User talk:Bijl0130
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Link Battle of Waterloo
[edit]I have added the link to the 8th Dutch Militia site to the Battle of Waterloo article. I think it was prudent to let someone else do it, as you are the webmaster of the site and the author of the article. You should be prepared for some controversy, however, as your article contradicts some cherished myths about the "cowardice" of the 8th Militia during the d'Erlon assault, and about the placement of the entire Bylandt Brigade at te start of the battle as you may infer from the polemic on the Talk page of the article. I hope you will add the weight of your expertise in the matter of the disputed events to that polemic.--Ereunetes (talk) 21:37, 26 December 2008 (UTC)
New edit you did at Waterloo page
[edit]Hi- just adding as requested my post on your new edit. as follows-
Very good to see the update. Thanks for the hard work you put in. I still think some tweaking is needed to refine the section which you have taken great pains to 'adjust'. To start off, I think mentioning 'Ohain ridge' by name is a good reference. You could mention too, added to Wellington's 'left wing' being attacked, the focus of the attack was more on the center left and center right [ and one of Durette's brigade's columns hitting the extreme Left's fortified farmhose positions]. One key target of the attack was La Haye Sainte which of course is on the Allied Right center. In my opinion it should be noted what the massive attack aimed to do - bulldozer onwards and threaten Brussels/ the Brussels road/ one of Wellington's line of retreat via that highway and perhaps cut off links with Prussians who Napoleon at 10am, knew was arriving by its mention in a despatch to Grouchy. Pointing out that the most heavily engaged infantry units were Picton's division and Bijlandt's brigade on the center left, AND the Ompteda's KGL brigade and Kielmansegge's Hanoverian brigade in the center-right could give the general reader better 'position visuals' of the activity in this event. A point could be made about all 3 brigades in Picton's division deployed in 4 rank lines - 'columns of fours' mentioned by Siborne's 'Waterloo Letters'. Making also a brief note that Vincke's Hanoverian brigade was not contacted in the more eastern part of the Ohain ridge.
There's a spelling error regarding 'parent' in this line- Bijlandt's skirmishers withdrew to the sunken lane, to their parant battalions.
I think you should add here in the final section of the crisis, In the mean time D'Erlon's men began to ascend the slope,, instead, that 3 of D'Erlons 4 colums were cresting OVER the Ohain ridge at the point when Picton, the Dutch Belgians, except Vincke's brigade of Hanoverians, were all getting pushed back. The extreme left was not crumbling, but the center-left was.
Also, I still don't see where in the footnotes specific reference is made for the mention of the Prince of Orange taking command of units of the 'Reserve Corps' positioned on the East of the Brussels road. The Prince of Orange's 1st Corps command was to the West of the Brussels road. Who was it exactly that stated the Prince of Orange had moved into the Reserves Corp's location in their crisis moment when indeed the Prince at that time was having his hands full in his own command's position above La Haye Sainte commanding Kielmansegge and Ompteda while heavy French activity was ongoing there prior to Uxbridge's attack with the Household Brigade in that section. It seems highly unlikely he would've galloped over to Picton's and Bijlandt's sector while scrutinizing the French attack enveloping La Haye Sainte directly on his own position at the same time the French were pushing back Picton and Bijlandt in the Reseves Corps area adjacent to his own pressured Corps- indeed at a time while he personally ordered the Luneberg battalion to its infamous destruction in its line formation advance to reinforce LHS when it was ambushed by French cuirassiers. and .....Where was Wellington at this point? Supposedly near Hougoumont, but I remember reading 'somewhere' he may have rode over to the extreme Left just prior to D'Erlon's attack.
Also, in the postscript of D'Erlon's attack, -no doubt noted in your dutch-begian sources- I think mention could be made that hundreds of Bijlandt's troops were used to escort the French prisoners taken back to Brussels and that Bijlandt's brigade remained on the battlefield and still in the line on Ohain ridge - it could be pointed out that Picton and Bijlandt's units were severely depleted in strength too and barely hung onto their positions against harassment attacks by D'Erlon's recuperated troops/ survivors for the rest of the battle.
Anyway- well done again - I hope my input is of some appreciated use.
--Joey123xz (talk) 18:06, 30 March 2010 (UTC)