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200 years ago in June, Europe was in turmoil. But the upheaval culminated in a battle that would bring peace to Europe for over three decades.

France and Britain were historical enemies. In fact, there had been conflict between the two peoples off and on since the Norman Conquest in 1066.

The final phase of this conflict - and the one that would end the open warfare - was the Napoleonic Wars.

The Conquerors

Napoleon had seized power in France after the chaos of the French Revolution in the 1790s. Not content with being emperor of France, he proceeded to conquer or control many European (and non-European) nations as well.

At the height of the French empire, Napoleon's influence looked like this:

In case you're wondering, that's a lot of territory!

In 1814, Napoleon was defeated by the Sixth Coalition and sent into exile.

In early 1815, Napoleon escaped. The world had a spaz (to use a modern, non-military term) and prepared to do battle once again. Thus, Napoleon's army and the army of the Seventh Coalition collided outside of Brussels in what would become one of the most famous battles in history: Waterloo.

Napoleon's rule had brought many scientific, technical, and cultural innovations to the world. His defeat brought an era of peace to the world. Both set the stage for the Industrial Revolution and the increase of prosperity to all nations.

The Cockades

Waterloo interested me not only because of its historical significance but also because of the number of cockades involved! This should be no surprise when you consider the number of nationalities participating in the battle: British, Germans, Belgians, Dutch, Prussians and - of course - the French!

Napoleon's Waterloo hat with tricolor cockade

French

Let's take a look at some of these cockades. We'll start with an easy one - Napoleon's cockade. Napoleon actually wore about 120 hats over the time of his rule. He was famous for wearing his bicorn (two-pointed hat) sideways on his head. This is his hat from the Battle of Waterloo, cockade still intact.

Colonel Marbot's uniform, including tricolor cockade

French tricolor cockades weren't limited to Napoleon. This striking uniform belonged to Colonel Marbot. The shako still has its beautiful tricolor cockade.

Spanish and Dutch

Other nations involved in Waterloo had just as brilliant, but solid colored, cockades. Spain's national cockade was red. The Netherlands' cockade was a bright orange. (The Dutch hat below is probably a later date than Waterloo, but it's a great example of the orange cockade!)

Spanish Hussar's shako with red cockade

Dutch bicorn with orange cockade 19th century

Highlander's bonnet with black cockade

British

The Brits' cockade may have been plain black but their headgear was anything but plain!

This colorful Scotch bonnet belong to a member of a Highlander Regiment. This glorious bonnet features red and white checked wool, black ostrich feathers and black cockade. Now that's a laddie worth admiring!

Brown University Library

These are just a few of the national and regional cockades that would have showed up at the Battle of Waterloo. But here's a cockade - and a soldier - I think you'll especially enjoy.

When photography was still a new field, a unique series of photographs was taken of surviving soldiers from Napoleon's army.

This is a photography of Monsieur Lefebre, a sergeant in the 2nd Regiment of Engineers in 1815. You'll note that his cockade is prominently displayed above the eagle on his elaborate shako. He still has the fire of battle in his eye, doesn't he?

How Many Can You Wear At Once?

I saved the coolest picture for last, though. We started with Napoleon - we'll end with Wellington, the other major leader in the battle.

Wellington knew he had a polyglot of nations fighting together on his side. He wanted to create a feeling of solidarity, not division, between the allied nations. And one of his methods to do this was to wear a cockade from every nation in his hat during the battle!

This is a closeup of a marvelous little sculpture of Wellington created by a modern history buff. I happened across this gentleman's work in a forum and thought his arrangement of the cockades looked lifelike and stunning! You can see more pictures of his work here.

I was happy to see that the reenactor who played Wellington at the 200th anniversary followed history with his cockades.

As I find more cool pictures and information about cockades at Waterloo, I have been pinning them to a Pinterest board here. Enjoy!

Back issues of the Cockade Column are available on my Pinterest site. Enjoy reading the ones you missed! If you are reading this online and want it to come right to your inbox, you can sign up HERE.

Thanks for reading... see you next week!

Regards,
~Heather Sheen
Owner, Creative Cockades

Every Cockade Has A Story To Tell!

200 years ago in June, Europe was in turmoil. But the upheaval culminated in a battle that would bring peace to Europe for over three decades.

The Conquerors

The Cockades

French

Spanish and Dutch

British

How Many Can You Wear At Once?

Every Cockade Has A Story To Tell!

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