His diary called Travels through North America, during the Years of 1825 and 1826, was translated and published in Philadelphia in 1828, which is accessible online to read today at https://archive.org/details/travelsthroughno12bern/page/n19/mode/2up or http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41913/41913-h/41913-h.htm In the preface he states his purpose for visiting the United States was, "The chief reason was,
I wished to see the new world; the country; the people; their
conditions and institutions; their customs and manners. The more I
became acquainted with the old world, the more my desire to see the new
increased." You may wonder why would I care about his travels, and in reality for the average person his visit would be of no interest. However, Prince Bernhard traveled and visited many of the places that I have lived in. For example, I currently live in Quincy, MA about 15 minutes south of Boston or according to Prince Bernhard ten miles south. One of the first places Prince Bernhard traveled after arriving in Boston was the small town of Quincy. After meeting with the Mayor of Boston named Josiah Quincy (relative of President Adams), he was taken around all the important parts of Boston such as Bunker Hill, Harvard, local museums, and introduced to many famous Revolutionary War New Englanders.
Having taken a tour of Boston, the Prince was taken to the farm of the former President John Adams, who at the time was 90 years old. This is his description of the small town of Quincy, " Quincy contains about four thousand inhabitants, and has assumed this name in honour of the mayor’s family, which is here much beloved and esteemed. Mr. Quincy’s country seat, to which we repaired from the house of the ex-president, is about two miles distant from the latter, and lies in the neighbourhood of the sea on a small eminence, from which there is a very handsome prospect towards the bay." The location of Josiah Quincy's house was located on what today is Eastern Nazarene College. This area is known as Wollaston Park and has a very nice beach off of Quincy Bay. I have lived in the small town of Quincy for almost three years and the town still feels just with a few changes it could be back in the 1800s again. President Adam's family house which Prince Bernhard visited is called the Peacefield and still is a historic site that can be visited during the warmer months. If you ever travel to Boston, Quincy is a very easy 20 to 25-minute train ride south of the MBTA Redline. The house is about a 5-10 minute walk east of the Quincy Center Red line stop. Here is the Wikipedia link to the history of Quincy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincy,_Massachusetts  |
| Peacefield house in 1787 as seen when the Adam's family bought the farm. |
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| The present day Peacefield in Quincy, MA. |
After spending time in Boston, Prince Bernhard traveled through New York, Pennsylvanian, Maryland, and the capital in DC. Taking a more western route through Virginia, the Prince traveled through many small towns and eventually decided to visit Charlottesville. Describing the approach, "On the 25th of November, we set out for Charlotteville, thirty-two miles distant, passing over the Blue Ridge. The road is through a country little cultivated, and without a single village; and the number of separate houses could scarcely be more than a dozen. After we had gone about five miles, we arrived at the western base of the Blue Ridge, which affords an agreeable view, being overgrown with wood up to the top. Then we entered a narrow valley, and when the road began to ascend, we alighted and walked over the mountains. I was surprised to find the road less steep than I expected, and it was also pretty good. From elevated places, the day being not so foggy as the preceding ones, we had many fine views of the mountains. The wood consisted of oak trees, and different kinds of nut trees; here and there were colossal fir, larch, Weymouth’s pine and acacia trees. Evergreen rhododendrons, for which some amateurs in Europe spend a great deal of money, are growing here in abundance, also wild vines, which wind themselves round the trees."
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Surrounding hills of Charlottesville during early fall
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This area he describes has some of the prettiest views of Virginia. One can see for miles and miles from higher vantage points and I can not even imagine how it must have looked at the time as even today it is not densely populated.
While in Charlottesville, Prince Bernhard visited the newly built University of Virginia (1824) and met with the former President Thomas Jefferson. He gives a detailed description of the views from Jefferson's Monticello home, "The next morning I took a walk round the house, and admired the beautiful panorama, which this spot presents. On the left, I saw the Blue Ridge, and between them and Monticello are smaller hills. Charlotteville and the University lay at my feet; before me, the valley of the Rivanna river, which farther on, makes its junction with the James river, and on my right was the flat part of Virginia, the extent of which is lost in distance; behind me was a towering hill, which limited the sight."
