2. Waterloo
One of the most famous battles in European history was the Battle of Waterloo, fought on 18 June 1815. On that bloody day Napoleon was defeated by the coalition forces led by the Duke of Wellington and General Blücher. It was a particularly hard fought battle with many thousands of casualties on both sides. In the aftermath Wellington said Waterloo was 'the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life',
The reasons for the French defeat are many, but one aspect that historians have often pointed to is that Napoleon was often absent from the battlefield when his characteristic strategic ability might have made a crucial difference. The official explanation was that Napoleon was suffering with terrible hemorrhoids, which prevented him from staying in the saddle all day.
Is that really why, or just an excuse? Well, that’s where one of my ancestors, a young camp follower with the British Army, known as Mary Moore, played a crucial role. Mary was one of those rare beauties, endowed with a tight little so enticing that she invariably attracted the attentions of the most powerful of men.
She had been a camp follower with the British army’s baggage train for only a few days before she found herself presented to Wellington In the privacy of his tent, where she was ordered to perform various services for the Duke, none of which involved swallowing, which she firmly resisted assent even for royalty, no less a mere Duke, but did require removing all of her clothing.
Soon afterward, as she knelt nakedly at his feet, licking his boots clean while he casually whipped her tight little with his riding crop, a brilliant piece of military strategy came to his mind.
Two days later, on the eve of the battle, Mary found herself in the French camp. She presented herself as a camp follower with the British Army, who possessed military intelligence of great potential if only she could convey it personally and in confidence to the great Bonaparte. It had been raining heavily that night. She was drenched and in the glow of the lantern held by the French officer who received her, she looked most alluring with her clothing plastered tightly to her body.
Well, the rest is history. Mary Moore was taken directly to Napoleon’s tent where she shed her clothes and gave her all for the British cause, including chomping down very hard on that puny little “thing” he rammed into her mouth.
So was it hemorrhoids that kept Napoleon in his tent for crucial periods during the great battle the next day? Or was he nursing something else?
As for Mary, he ordered her whipped and hanged.
One of the most famous battles in European history was the Battle of Waterloo, fought on 18 June 1815. On that bloody day Napoleon was defeated by the coalition forces led by the Duke of Wellington and General Blücher. It was a particularly hard fought battle with many thousands of casualties on both sides. In the aftermath Wellington said Waterloo was 'the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life',
The reasons for the French defeat are many, but one aspect that historians have often pointed to is that Napoleon was often absent from the battlefield when his characteristic strategic ability might have made a crucial difference. The official explanation was that Napoleon was suffering with terrible hemorrhoids, which prevented him from staying in the saddle all day.
Is that really why, or just an excuse? Well, that’s where one of my ancestors, a young camp follower with the British Army, known as Mary Moore, played a crucial role. Mary was one of those rare beauties, endowed with a tight little so enticing that she invariably attracted the attentions of the most powerful of men.
She had been a camp follower with the British army’s baggage train for only a few days before she found herself presented to Wellington In the privacy of his tent, where she was ordered to perform various services for the Duke, none of which involved swallowing, which she firmly resisted assent even for royalty, no less a mere Duke, but did require removing all of her clothing.
Soon afterward, as she knelt nakedly at his feet, licking his boots clean while he casually whipped her tight little with his riding crop, a brilliant piece of military strategy came to his mind.
Two days later, on the eve of the battle, Mary found herself in the French camp. She presented herself as a camp follower with the British Army, who possessed military intelligence of great potential if only she could convey it personally and in confidence to the great Bonaparte. It had been raining heavily that night. She was drenched and in the glow of the lantern held by the French officer who received her, she looked most alluring with her clothing plastered tightly to her body.
Well, the rest is history. Mary Moore was taken directly to Napoleon’s tent where she shed her clothes and gave her all for the British cause, including chomping down very hard on that puny little “thing” he rammed into her mouth.
So was it hemorrhoids that kept Napoleon in his tent for crucial periods during the great battle the next day? Or was he nursing something else?
As for Mary, he ordered her whipped and hanged.
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