Waterloo Remembered Day 6: Scratching the Surface

In his account of Waterloo, Colonel Prince Bernard Sachsen-Weimar says that the 2nd Battalion of the Orange-Nassau Regiment arrived with French muskets (for which there was no ammunition as it had all been fired off at Quatre Bras); the First Battalion had British muskets. He claims he tried to get British muskets for them but without success. Although I know the Orange-Nassau Regiment were the other side of the battlefield to Hougoumont, this suggests that the Orange-Nassau troops were issued with French muskets before they joined the army, but at least some who had arrived earlier had had them replaced with British muskets.

Interestingly, in his account, Captain Eberhard, who served in the 2nd Battalion of Orange-Nassau, mentions that being without ammunition after Quatre-Bras, they were able to get some from the ‘Duchy of Nassau Regiments’, which suggests that the 1st and 2nd Nassau Regiments also carried French muskets. It is therefore quite possible that the Nassau troops at Hougoumont fought with French muskets.