Charles Ewart

The Eagle captured by Ewart, now on display in the Scottish War Museum.

Ensign Charles Ewart (1769—23 May 1846) was a Scottish soldier of the Royal North British Dragoons (more commonly known as the Scots Greys), famous for capturing the regimental eagle of the 45e Régiment de Ligne (45th Regiment of the Line) at the Battle of Waterloo.

He was born near Kilmarnock in 1769, and enlisted in the cavalry at the age of twenty. He fought in a number of actions in the French Revolutionary Wars, was briefly taken prisoner, and emerged from the conflict as a Sergeant in the regiment. Over the next two decades he became a well-respected and competent soldier, serving as fencing-master of the regiment; a heavily-built man, reported as 6'4" tall and "of Herculean strength" he was an expert swordsman.

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The engagement

At Waterloo, the Greys were part of the Union Brigade, a group of heavy cavalry regiments held in reserve by Wellington. In the line of battle, General Thomas Picton's 5th Division was held in reserve, on the right of the Allied line, behind the Dutch-Belgian 2nd Division. The 5th contained a number of experienced veteran units from the Peninsular War, including the 92nd Foot (Gordon Highlanders).

After a heavy exchange of fire, the Belgians were forced to fall back to the far side of the ridge on which they were stationed, and the 5th Division moved forward over the crest of the ridge to hold the line. After the heavy exchange of fire continued, with the 5th holding firm, it was decided that the division should charge to break up the French columns; the cavalry held in reserve were brought forward, and passed through the ranks of the infantry and into action.

At this point, the Gordon Highlanders were exchanging fire with the 1st Battalion of the 45th, which was deploying around thirty yards to their front. The Greys quickly and unexpectedly passed through the infantry, moved forward the short distance between the lines, and broke through to the centre of the French infantry as it was forming into a defensive line. In the confusion that followed, the 45th was effectively broken as an organised unit, and the eagle it carried was quickly seized by Sergeant Ewart, in close fighting with a number of Frenchmen.

One made a thrust at my groin, I parried him off and cut him down through the head. A lancer came at me - I threw the lance off by my right side and cut him through the chin and upwards through the teeth. Next, a foot soldier fired at me and then charged me with his bayonet, which I also had the good luck to parry, and then I cut him down through the head.

To prevent it being recaptured, he was ordered to take it to safety; he did, but paused for some time overlooking the battlefield before finally carrying the trophy to Brussels. Whilst the brigade had not taken significant losses, they were disorganised, and carried forward to attack French artillery; charged by French cavalry in turn, they took heavy losses, and played no further part in the battle.

The legend

The capture of the eagle is one of the most prized honours of the Scots Greys and, in commemoration of this, their cap badge shows the eagle. As with many such incidents, the story of the capture has grown greatly over the years, to the status of a legend; it is often told that the Greys charged the 45th, with the Gordons seizing hold of their stirrup-leathers and carrying themselves along into the fray, crying "Scotland Forever!". On the contrary, modern research suggests that there was no charge, not even a gallop, simply a quick walk into the disorganised French line. The fact that the 45th was a single battalion, rather than the full regiment, is often missed, and the 45th themselves have been elevated as a foe, with the regiment described as an elite formation nicknamed "the Invincibles". The contrary is true; it was an ordinary infantry regiment, raised in Paris, of no great distinction or fame. The near-destruction of the Greys after the capture of the eagle is likewise often forgotten, dwarfed by the glory of the capture.

However, the achievement was remarkable even in its least inflated form; throughout the entire Waterloo campaign, only two French Eagles were captured during battle, both by the Union Brigade in this particular action. Ewart was hailed a hero, honoured, and travelled the country giving speeches. He was given a commission as an ensign (a second lieutenancy) in the 5th Veteran Battalion in 1816, and left the army when this unit was disbanded in 1821. He lived in Salford, retiring on the full pay of an ensign, and died in 1846. His grave was paved over and forgotten for many years, being uncovered in the 1930s, and he was reburied by the Royal Scots Greys (as they were then titled) on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle in 1938.

File:EnsignEwartPub.jpg

Today, he is best known to the general populace by a pub in Edinburgh which bears his name, the Ensign Ewart; it is located next to the Castle esplanade, where a monument marks his burial place.

References

• Royal Scots Greys at Waterloo, from the Napoleonic Alliance Gazette
• Charles Ewart
• Obituary and notes in The Times, 8th April 1846

External links

• The Ensign Ewart in Edinburgh