Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, defeated Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo two hundred years ago on 18th June 1815. His command post was located in the shelter of an elm tree, Ulmus minor.
There appear to have been two chairs made from this elm – both known as ‘The Waterloo Chair.’ One was acquired by George IV, a passionate collector of memorabilia connected with the historic battle, presently on display at Windsor Castle west of London.
The second, less ornate, was up for auction as recently as early 2012. The elm tree was purchased from its Belgian landowner by one John Children and made into that chair. According to the
Daily Mail, the unique object came to light when its owner took a photograph of it to a routine valuation run by Tayler and Fletcher auctions rooms in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The auctioneers appraised it at £8,000.
Close to the famed farmhouse, a pivotal point in the Battle of Waterloo, three horse chestnut trees
, Aesculus hippocastanum, were luckier than the elm. They still stand but appear to be riddled with musket balls, a recent examination by sophisticated metal detectors revealed.
Both the victor and the vanquished have been variously commemorated. The Duke has his classic British plate of Beef Wellington, savoury pastry-covered roast meat. His enemy, perhaps fittingly for being French, is remembered as Napoleon Brandy, as well as a pastry composed of layers of puff pastry filled with cream or custard. There is also an ornamental tropical tree, Napoleon’s Button,
Napoleona heudotti, from South America, a relative of Brazil nut. The Duke, alas, did not fare so well botanically:
Wellingtonia went down to be defeated by
Sequoiadendron giganteum, the giant redwood
Few English gardeners, however, do not own a pair of those rubber boots familiarly known as Wellingtons. The original pair were made of polished black calfskin, designed by Wellington himself, knee-high at the front and cut away at the back.
