Let's be clear from the start: This is not a blow-by-blow account of the Battle of Waterloo. If you're looking for descriptions of cavalry charges or the defense of Hougoumont, you'll need to look elsewhere. What Charles Dalton created is something unique and, in its own way, far more personal.

The Story

Dalton essentially made a list. Starting with the Army List published right after the battle, he set out to find every single British officer who was present at Waterloo on June 18, 1815. Then, he didn't stop. He wanted to know what happened to them. Using sources like the London Gazette, regimental archives, and personal correspondence, he tracked their lives. For each man, he provides a brief entry: his rank and regiment at the battle, whether he was wounded, and a summary of his subsequent career and life. Some entries are just a line or two. Others unfold into mini-biographies, detailing promotions, postings, marriages, and deaths. The book is organized by regiment, so you can follow the collective story of a unit from the battlefields of Belgium to garrison duties across the empire.

Why You Should Read It

The magic of this book is in the details, and in the quiet questions it makes you ask. Reading entry after entry, you see patterns emerge. You see how a minor wound at Waterloo might lead to a medical discharge and a struggle for a pension years later. You notice how many men died relatively young, perhaps from wounds or illnesses contracted during service. But you also see resilience—men who commanded regiments, raised families, and lived into their eighties. It turns a monolithic historical event into thousands of individual human experiences. It's surprisingly moving. When Dalton notes that an officer died "in distressed circumstances" or was "a great sufferer until his death," it hits hard. This book gives the victory a human cost.

Final Verdict

This is a specialist's book, but its appeal is broad. It's perfect for history buffs and genealogists who crave the raw material of the past. For writers or game designers creating historical fiction, it's a goldmine of authentic names and careers. But I'd also recommend it to any curious reader who feels that major historical events can feel distant and impersonal. Dalton's work brings it shockingly close. Think of it less as a book to read cover-to-cover, and more as a fascinating reference to dip into. You can look up a specific regiment, or just open it at random and meet someone whose life was changed on a single day in 1815. It's a remarkable piece of historical recovery.