A University of Glasgow led project will see military veterans join an archaeological excavation in Belgium to try and find the remains of 20,000 men who died at the Battle of Waterloo.
The battle saw the French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte face two armies of the Seventh Coalition led by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.
The French forces were ultimately defeated after a bloody battle, with Napoleon abdicating the throne for a second time and bringing the First French Empire to an end.
From September 3rd - 13th, an international team of military veterans, serving personnel, archaeologists and volunteers will continue work at Mont-Saint-Jean farm in Belgium, the site of Wellington's field hospital during the battle.
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Only two complete human skeletons have ever been excavated from the battlefield where close to 50,000 men were killed or wounded.
One of those was discovered by veteran support charity Waterloo Uncovered, which has also uncovered the amputated limbs of wounded men and the skeletons of three horses, leading archaeologists to suspect that they have only scratched the surface of what is likely to be a much larger feature.
Historical evidence points towards a grisly end for many of the skeletons from the battle, with contemporary news articles suggesting that they were dug up and ground down to be used as fertiliser and in the production of sugar, making the discovery of skeletons on the battlefield a highly unusual and historically significant occurrence.
Contemporary reports point to tens of thousands being burned in mass graves across the battlefield but only two complete skeletons have ever been discovered.
As well as one discovered by Waterloo Uncovered, remains of a soldier thought to be 23-year-old Friederich Brandt were discovered in 2012.
Professor Tony Pollard, who serves as the project’s Archaeological Director, said: “It’s an incredibly exciting site - the presence of amputated limbs, a complete human burial and the remains of euthanised horses in one trench make the site at Mont-Saint-Jean truly unique.
"Finding horses, which had been put out of their misery by shots to the head, and humans buried alongside each other, especially with the care and separation evident in this trench, is extremely rare.”
Previous excavations by the charity across the Waterloo battlefield site, all of which have utilised the unique lived experience of veterans and serving personnel to help interpret their discoveries, have uncovered evidence that has rewritten the story of Waterloo; from an unrecorded attack on the field hospital to physical evidence of how the French nearly tipped the battle in their favour in the gardens of Hougoumont.
Waterloo Uncovered’s CEO Abigail Boyle said: "Waterloo Uncovered supports veterans with their recovery and transition into civilian life.
"On site, veterans and serving beneficiaries will learn key transferable archaeological skills, which will provide pathways into education, employment, or simply enable them to enjoy archaeology as a hobby.
"Even professional archaeologists rarely get to work on a site of this calibre - it’s really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Anglo-Belgian landowner Anthony Martin, who runs a brewery, brasserie, and museum at Mont-Saint-Jean farm, said: "Since we rescued the abandoned site of the Allied Field hospital in 2014, we have placed the farm’s fascinating heritage at the heart of everything we do.
"We are delighted to welcome Waterloo Uncovered back to Mont-Saint-Jean so that they can uncover even more of the site’s history while supporting modern-day veterans."
Following his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon surrendered to the British and was exiled to Saint Helena in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
He was guarded by a garrison of 2,100 soldiers while a squadron of 10 ships continuously patrolled the waters to prevent escape.
The former emperor died there of stomach cancer at the age of 51.
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