THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SIR HENRY CLINTON IN THE WATERLOO CAMPAIGN - VOLUME 1 and VOLUME 2: Preparation for Waterloo (August 1814 - April 1815)

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This set contains Volume One and Volume Two.

This revealing and remarkable study came out of the blue when Gareth Glover discovered that the Clinton papers were held in two libraries on both sides of the Atlantic and that they ran to many thousand un-researched documents. It has been a labor of years of work to collate the documents and effectively edit them into one narrative.

Why is this so important? Clinton's meticulous diary and reports provide the essentially research into the small British-Hanoverian army that served as a defense force for the newly liberated Netherlands under the command of the hereditary Prince of Orange in August 1814. He performed the role of Inspecting Officer for all the troops in Belgium including the fledgling Belgian and Dutch units and is a vital witness to the quality and training of all of these troops and to the massive repair program to the main border fortresses in the run up to the Waterloo campaign.

With Napoleon's return to power and the mobilization of the army for war once again, Henry Clinton was then appointed by the Duke of Wellington to command the Second Division, consisting of Adam's British Light Infantry Brigade, Du Plat's Brigade of King's German Legion troops and Halkett's Brigade of Hanoverian troops, a very diverse group with varying degrees of experience, equipment and training. His correspondence most importantly is written contemporaneously and gives honest assessments regarding the strengths and weaknesses of all of these troops and is both enlightening and often surprising.

The second volume deals with the final preparations for war, including the arrival of the Duke of Wellington. The operations, particularly of the Second Division during the whirlwind campaign of Waterloo and the consequent march to Paris are described in great detail as are the details of the Army of Occupation which lasted until 1818, concluding with their embarkation.

As well as his correspondence, Henry Clinton also kept a personal diary that was completed each evening. All of this various material has been put into date order and each day's diary entry precedes the correspondence for the day (inserted by date of writing rather than of receipt) and the letters have been put in sequential order wherever it is possible or a time of day is indicated. The appendix gives extracts recorded by an officer in Adam's Brigade of his Brigade orders that dovetail with the correspondence between Sir Henry Clinton and his brigade.