The Strange Tale of Lord Uxbridge's Leg

At the Battle of Waterloo, on 18 June 1815, Henry Paget, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge, and later the 1st Marquess of Anglesey—a veteran of many military campaigns—was given the command of 13,000 Allied cavalry and 44 horse artillery batteries. At one point in the battle, Lord Uxbridge led a spectacular charge with 2,000 men of the British heavy cavalry against the French Corps columns of Comte d'Erlon, and succeeded in sweeping the French infantry away in disorder. However, Uxbridge was unable to rally his forces, who continued on in pursuit and were ambushed by the French cavalry's counterattack. Uxbridge spent the rest of the battle leading a series of charges against the French. He was reported to have lost eight or nine horses that were shot from under him. The Duke of Wellington meets Lord Uxbridge after the amputation of his leg. This meeting reportedly never happened. Photo: National Trust Collection Towards the closing moments of the battle, the French cannon had grown nearly quiet and firing had become only intermittent. Wellington took out his field telescope and was surveying the battlefield when one of the last of the French grapeshot flew past Wellington and smashed into Lord Uxbridge’s right knee. Turning to the Duke of Wellington, Uxbridge is supposed to have exclaimed, “By God, sir, I've lost my leg!”, to which the Duke replied, “By God, sir, so you have!”. Whether the exchange actually took place or not, it’s undoubtedly a great story and is often quoted to show the supposed eccentricity of the British people. His knee shattered, Lord Uxbridge was carried off the battlefield and taken to his headquarters in the village of Waterloo, a house owned by Monsieur Hyacinthe Joseph Marie Paris. The doctor inspected his leg and found that the head of the tibia was fractured, the outer hamstring severed, and the capsular ligament was filled with fragments of bone and cartilage like gravel.