Saturday, July 16, 2022

By God, sir, I've lost my leg!

Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey was a British general during the Napoleonic wars, serving under Wellington in the Peninsula campaign and at Waterloo.  There was a famous incident at Waterloo, held out as the epitome of English understatement.  

One of the last cannon shots fired that day hit Paget in the right leg, necessitating its amputation. According to anecdote, he was close to Wellington when his leg was hit, and exclaimed, "By God, sir, I've lost my leg!" — to which Wellington replied, "By God, sir, so you have!"  According to his aide-de-camp, Thomas Wildman, during the amputation Paget smiled and said, "I have had a pretty long run. I have been a beau these 47 years and it would not be fair to cut the young men out any longer." While Paget had an articulated artificial limb fitted, his amputated leg meanwhile had a somewhat macabre after-life as a tourist attraction in the village of Waterloo in Belgium, to which it had been removed and where it was later interred. 

I am reading To War With Wellington by Peter Snow and he adds some background of which I had not been aware.  Paget was married to Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers from 1795 to 1810.  In 1809, amidst great social scandal, Paget eloped with Lady Charlotte Cadogan, Arthur Wellesley's (Duke Wellington) sister-in-law.  

Almost as notable, Paget had eight children by his first wife and ten with his second.  Losing a leg may have reduced his social activity but clearly not his marital action.

No comments:

Post a Comment