After his escape from Elba, Napoleon began at once to reorganise his disbanded army, and his first move was an offensive against the Anglo-Dutch and Prussian forces in Belgium. The Allies concentrated in front of Brussels to intercept the French advance, and on the morning of the 18th of June, 1815, the armies of the Emperor Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington met on the field of Waterloo. The 30th and 40th Regiments of Foot (later The East Lancashire and South Lancashire Regiments respectively) played a notable part in the decisive battle which followed.
Wellington had determined to make his stand on a gently sloping ridge, in front of which stood several walled farms, including La Haye Sainte in the centre, which were fortified as strongpoints. The greater part of his infantry were drawn up in column behind the ridge, where they had some protection from the formidable French artillery and could deploy into square or line to meet attacks by cavalry or infantry.
The 30th Foot had already been marching and fighting, without food, for two days before the battle, and at Quatre Bras on the 16th had earned high praise for beating off a charge by the French cuirassiers. They were in Halkett's Brigade and had the honour of fighting throughout the day in the centre of the field under Wellington’s immediate eye. The 40th were, like the 30th, seasoned veterans of Wellington’s Spanish victories, and they had recently returned from campaigning in America. With the 4th King's Own and 27th Inniskillings, they formed Lambert's brigade. After a forced march from Ghent, they had arrived near the village of Waterloo late in the evening of 17th June, and next morning were placed in reserve behind the centre of Wellington’s position.
The night before Waterloo had been particularly wet, and so it was about 11 o'clock before the ground was dry enough for Napoleon to launch his first attack. The 30th were in the front line near the centre, while at this time the 40th remained in reserve. Both Regiments were subjected to heavy cannonading and suffered some losses. At this early stage in the battle only the Light Company of the 30th was engaged, skirmishing with the French tirailleurs: the others were unable by reason of their position to return a shot.
At about 3 o'clock, following the repulse of a massed infantry attack on Wellington’s left centre, Lambert’s brigade was brought into the front line to defend the vital cross-roads behind La Haye Sainte.
Shortly afterwards, mistaking allied redeployment on the ridge for signs of retreat, Napoleon launched eight and a half thousand of his superb cavalry, led by Marshal Ney, in an impetuous charge against the centre of the Allied line. The British regiments formed square and their musketry volleys felled the gallant horsemen in great numbers, but in the intervals between the cavalry assaults the close-ranked squares were devastated by French horse artillery firing at close range. Over the next two hours the 30th Foot beat off eleven charges by cuirassiers and lancers, but losses from the French artillery mounted, and when at one point the Regiment closed to its left a perfect square of dead and wounded marked its former position.
The 40th , in Lambert's Brigade, also held their ground against repeated attacks by French cavalry, infantry and guns, sometimes combined and sometimes separately. At times, the brigade was engaged by several columns of infantry at once, and was frequently surrounded by French cavalry, who became more and more desperate as the battle developed. Their position, some three hundred yards from the farm buildings of La Haye Sainte, was particularly exposed when, at about 6.30, the farm was captured by the enemy. A French break-through in Wellington’s centre appeared imminent, but despite the ferocity and persistence of the close-quarter infantry assaults, the constant and destructive cannonade of the enemy guns, and the fire of the French tirailleurs on the rising ground to their front, the Brigade yielded not a foot of ground.
Towards the close of the day the 30th had the honour, together with the 73rd Foot, of repulsing the Grenadiers of Napoleon's Imperial Guard, who they routed with one volley. The Guard was Napoleon’s last reserve. Shortly after 7 o’clock the Duke of Wellington ordered a general advance, and a ringing cheer ran from right to left along the British line. The Duke galloped up to Lambert’s brigade and called out, ‘No cheering, my lads, but go on and complete your victory.’ With fixed bayonets the 40th dashed forward, sweeping away the tirailleurs, to rout the French columns to their front and recapture La Haye Sainte. The general advance continued until the men were so exhausted that they were forced to halt.
In the latter stages of the battle both Regiments suffered severely. At the time of the advance the 30th Foot were commanded by the officer sixth in seniority, all his seniors having been killed or wounded, and the Commanding Officer of the 40th was shot dead during an attack by massed infantry. At the end of the day the 30th had lost about half its numbers, and around one in four of the 40th had fallen around their Colours, which were shot to ribbons.
For their steadfastness, discipline and stubborn gallantry on this day the 30th and 40th Regiments of Foot were permitted to encircle their badges with a wreath of laurels.
