Dear caromurr-ga,
I have to say that this account is not true. It appears on many
religious sites originating in the United States. This is the story
that appears on these sites.
"It was June 18, 1815, the Battle of Waterloo. The French under the
command of Napoleon were fighting the Allies (British, Dutch, and
Germans) under the command of Wellington. The people of England
depended on a system of semaphore signals to find out how the battle
was going. One of these signal stations was on the tower of Winchester
Cathedral.
Late in the day it flashed the signal:
"W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N---D-E-F-E-A-T-E-D--." Just at that moment one of
those sudden English fog clouds made it impossible to read the
message. The news of defeat quickly spread throughout the city. People
throughout the land were sad and gloomy when they heard the news that
their country had lost the war.
Suddenly the fog lifted, and it was discovered there was more to the
message. The message had four words, not two. The complete message
was: "W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N---D-E-F-E-A-T-E-D---T-H-E--E-N-E-M-Y!" It
took only a few minutes for the good news to spread. Sorrow was turned
into joy, defeat was turned into victory!"
Source
http://www.trinitycrc.org/sermons/lk24v07.html
This is how the news reached England. The battle took place on 18th
June 1815. Major Henry Percy, Wellington?s ADC, was dispatched to
England after the battle. He arrived in London on 21st June and went
to the King who was attending a ball. The news was published in the
London Gazette on 22nd June.
This is from the Wellington Archive Exhibition.
Bell's Weekly Messenger, for Sunday 25 June 1815, reporting the battle
of Waterloo and its consequences
quoting the London Gazette
http://www.archives.lib.soton.ac.uk/wellington/francewaterloo/transcripts/read_all_trans.htm
http://archive.lib.soton.ac.uk/wellington/francewaterloo/htmlsliced/water_sliced.htm
"News of the Battle of Waterloo was rushed to London by Harry Percy,
Wellington's only surviving unwounded ADC. He carried the despatch in
a velvet handkerchief sachet an admirer had thrust into his hand as he
hurried from the Duchess of Richmond's famous Brussels ball on the eve
of battle. He had no sleep that night, nor the five nights following,
and had to row himself ashore from the middle of the Channel. His
scarlet and gold tunic was still torn, dirty and blood-stained when he
burst into a St James's ballroom, a captured French standard in each
hand, and dropped to one knee before the Prince Regent. It was
Shakespearean."
http://www.arts.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/03/21/bohof21.xml&sSheet=/arts/2004/03/21/bomain.html
"Edmund Boehm, a rich merchant, was giving a ball at No. 16 (St James?
Square), which the Regent attended, when Major Henry Percy arrived in
a still bloody uniform and laid the French Eagles at the Prince's Feet
announcing the Victory of Waterloo. Mrs Boehm was upset that the
battle upset her party, but the Prince was delighted by the public
show. He asked the Ladies to leave the room and had Lord Liverpool
read the dispatch aloud. The Regent promoted Percy to Colonel on the
spot."
http://www.georgianindex.net/London/squares/l_square.html
There is some suggest that Nathan Rothchild, of the Rothchild dynasty,
knew of the victory 24 hours before the government, although I cannot
find an primary source for this.
"Working closely with his four brothers who were living in cities in
France and Germany, Rothschild's agents bought up gold and silver,and
smuggled them to Wellington's army. His records show that they
collected £2 million, at 1815 prices.
The communication network established by the brothers was so effective
that Rothschild knew about the British victory at Waterloo 24 hours
before the British Government did."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/50997.stm
"His intelligence network was such that he heard news of the victory
at Waterloo twenty four hours before the British Government."
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/MOLsite/exhibits/roth/
As for the Winchester Cathedral semaphore. No such system was
installed at the cathedral. There was a semaphore chain which went
from the naval port of Portsmouth to the Admiralty, London, but there
was no station at Winchester. According to this amateur interest web
site, the chain was demolished in 1814; re-designed and constructed in
1822. This semaphore chain (if it had been operative in 1815) would
not have been used as any message coming from Waterloo would have come
via the shortest route: Calais to London. Not via Portsmouth.
http://www.ewell-probus.org.uk/archive/semaphore_towers_.htm
http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Clarke/sema4/
Order of the battle of Waterloo
"Major Henry Percy ADC"
http://www.kessler-web.co.uk/History/FeaturesEurope/FranceWaterlooOBAllies.htm
I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder
winchester "battle of waterloo" semaphore
://www.google.com/search?q=winchester+%22battle+of+waterloo%22+semaphore&hl=en&lr=&start=10&sa=N
"battle of waterloo" "news of"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22battle+of+waterloo%22+%22news+of%22
"Henry Percy" waterloo
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22Henry+Percy%22+waterloo |