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| An aerial view of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello home |
Once done visiting Charlottesville, Prince Bernhard traveled by stagecoach to Richmond. On his way to Richmond, which is at most a little over an hour drive by car, he approached the James River, " When we approached James river, along the banks of which we went for some miles, the country grew finer, and had it been more settled I would have compared it with that on the Elbe, above Dresden." I have not visited the Elbe river, but after looking at pictures of the surrounding location, I would have to disagree with the Prince. I am from small town southeast of Richmond called Midlothian. About one mile from my old school called James River HS, we have the beautiful Robious Landing Park. This location is right on the James River and has amazing views of the river and plenty of water sports. I took a walk this morning around the park that runs along the river with my dog and took some pictures. Below are pictures of my area of the James River and pictures of the Danube River at Danube Auen National park near Vienna.
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Photos of James River at Robious Landing, Midlothian, VA
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Photos of Danube Auen National Park Austria.
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In my opinion, these two areas look very similar, but as Prince Bernhard served at the Battle of Wagram and passed through Lobau Island in 1809, I must concede the point to him. You can be the judge for yourself! If anyone has visited both areas please feel free to let me know your opinion.
The last portion of his diary I would like to talk about is my former hometown where I spent the majority of my life. Prince Bernhard's description of Richmond is spot on and still perfectly describes how rich the surrounding homes are close to downtown. Arriving, "About eight o’clock in the evening we reached Richmond, a town of about seventeen thousand inhabitants of both colours. To judge by the houses, Richmond must be a wealthy place. We took our lodgings in the Union Hotel, a large and well-furnished inn. I felt really happy at finding myself once again in a considerable place, as I was almost unaccustomed to such a sight."
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Union Hotel in Richmond, VA in the late 1800's
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Being laid over in the city for a few days, Prince Bernhard decided to explore the city, " I took a walk through the town, to look around, for there was nothing else remarkable to be seen. The town lies on the left bank of James river, and consists of two streets, running parallel with the river, and of several insignificant alleys. The main street, which lies next to the river, is finished, the other does not contain many houses; the former is probably a mile long, paved, and has side-walks made of bricks. As they burn coal here, the city looks nearly black."
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Painting from surrounding hills of Richmond from 1830's. To the left can be seen the canal that Prince Bernhard describes in great detail before arriving to the capital city.
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Prince Bernhard traveled all through the South and described many more interesting places that I have visited as well as some I have not. He returned to Europe in 1826 and distinguished himself as commander of a Dutch Division in the Belgian campaign of 1831 called the Ten Day Campaign. From 1847 to 1850 he was the commanding general of forces in the Dutch East Indies. He died 21 July 1862 in Liebenstein, Germany at the age of 70. This great man was not only a great military leader but had a deep love for exploration and nature. Seeing the world through his words gives us a small glimpse into how the world looked over 200 years ago.
I wanted to finish the blog post on how Prince Bernhard perceived slavery in the United States. He says when he first arrived in the South, "The state of Maryland is the first on which I set my foot where the slavery of negroes is legally maintained. Farther to the south, this state of things is everywhere common. I merely mention the fact; it does not belong to me to give opinions on so delicate a subject. Still, my journey convinced me of the truth of the old observation, that inaccurate judgments are easily formed respecting things not sufficiently known, which we have neither seen nor examined ourselves." In the end of the diary which was edited and translated into English by Mr. Trans, Trans remarks about how the Prince dealt with slavery, " The virtuous indignation of the Duke, at these horrible consequences of slavery, is such as every man, not hardened by long familiarity with such scenes, must feel; those to whom they are daily presented regard them with calm indifference, or even attempt to argue in favour of their continuance and harmlessness." These words are still things we are dealing with today. This is why I love history. We can learn so much from understanding our past.
