A Local Waterloo Veteran

The French attack on Hougoumont.

After three days of fighting and manoeuvring between the opposing sides, on 18 June 1815 the Battle of Waterloo was fought twelve miles south of Brussels in modern-day Belgium. Here the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte clashed with an Anglo-Dutch army under the Duke of Wellington and a Prussian army under Field Marshal Blucher in a fight that would decide the future of Europe. Probably over a dozen men from the Potteries served in the ranks of the Duke of Wellington's army during the battle. One of these was 35 year old Private John Oulcott of Burslem, a soldier in the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Foot Guards, a unit that was heavily involved in the ferocious fighting around the farm of Hougoumont.

John Oulcott was born in Burslem in 1780, though nothing certain is known of his parentage and definite information on his early life is speculative at best. For instance, he may have been the John Oulcott of Burslem who on 18 October 1800 married Martha Heath at Stoke-upon-Trent parish church and they went on to have four children together. The last of these was born in 1811 and he may have been widowed that year as on on 16 June 1811, a collier named John Oulcott married Maria Broad at St John's in Burslem and they later had a son together. Those, however, are the only items noting a man of that name in the area at that time.

The next we hear of John Oulcott of Burslem was when he attested for the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards at Knightsbridge, Middlesex on 6 December 1813 at the age of 33. On joining the regiment he gave his trade as a brick maker, though there is no indication as to how or why he had travelled so far from his home town and possibly abandoned his children, though poverty and lack of work are the most likely reasons.

John Oulcott's records indicate that he served in Holland in 1814 and 1815 and then at the battle of Waterloo. He was a member of Lord Alexander Gordon's company and like most of the battalion saw action in the woods and fields around the château complex of Hougoumont on the Allied right, the scene of some of the fiercest fighting on the whole battlefield. Like all those present, he was subsequently awarded the Waterloo Medal for his service there.

Above: Three views around Hougoumont farm.

After Waterloo, Oulcott's served at home. As a member as one of the prestigious Guards regiments he would have been involved in various ceremonial duties. However, he was never promoted and was eventually dismissed from the army due to ill health. On 13 July 1830, his discharge papers noted that he was 'wholy unfit for service in consequence of Asthma from repeated attacks of inflammation of the chest and is much emaciated.' The Chelsea commissioners awarded him a pension of 9d a day commencing the next day. The discharge papers also offered a description of the man. John Oulcott was described as being 49 years of age, 5 feet 7¾ inches in height, with sandy hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion.

After his discharge Oulcott returned to Burslem. However, dogged by ill health he did not get to enjoy a long retirement on his pension. Less than a year after leaving the army John Oulcott died, being buried in Burslem on 29 June 1831.

Reference: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C8703923
Pictures: Author's collection.