Cross: 6.1cm (2.1in) x 6.1cm (2.4in)
Pressed and patinated white metal. In the form of a cross pattée inscribed ‘Mit Gott für König und Vaterland 1813’. Mounted on period card inscribed in ink ‘Picked up on the field / by the celebrated / Miss Lindwood / soon after the Battle / of Waterloo’. Contained in a modern glazed box frame (16.5cm (6in) x 12.5cm (4.9in) x 3.6cm (1.4in)).
The Landwehr Cross worn on the Schirmuetze cap was a unifying element amidst the disparate uniforms and equipment of Prussian militia as it emerged in 1813, and in 1815 reacted to Napoleon’s return to Paris and the start of the Hundred Days campaign. King William II of Prussia recalled Blücher from his retirement in Silesia and set him the task of facing off with Napoleon. Blücher was placed in command of the Army of the Lower Rhine and quickly marched west to join the Anglo-Dutch Allies, hoping to consolidate their forces. Over a third of Blücher’s force was Landwehr, some of which marched barefoot to war. At the Battle of Ligny, the Prussian army faced Napoleon directly and was roundly beaten, Blücher himself being trapped and injured under his dead horse for hours. The Battle of Waterloo provided a chance at redemption.
The present relic is also a testament to Waterloo as Europe’s first modern tourist destinations. A notable lawyer James Simpson, visited the field just a few weeks after the battle and observed, ‘All about lay the melancholy remains of the clothes, accoutrements, books, and letters of the dead. The two last, after the interment, were spread over the field, like the rubbish of a stationer’s shop’. After the bodies were buried or burnt and clothing stripped by impoverished locals, the less perishable souvenirs remained, these being of of lead, brass, bronze and rusted iron. Lord Byron, an ardent admirer of Napoleon, made his pilgrimage in May 1816 and wrote his name in the visitor’s book in Hougoumont’s chapel. Despite his contempt for the victors, Byron was unable to resist purchasing his own battlefield souvenirs, which were sent to his publisher John Murray in London for safekeeping. J.M.W. Turner painted scenes of the area in August 1817, and over time a steady trail of curious tourists resulted in a cluster of hotels and hostelries. ‘Miss Lindwood’ possibly refers to the English needlewoman and educator Mary Linwood (1755-1845).