Waterloo, the place where Napoleon Bonaparte was finally defeated, is known worldwide. More than two centuries later, however, it remains a mystery what happened to the tens of thousands of dead after the battle. Researchers have tried to solve that problem with the help of historical eyewitness accounts. They write that in the professional magazine Journal of Conflict Archeology.
It is estimated that almost 50,000 men – on both sides of the front – were killed in the Battle of Waterloo. Yet – apart from an amputated leg (2015) and a skeleton (2019) – hardly any remains have been found at the site. Beware, the possible explanation is grim: According to historical reports compiled shortly after the conflict and collected for the recent investigation, numerous bodies have been retrieved, pulverized and used to fertilize the land.
Tony Pollard, director of the center for battlefield archaeology at the University of Glasgow, came to this conclusion. He set to work with old newspaper articles, vivid descriptions and pictures of eyewitnesses. These eyewitnesses visited Waterloo shortly after the historic battle and later recorded what they had seen there.
“A human hand that was practically reduced to bones and just lay on the floor,” is just one of the testimonials. In addition, mention was made of female bodies on the battlefield. “At least one of whom was dressed in a French army uniform,” Pollard said.
Burned, buried or pulverized
But what exactly happened to those bodies? According to numerous testimonies, some bodies were burned. Other bodies, however, were buried in mass graves, or in smaller groups. The graves were then emptied, according to eyewitness accounts, and the bones pulverized. After all, grinding leftovers produces bone meal, a well-functioning fertiliser. British newspaper articles dating from 1820, for example, suggest that human bones from soldiers (including British) were imported.
According to the researchers, Pollard’s (gruesome) research is only in an initial phase. “If the stories are true, I don’t expect all the graves have been emptied,” Pollard said. More than that: “We have some clues that could lead us to the graves”. In addition, Pollard’s research team (Waterloo Uncovered) hopes to find evidence for the removal of human remains.
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